How to live with Christian Vitality – Part 2

The Christian Vitality Lifestyle

A Christian Vitality Lifestyle is a committed, surrendered, and empowered life lived fully in the present moment.

Commit and Surrender to God’s Vision for Your Life!

Committing our lives to the Lord means a constant surrender of our ideas, plans, and choices. It means dying to ourselves in every area of our lives so that God can shine through them. We must abstain from the desires of this world so we can hear his still, small voice and be directed towards his will for our lives.

As Christians, we should desire to make a significant impact on the world for Jesus. We cannot do this on our own. We need his help, and Jesus sent the Holy Spirit just for this very purpose. You need to lean on him for every choice you make along the way. By utilizing the Christian Vitality Prayer, you can affirm that you retain focus on your God-inspired goals, gain strength to achieve them, and overcome all obstacles with the help of the Holy Spirit in addition to the many other gifts of the Spirit.

Our dreams (or visions for our lives) need to be bigger than ourselves and what we can do on our own. We ought to want God to use our day-to-day activities in ways beyond what we would or could do on our own. This is not a solo journey, but one in which we are cooperating with God and operating together as a team.

I’ve heard it once said that “Every Christian should have a dream so big it takes God himself to fulfill it.” For that to happen, we must ask God for a God-sized vision (dream) for our lives. That vision will include not only your individual mission here on earth but also God’s vision for your spiritual, mental, and physical health.

If you haven’t done so recently or you find yourself at a place in your life where you feel you’ve lost sight of God’s vision for your life, I invite you to take the time now away from this psot and go into prayer to ask God to grant or restore His vision for your life. Ask him to reveal to you the vision he has for you that would lead you down a path to serve the Lord with all your heart, all your soul (mind, will, and emotions), and all your body.

You need to understand–there is nothing you can do yourself to make this happen. This vision or dream for your life can only come from the hand of God.

Come back to this post only after you’ve taken the time to commune with God about his vision for your life.

Taking Responsibility

Responsibility can be broken down into its core meaning of the ability to respond and the ability to make a choice. It can also mean taking personal ownership.

You might remember when I referred to you as the hero of this journey we are embarking on together. You absolutely are a hero whose victory is in progress.

The only catch is that you are a hero who has been called on this journey in your current world and your existing state of health and circumstances. You are called to a new world of health and happiness in your future.

It’s a safe assumption that since you’ve read this far, you are, for the moment, accepting the Lord’s call on your life to make a change, to do things differently going forward, and to build a life in pursuit of glory for Jesus Christ in every aspect of your life—a new, completely Christ-centered world.

One thing we must do before we carry on is address the fact that your current state of health (spiritual, mental, and physical) is not where you want it to be. It’s a product of all the life choices you’ve made up to this point. I firmly believe that our lives are the product of all the cumulative choices we make along the way. The only way to change our current state of affairs is to start accumulating better choices. We are (or will become) what we repeatedly do.

We still need to take responsibility and ownership for where we are right now however. You can have a dialog with God that sounds something like this: “Yes, Lord, my health is not what it could be or will be, and I accept the fact that I’ve made some poor choices to get to where I am today. Please, Lord, help guide me in my steps as I pursue a better life for myself—one that glorifies you in all ways. AMEN!”

No, it’s not all your fault, but it is all your responsibility. You’ve been taught by your well-meaning parents to live certain ways. You’ve been lied to by family, friends, acquaintances, advertisers, and even government officials over the years. All of it was likely based on information that, at the time, was the best information they had. Nevertheless, it made an impression on your soul and your belief systems.

What can be learned can also be unlearned, though. Kids are not typically programmed for success, and neither are adults for that matter. Making decisions based on old information or training has to stop from this point forward because you personally have unlimited access to up-to-date information backed by scientific research through the Internet. There are no more valid excuses from now on.

Take the ownership of how things are, but also commit to yourself to be a life-long learner. Always strive to make yourself aware of the current science and biblical wisdom that may affect your health, and implement it into your life. That last part is the most critical. Knowing the information without doing something with it is all on you and will make the difference between you living a healthy, happy life and missing it by a mile.

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:17(ESV)

When taking James 4:17 literally and applying it to all aspects of your life, it’s not much of a stretch to say not applying the knowledge in this post (and what you find on the Internet) that could do you good is a sin. With knowledge comes great responsibility, though. Luke 12:48 also tells us that “to whom much is given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” This expands more on our responsibility when given actionable information. God will honor you when you honor him with the obedient choices you make once you know better.

I’ll strive to do my very best here and throughout the entire Christian Vitality Revival Series to give you as much actionable information as possible, but the truth be told, this post will be a work in progress that is constantly updated as new information and discoveries become available. To make certain you are up-to-date on the latest information, you can subscribe to our blog or newsletter at http://christianvitality.com. I’ll share our latest discoveries with you as they surface.

No one who is good at making excuses is good at taking care of their lives. Stop making excuses to not do the right thing, and start looking for reasons why you should take action toward them now.

Self-love vs. Self-loathe

A challenge we all face at times is the struggle with self-loathing. I want to address that now as we’ve just finished acknowledging and taking responsibility for our current state of affairs. Something I heard in my very early twenties that has stuck with me my whole life is this:

God made YOU, Christ saved YOU, and that makes YOU a person of tremendous worth! – Author Unknown

We go throughout our Christian lives trying to learn how to die to self, which I am a major proponent of. Some might even say that as we mature as Christians, we even develop an element of self-loathing because we despise at times the things we say or do when we allow ourselves to operate in that self-centered capacity. The issue at hand, however, is that we can never escape ourselves. We may label it as our sinful nature that we are inherently born with, but the fact of the matter is that God made you just the way you are. You need to accept that you are a gift God has granted to this world to bring him glory with your life. Even though we’ve stumbled along the way, made bad choices, and sinned, God can use those life-long experiences to bring himself glory if we will let him. Our “self” or sinful nature does not have to get in our way toward the pursuit of a better life.

Christ saved you on the cross and shed his blood to atone for you and so that you could be sanctified (set a part for him) for his glory here on earth. You are a new creation in Christ and can be made new in his image. It’s not a once and done process though. It is a continual process where we can be made new today, in this very moment, as we obediently accept his call on our lives and make choices that glorify him.

You are tremendously worthy only because he is worthy. He lives inside of you the moment you receive Christ’s salvation. You became one of God’s children, and as 1 John 4:4 (ESV) says, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” We just have to live like it daily, moment by moment, surrendered to God and his will for our lives. So you are never allowed to get down on yourself, or as some like to call it “hating on yourself,” because you would, in a sense, discount everything Jesus did for you on the cross.

Instead, I’d like to propose that you make it a lifelong habit to love yourself and accept who you are in the moment, keeping in mind that the next choice you make can bring glory to God. Practice self-forgiveness and confession of sin in the moment with God. You can apply James 5:16 (ESV) in the moment, where he says to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” You can move on and confess to the Lord that you let him down, and you’ll do your very best for him on your next opportunity to choose. Receive his forgiveness in real time, and then put it behind you. Move on toward the upward call of God. You’ll be affirming these same truths from the Christian Vitality Prayer and making them part of your soul: “All my debts have long since been paid for and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ, and I honor him by forgetting them and learning from them.” Honor Jesus by receiving forgiveness for your sins in the moment, and move on.

How to lose 2-3 lbs per month effortlessly and pain free?

Lose Weight by Drinking Ice Water?

Yes, it’s true. By drinking ice cold water you can lose weight. Here’s how (with a mini physics lesson):

When we drink ice water our bodies have to heat that water to maintain our normal body temperature. So, from ice water at 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) our bodies have to heat it to 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degress Celsius).

The formula calculate the amount of energy in calories that it takes to hea that water we need this formula:

1 calories = the amount of energy required to heat 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius

For an applicable example to our everyday life is:

1 bottle of water (usually about 500ml or 16.9 oz) is equal to 500 grams

Let’s assume the water is a 32 F (0 deg C)

So, how many calories will it take to heat that water?

500g x 37 degrees C = 18,500 calories

A nutritional Calorie (notice the capital ‘C’) is actually a kilo-calorie so the amount of nutritional calories that it takes our body to burn to heat the water from a 500ml bottle of ice cold water is 18.5 Calories.

It doesn’t seem like a whole lot. But think about this, if you’re leading an active lifestyle it’s recommended you drink about 6 liters of water or more per day. (I usually shoot for about I usually shoot for closer to about 1.5 ounces per pound I weigh on super active days in Arizona weather).

So, for 6 liters of ice water per day we’d be using an additional (12 bottles x 18.5 Calories per bottle which equates to) 222 Calories. If you’re like me, on an active day, you have 333 more Calories used.

So, if all you do is change your drinking water to ice cold from room temperature you’d be using an extra 1,554 – 2,331 Calories per week (or 6,660 – 9,990 Calories per 30 day month).

Those Calories have to come from somewhere, right? Assuming we didn’t change anything else in our diet or exercise we’d be burning stored fat to make up the difference.

1 pound of fat equals 3,500 Calories.

So, if we drank ice water for our recommended amount of water consumption for an entire month we burn about an extra 1.9 – 2.9 lbs of fat.

How to lose 2-3 lbs per month easily doing nothing difficult, hard, or stressful?

Drink ice water all day.

Notice I said ice water, not ice cold beer, soda, diet soda, or any other beverage that has calories or artificial sweeteners. Those can all be counter-productive for your fat loss and may prevent you from losing weight.

How to live with Christian Vitality – Part 1

What Is This New Concept of Christian Vitality?

Well, you’ve probably heard the term “vital organ” in reference to organs in your body that you could not live without. What about your importance to the body of Christ? Do you feel vitally important to the function of the body of Christ and its fulfillment of God’s purposes on earth?

You should! Here’s why:

One Body with Many Members

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. 1 Corinthians 12:12–31 (ESV)

“If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.” 1 Corinthians 12:26b (The Message)

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he makes the point that there really aren’t any parts to the body of Christ that are not vital. We all drink from one spirit and are called to fulfill his purposes on earth. We are all vital and working together as one body (if we are all running at full capacity), and we can help God achieve his purposes here on earth in a bigger, better way. If you focus on operating at a higher capacity (flourishing) and “enter into the exuberance” as the The Message translation states, every other part of the Body of Christ will also benefit. What do you think would happen if we all achieved Christian Vitality?

Christian: one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ

Vitality: a lively or energetic quality; the power or ability of something to continue to live, be successful, etc.; the peculiarity distinguishing the living from the nonliving; capacity to live and develop; also: physical or mental vigor, especially when highly developed, power of enduring, lively and animated character¹

Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vitality

My end goal is for you is to achieve Christian Vitality as a Christian who distinguishes yourself as one of God’s living and not one of the non-living (spiritually dead or not growing). The living are defined as Christians who have experienced a revival in their spiritual, mental, and physical health who help others achieve God’s purposes for life—an enduring, flourishing life of loving and serving the Lord and their neighbor at a highly developed capacity.

I desire to help you develop your maturity as a Christian in all areas of your life—a life that is better developed with a higher capacity to live life to the fullest—a life full of the power of God and one that has been physically better developed to endure—a life that would allow God to empower you for a longer period of time in service to him.

My vision for the Christian Vitality Revival Series, is that you will also become a lively and animated Christian who leads life in such a way that you are a light shining brightly as you point toward Jesus as the way for others to live like you. Here’s a challenge question from me to you today…

Do you feel you are serving in a way that makes you vital to the body of Christ? If not, please take some steps today toward getting more plugged into how you can serve. Start small if you have to, but get started. Even serving every other Sunday in the first graders’ class can make you vital in the life of children learning about the love of Jesus.

I want to also touch on how Christian Vitality is a part of a gradual progression toward your soul’s vitality and spiritual vitality. On your quest to bring revival in your prayer life and by affirming God’s promises as laid out in the Bible, you will reprogram how your mind thinks and take ownership of truths about yourself. Quite possibly God gave you a dream for your life that has laid dormant—one so big that you currently do not have the capacity to give it much thought. It may internally cause a certain degree of internal conflict. Have you ever thought to yourself, is this all that life has for me? No way. I believe if you integrate the Christian Vitality Prayer into your life long term, it will either instill a God-sized dream so BIG for your life that only God can make it come true or God will awaken a dream he gave you long ago.

That is a wonderful thing if you take it into the context that you as a Christian here on Earth have a mission that is spelled out in the Great Commission, but you also have a unique calling in your life. If you allow God to operate fully, he will bring about a revival in not only your life, but the lives of your family, friends, neighborhood, nation, and the world. Your Christian Vitality will have a direct impact on how well you fulfill God’s specific mission in spreading the Good News in your unique capacity! Use all of your gifts, talents, skills, life experiences—your everything—to bring about glory to Jesus through your life.

In addition to helping you realize your full potential in Christ and spreading the Good News as an evangelist in your own unique way, I also ask you to help me build momentum in this movement to reach more believers and create more Vital Christians. Helping to spread this message will impact more believers so we can combat and conquer mediocre Christianity and exponentially increase our effectiveness as a global community on the same mission…the Great Commission.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18–20 (ESV)

So as you run across small challenges that you overcome in your day-to-day life, keep in mind their overall meaning in your pursuit of Christian Vitality. The small victories along the way will build you up into a Christian who will (God willing) have a greater capacity for survival or for the continuation of a meaningful or purposeful existence. You’ll be increasing the effectiveness of your service to the Lord Jesus and continuing to live under his full measure of blessing down here.

To some extent, Christian Vitality is the goal we are keeping our eyes on every day as we pile on small victories for Jesus in all areas of our lives…and our spiritual growth and service to the Lord. Victories in Progress we are, you and I! Victories…

Modern research scientists are discovering new breakthroughs every day that can accelerate the attainment of good health and help make this a reality for everyone. I’ve pieced together all the best techniques, tips, and strategies into the Christian Vitality Revival Series of books and programs to help you transform your spiritual, mental, and physical health to higher levels.

In all of the Revival Series books, you will be encouraged to bless yourself with some quiet Jesus Time. The Christian Vitality Prayer is not only a great solution to help do that, but it can also be customized or expanded to make a very personal, intimate prayer between you and your best friend. At the same time, you will use modern scientific principles to help make them effective and have a greater impact on your soul (your mind, your will, and your emotions), restoring and reviving any damage caused in your life up to now that may be holding you back.

Throughout this program, you’ll be applying timely, devotional-style Biblical Wisdom to teach and inspire you to achieve the next level in your walk with Christ.

Modern scientific discoveries are also revealed that will help you cheat (or hack) your soul in a way to get a larger return on your investment of time, energy, and money to achieve the maximum results.

I will also be sharing with you personal revelations that I’ve garnered through years of prayer and meditation on God’s word through the Christian Vitality Prayer and my SOAPP technique to help you Encounter God Every Day!

You’ll be joining me and thousands of other sisters and brothers. Essentially, we’ll all be going through the program together on a daily basis, morning and night.

I’m excited for us. From this day forward I want you to consider yourself a Victory in Progress. That’s right! A VIP in the community of believers striving toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus! Let’s do this together, shall we?

8-minute Miracle that can revitalize your metabolism and turn you into a fat-burning machine

It was one of those mornings when I was running short on time and I knew that my day was booked solid, so it was likely I wouldn’t be able to squeeze a workout in all day & evening. I was committed to my weight loss program and didn’t want to accept defeat so easily and throw in the towel so to speak.

From my previous experience years ago reading the “Body for Life” by Bill Phillips, I remembered that a workout out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach helps burn 300% more fat than a workout later in the day after you’ve eaten. Bill also taught me about Hight Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) in that book. At the time, it was a fairly new type of training that was said to supercharge your metabolism and fat-burning even more.

A short workout on an empty stomach first thing in the morning like this can be equivalent to an hour (or more) long workout late in the day on a full stomach. It stokes your metabolism (body’s furnace). It also helps keep your metabolism burning extra calories all day long and research shows that this furnace stoking can last up to 48 hours after your exercise is over.

So, I made time for a workout and jumped on my Elliptical Machine at home. I only had 10 minutes to spare and I made it happen using High Intensity Interval Training also known as High Intensity Intermittent Exercise (HIIE) or Sprint Interval Training (SIT). It’s also more popularly called (in the last two decades) as Tabata Training after the Japanese Professor who popularized it with a study in 1996

So, I jumped on the Elliptical machine for a quick 10 minute workout and burned 256 calories. I warmed up for 2 minutes at a mellow pace with the machine setting to 30% inclination grade (my normal setting) and the resistance set to 15 out of 20. The RPM on the machine was about 40-50 RPM. When I do my normal, what most would call medium intensity workouts for 20-30 minutes I use the same settings, but run/glide at about 60 RPM for the whole duration. So, the 40-50 RPM is a fairly low intensity for me.

After 2 minutes of warming up at a low intensity I then run/glide as fast as I can (about 90-100 RPM) for 30 seconds followed by 30 seconds of low intensity (again about 40-50). Each of these 60 second periods could be called one set, of which I do 4 of them. So, slow for 30 seconds then fast for 30 seconds for 4 minutes straight. I then do a cool down for 2 minutes at the low intensity level of 40-50 RPM.

The whole workout is 8 minutes long and if you think this sounds kind of wimpy, you’re dead wrong. I finish these workouts about to lose my breakfast (which I would have, had I eaten any) and my lungs feel like they did when I was forced to run the mile (as fast as you can) as a Freshman in High School…they hurt and I cough throughout the day from time to time as a reminder. It seems to kick up all the crud in your lungs.

Even though the Elliptical Machine display only showed 256 calories burned from these short workouts…it is likely that those calories were mostly taken from fat storage. In addition to slimming down my waist-line by a small amount, I will also burn more calories just sitting at my desk at work today from the extra metabolism boost. You might call that a double-bonus. 🙂

So, don’t ever underestimate the value of a short workout. Anyone can make time for the 8-minute Miracle.

This should also help you not ever have an excuse for not getting some exercise in. You should be able to squeeze at least a 8 minute workout in, anytime.

So, go ahead and hate me for it…I just stole the main reason people don’t work out when on a weight loss program from your list of excuses. 🙂

You can learn more about the history of the High Intensity Interval Training by visiting our Wikipedia friends here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training

How to Stop Worrying the Christian Way

How to Stop Worrying the Christian Way?

The answer is Real-time living.

I’m in the final stages of finishing my new book called Christian Vitality™ and while doing so, I wrote this piece that I wanted to share with you all here. I hope it is a blessing to you. Let me know your thoughts by commenting here.

Real-time Living

Jesus is the Great I AM not I was or I will be. It’s the greatest of all names for the Lord Jesus. We hear it often sung in songs and have come across it in scripture, but I think it is important to point out that Jesus Christ our Lord, is the one and the same God that Moses spoke of when he had the encounter at the burning bush.

God told Moses his name is “I AM THAT I AM”. The Hebrew variation on that name is YAHWEH or JEHOVAH. Jesus has been given all authority on earth, heaven, and under the earth. He is the one true God, not one of many Gods, but the One and Only (Acts 4:12; 1 Tim 2:5; 1 Cor 8:4) and even references himself as: “I am he [God]” (when he is responding to the Samaritan woman at the well), “Before Abraham was born, I am (John 8:58), “I am” (John 4:26, 6:20, 8:24, 8:28, 8:58; 13:19; 18:5), “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35), “I am the Light of the World” (John 8:12), “I am the Door (John 10:7, 9), “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11, 14), “I am the Resurrection and Life” (John 11:25-26), “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), “I am the True Vine (John 15:1, 5). Finally, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, “ says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Rev 1:8).

Jesus is the Lord of the Present, the Past, and the Future. There is no doubt about that. I think however, that we humans are locked here in the Present. We cannot, and should not try to, live in the Past or the Future. That is a revelation I feel I was given recently in reading the “Sermon on the Mount”.

I believe we are all called to live, what I call, real-time living. Living in the moment and forgetting about the past and the future. I don’t mean to give up on future planning or taking short trips into the future as directed by a vision God grants us for our lives. I’m talking about day-to-day living. Living solely in the moment.

Visit the future for brief periods of time if, and only if, you are accompanied by God himself for him to show you what he has planned for you. Meaning, go into the future with a great deal of prayer and meditation on his word in deep surrender to his will for your life knowing that he always has your best interest in mind. He has, after all, the master plan for the Universe and knows where you fit into it perfectly.

Think about what you know about Jesus and how he lived his daily life. The Bible reveals to us quite a bit about how Jesus lived while he was down here on earth. If you go over the Bible passages, I think you’ll find that Jesus lived his life moment by moment. Asking God for direction every step of the way. I know and agree with you that yes, Jesus did know his future as was prophesied about him in the scriptures, but I think he lived every moment of his life in real-time.

When confiding in God, Jesus would often steal or sneak away to pray. In times of prayer he would commune with God the Father to get fresh revelation for his life. So, take God with you when you are looking to get fresh revelation about your future. Obtain vision for your life about the future cooperatively with God. Never take a trip into the future with out taking God with you. Then come back to the present and make your choices for the now in such a way as to be congruent with God’s vision for your life in the moment.

Paul tells us in his letter to the Philippians that we should be “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” I think many of us have trouble with this and this is critical for you achieving Christian Vitality™. You must forget the past. Don’t spend any time there. You’ve received forgiveness for your past transgressions and it’s time to put them to rest. I believe that the only value the past has for us in the present is for us to use it to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again in the present. We shouldn’t dwell on the past. If we do, we are not living in the present. It’s kind of like driving a car with your eyes on the rear-view mirror all the time. You wouldn’t do that, would you? That would be dangerous as you might run into something. The same is true about your past. Put it behind you for good my friend.

Paul also stated in Philippians 3:13 that we are to strain forward to what lies ahead. We have a bright future in Christ and God has some really cool things planned for your future, but I think many Christians (myself included) have a tendency to worry about things that “might happen” in the future. Now that is where we get it wrong. A term I learned from my lovely wife Diana long ago is “future tripping”. Taking a life circumstance or event and projecting what it might mean into the future. What could happen? What does this mean to my future? We let our crazy, often negative minds run with it and before we know it, our lives as we know them are going to end. That’s just not right. Instead, we should put Paul’s advice from Philippians 4:6-9 (The Message) into to practice.

6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

8-9 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. Philippians 4:6-9 (The Message)

Why should we focus all of our attention on the present and nothing else? Well, the Lord Jesus commanded it in his sermon on the mount (Matthew 6:34 The Message) when he said, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” See, we are to live in the now. Be real-time Christians serving the Lord and living how he did when he was here. In the moment, asking God “what’s next papa? What can I do now Lord in this moment to bring you glory with my life, this decision, right now?”. And when you do ask, be direct with God. Jesus told us a bit later in that same sermon (Matthew 7:7-11 The Message) “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need…don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better [than how you would provide for your kids]?”.

In the English language and specifically in America, the word gift and present are synonymous. At Christmas and other holidays we give presents. Well, you may have heard or seen the expression that “today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present”.

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present! Also, remember that it isn’t the size of the gift that matters, but the size of the heart that gives it.” – Ellen Glasgow

Appreciate God’s generous gift (the present) of today. Make an effort to build “magic moments” (as Tony Robbins calls them) throughout the day where you truly help yourself feel a deep sense of gratitude & appreciation for the little things. Be in the moment. Be present. Be grateful. Show God how much you appreciate his huge giving heart for the gift of the present moment. Like The Message says in Philippians 4:4a “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!”

At the end of our lives we are not going to remember all the chaos, challenges, or frustrations that we experienced down here. We’ll go back to “magic moments” we had while we were down here. So, make certain that you take as many as you can with you.

What would it be like if you woke up 5 years, 10 years, or even 20 years from now and realized you could not remember any of it? That precious time wold be lost completely. Doesn’t even the thought of that possibility concern you? I’ve heard many people throughout the years and history talk about how life flew by. How they don’t even remember portions of their lives. “Where did it all go?”, is what they ask themselves.

I think we should should make a conscious effort to make sure that doesn’t happen and I think the secret to doing so is living in the moment, in the now by being 110% present as often as possible.

So, the next time you are with a friend, or family member, or even alone with the Lord make absolutely certain that you are present. You are here, right now. You can do that by turning off or blocking your thoughts of the past or future and filling yourself with a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation for the present moment. Also, be sure to also block out or turn off any distractions that you may have like cellular phones, computers, TVs, etc.

Finally, as part of a Christian Vitality™ Lifestyle, you must live your life in real-time as Jesus did. Work these words of scripture into your life that are not incidental additions to your life, but foundational words. They are words to build a Vital Christian’s life on. He warned us in Matthew 7:26-27 that if we only use his words in Bible studies and don’t work them into our lives that we are like a “foolish man” whose home washed away with the storms of life. When he concluded that wonderful Sermon, the crowd listening burst into applause because they never heard anyone teach like that. The Message says in Matthew 7:29 that “It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying-quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.”.

Thank you God that someone was around to write all of this down, so that we know how to live our lives just like Jesus did.

If you found this article helpful on How to stop worrying the Christian Way, please tweet, and share with your friends. Thank you!

Pastor Dan

Encounter God EVERY Day!

I started off my day, much like any other, by hopping straight out of bed half asleep with the temptation of my pillow calling my name. Shout a loud No Paul tells me so, I ignore the calling of my comfortable little friend. “God’s going to do some cool things today, gotta get to it” I tell myself as I walk away from the bed.

I paused for a moment and with outstretched arms up to heaven (I stand as if being held up in a bank heist). I call this the Power Pose. I’ll talk in more detail about the science behind why this has a huge impact on our bodies physically in a future post, but the short version is that, science has proven that if you stand feet shoulder width apart, hands outstretched and reach for the sky…then hold that for an extended amount of time (like 2+ minutes). It will actually change your body’s chemistry. The hormones that produce the feeling of power, and confidence, and certainty will go up in your body. I do this throughout the day when I feel fatigued and tired and it works like a charm. Is it coincidental that the Bible suggests that we lift up our hands to heaven? I don’t think so. Now science proves that it is good for us. Go figure. Yet another ancient Biblical principal proved by science to be good for us. 🙂

With eyes closed and an open heart, I say the Christian Vitality™ Prayer. Oh God, Creator and Sustainer of the whole Universe, YOU are MY loving Father and interested in every detail of my life. You only have GOOD for ME and desire to giving me healing, wholeness, and forgiveness. Everything over which you’ve giving ME authority I place at YOUR feet.

I then rattle off all the things that may tempt me to be a worry for me on any given day. They are all HIS now to worry about and take care of, releasing me of the responsibility. There’s an immense amount of freedom to be had here…for the rest of the prayer go here –> Christian Vitality™ Prayer

Diana and I are the stewards of 5 beautiful little people whom we love very much, which comes with the responsibility of making sure they have breakfast and lunch for the day, this being a school day.

So, careful not to stumble while walking with one eye open, I make my way down the stairs to the kitchen, to get breakfast & school lunches ready.

I’ve been at this place spiritually, mentally & physically, since I went out to San Diego a week ago, where I feel I am closer to God the Father than I have ever been.

Not out of a religious habit or in a manipulative way, I was verbalizing to God and myself and the kitchen cabinets this:

“Thank you God for this place you brought me to. I don’t want this feeling to ever end.”

I’ve been feeling a sense of Synchronicity (like God is laying out every step of the day to work for my good, not in a selfish I want this or I want that way) where I take one step and another and sometimes the step I am taking doesn’t make sense, but by the end of the day or the end of the week it seems they were all well laid out plans for his purposes in my life to prevail. Like every detail of my life is part of a plan and on purpose.

There’s a song inspired by scripture that describes God being a lamp unto to my feet. Well, what most people don’t know is that in ancient times they actually wore little lamps around their feet at night that would light each step you take as your taking it. Not like the floodlights we have today lighting up a hundred yards. Using those lamps, of ancient times, you were forced to take one step at a time. So, this synchronicity is like that. I just take what I feel are Spirit led steps (fully surrendered to God’s will in the moment) and God takes care of the rest. Focusing solely in that moment…in the now…in the present moment.

Back to the moment in the kitchen now…so I just finished telling God thank you for the place I am in. Then I felt a feeling of calmness, oneness, and then awareness when these words came out of my mouth:

God, I appreciate you! [PAUSE] I’m proud of you!

I started to tear up and was overcome by that feeling of sadness that you experience when your at a great movie that has a happy ending, when I realized that…that was the first time I said those exact words. What you don’t know, that brings it even more meaning to me personally, is that 4 days ago I had that exact same moment with my oldest daughter Rachel.

We had one of those moments where I felt God was using me to speak truth into her life. Words with deep meaning and hopefully long lasting affect on her life. At the end of that 45 minute talk she said:

“I’m proud of you Dad. I appreciate you!”

Which was the first time she’s ever told me that. Coincidentally, this morning was the first time I told God the Father essentially the same thing. I apologized to God and then told him, “thank you God for revealing that to me today…I promise to share this epiphany with everyone you send my way and do a better job of letting you know I’m proud of you and appreciate you”.

Why not make every day a God appreciation day? Why don’t we have a God appreciation day on the calender…or a God appreciation week like the nurses, and teachers, and office managers have? It likely won’t ever happen on a national level…that would be just too darn silly to those not so well enlightened ones. But for you and I brother/sister we can do it at a personal level every day. Please join me. Tell me by sending me an email about your encounter with God today. dan {at} christianvitality {dot} com

I believe at least part of the reason why I am at this place of awareness of God’s presence, is the fact that, in addition to the Christian Vitality™ Prayer, I’ve also reintroduced a practice of saying an affirmation prayer I learned from Joseph Murphy from the book, “Think Yourself Rich“. He’s not a traditional Pastor and by many Christians who have not read much about him, may even be thought of as a person more on the outside of the Christian Faith than on the inside. I’d disagree to some extent because I’ve read that book at least a dozen times and it is full of Bible excerpts cover to cover. He was an expert on just about every human religion and I believe a fellow of many colleges when he passed away. He was also an expert on the subconscious mind of man and metaphysics. I believe by marinating on the Bible, every man or woman, independent of their religion, will be impacted by what Christians call God’s living word (the Bible). I think he was also enlightened in this way.

I’m not suggesting you lead yourself astray by chasing after what some may call false prophets by adopting all of what Joseph Murphy reveals in that book. But, if you feel yourself grounded in your Christian Faith, at least allow yourself to be open to the fact that many scholars who study the Bible for many, many years. Are impacted in a profound way and what they share of what they learned has been touched by God through his living word (Bible).

So, that preface being said, I want to reveal to you a practice I’ve reintroduced into my life the last several days that has had an immense impact on my life and brought me to where I am today. I’ve reintroduced a prayer/affirmation that Joseph Murphy taught me and am currently saying it throughout the day. He instructed that you say it first thing in the morning when you get up and then say it a few times right before you go to sleep. The reason being is, that your subconscious mind is more open to suggestion (proven by science and research) at those times and you can essentially reprogram your brain. I’ve personally (internally) made it a prayer / affirmation and have memorized it years ago. It goes like this:

Right now, I am writing in my subconscious mind the idea of God’s wealth. God is the source of my supply and all my needs are met at every moment of time and point of space (circumstance). God’s wealth flows freely, joyously, and ceaselessly into my experience and I thank God for his riches forever circulating into my life. – Joseph Murphy PH.D, D.D. from the book “Think Yourself Rich” (I emphasize the bold words when I say it)

Through this practice of praying that affirmation everyday, morning and night (and even throughout the day), I have reached a level of awareness, synchronicity, and oneness with God the Father. The Creator. The Sustainer of the Universe. I am so, so blessed and thankful.

So, how do we encounter God EVERY day? Out of prayer and submission to him, I’ve been led (I believe divinely) to a practice that can be summarized with this acronym; SOAPP:

Syncronicity + Oneness, + Awareness = (come from) Prayer + Power Pose

So, brother/sister I challenge you today to integrate SOAPP into your life and watch your encounters with God come.

It is my sincere & genuine prayer that this message be a blessing to you and your loved ones. May it allow God to use you in a bigger way in the circle of influence he’s placed you in. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Was this post a blessing to you? Please help spread the word if you feel it is worthy by liking, sharing, tweeting, and pinning it. Maybe your friends may even thank you because it was a blessing to them. 🙂

The State of my Union with God & a Testimonial for friend Matt Trainer

Amish Shah & Matt Trainer changed my life!

In 2008, I was running a 7 figure Affiliate Marketing company. My personal life at the time was in turmoil (understatement) going through a horrible (another understatement) Divorce. I took time away from my personal nightmare and attended an event at that time my friend Amish Shah put on. I owe Amish Shah the credit for getting my bum down there and to him, for that I will always be grateful. It literally changed my life. At that time in my life I was at the bottom emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. It was so bad, I let all my employees go to pursue other paths and let my business, which I could have sold (I had several dozens of offers), just dry up and die.

Over the best sushi I’ve had in my life (I’ve had tons) I met Matt Trainer for the first time. Thanks Amish Shah for footing the bill that night by the way. 🙂

Call it serendipity, divine intervention, or the Universe coming to a place of convergence, either way I’d like to thank God for introducing me to Matt Trainer back then. When I had hit rock bottom and turned back on course for where I am today.

It’s more of a point of reference in my life where my life took a turn upward.

Amish Shah, Matt Trainer, and I went our separate ways, but I reconnected with Matt Trainer earlier this year (2014) with help from another gentlemen I hold in fairly high esteem. Greg Davis. Thanks Greg Davis for reconnecting me with Matt Trainer.

I went on to help build a brand new start-up company (3 of us founded) to an 8 figure business in three years with a 100+ employees.

So, this last weekend 8/9 through 8/10 (2014) I had another turning point when attending the “The Marketing Moron Conference” held by my older now much wiser (and enlightened) friend Matt Trainer.

I can’t give all the credit to Matt Trainer or the speakers etc, but it was a turning point in my life. One I have not had since 2008 (with the Amish Shah event)

This event is another a point in time, one I will look back and can honestly say it was a point when my life took another turn (like the 2008 Amish Shah event) and placed me on course for an exponential growth in abundance & prosperity.

So, even though most people on the outside looking into my current life before, hanging out with Matt Trainer this last weekend, would say I am already at a great place in life. I now realize that I’ve been thinking too small and limiting the amount of God’s wealth and abundance that could/would enter my life.

I now have a degree of clarity and focus that makes me feel attuned to what God’s purposes for my life are. Allowing me to operate in a place where I am truly and genuinely 110% me and 110% present in the moment. The person who God wants me to be and allowing myself to be used by him to change the world we live in.

I feel like I’m on fire now, in a permanent state of “flow” like I’ve been possessed by God and just need to step out of his way and let him do absolutely amazing things. Things I could never do myself.

I will be my only limitation, getting in the way of what he has planned by letting my “self” or ego get in the way. I am committing to God and anyone reading this to never again allow myself to operate at the ground level of life and only operate in a place where I am flying high in the clouds on God’s coat tails and having a significant impact on humanity by being 110% present at all times and 110% surrendered to the fact that God is my source and supply and guides me in all my steps, if I’ll let him.

Thank you Matt Trainer for being the vehicle of change that brought me to this place. You are a true brother and I will be forever indebted to you.

Anyone who has the opportunity to attend another event Matt Trainer puts on, should reflect back on their current state of life and ask themselves…am I thinking to small? Am I ready for some more abundance & prosperity? Am I ready for a turning point? One that would elevate me to higher plane of abundance & wealth exponentially greater than where I am at today? If your inner “still small voice” says yes. Don’t hesitate to go. Just go…

Sincerely with immense gratitude and appreciation,

Pastor Dan

Sacrifice Comfort & Junk Food to Give Glory to God and Lose Weight Too!

12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 ESV

Can all this sacrifice of calories, junk food, comfort (by exercising) be a living sacrifice to God?

Yes! It can.

You can make a lot of the things in your life a sacrifice and it will become a form of spiritual worship. Fasting for one is a way to demonstrate spiritual worship to God through physical sacrifice.

12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1 The Message

I love the way The Message translates this scripture. ‘Take your everyday, ordinary life’ (and every aspect of it) and ‘place it before God as an offering’.

The part about embracing what God does for you relates perfectly to how I’ve often shared with you those moments that I am reminded that “God is my source!”. Everything in your life comes from him.

The part that says don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. This really speaks to our whole way of life. Not only spiritually, but through our diet and exercise we can also be counter-culture for the Glory of Jesus Christ.

We are to fix our attention on God and what HE wants from us and are promised that we will change from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from us and quickly respond to it. We’ve got to be listening, so that when we hear him, we can take action right away.

That’s so awesome don’t you agree?

If we will turn our lives & our commitment to Christian Weight Loss into a living sacrifice to him, God will bring the best out of us and develop well-formed maturity in us. I think that sounds like another example of God’s undeserved Grace abounding blessings into our lives through our simple obedience.

Let’s do it together! What do you say?

You Are Vital in God’s Mission & Purposes!

You’ve probably heard before the term ‘vital organ’ in reference to organs in your body that you could not live without. What about your importance to the body of Christ? Do you feel vitally important to the function of the body of Christ and its fulfillment of God’s purposes on earth?

You should? Here’s why:

One Body with Many Members

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body,so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves[d] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,[e] yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

1 Corinthians 12:12-31 ESV

Well, I think in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he makes the point that their really aren’t any parts to the body of Christ that are not vital. We all drink from one spirit and are called to fulfill his purposes on earth. We are all vital and working together as one body (if we are all running a full capacity) we can help God acheive his purposes here on earth in bigger, better way.

Vitality as defined by Merriam-webster.com

1 a : the peculiarity distinguishing the living from the nonliving

b : capacity to live and develop; also : physical or mental vigor especially when highly developed

a : power of enduring

b : lively and animated character – Merriam-webster.com

One of my goals for you friend is that you achieve Christian Vitality™.

A Christian that distinguishes yourself as one of God’s Living and not one of the non-living (spiritually dead or not growing) and also physically working towards that end as well.

I hope that you grow spiritually & physically in a way that is better developed with a higher capacity to live life to the fullest. A life full of the power of God and one that has been physically better developed to endure…a life that would allow God to use you for a longer period of time.

My hopes are that you are a lively and animated Christian that leads life in such a way that you are a light that shines bright and points toward Jesus as the way for others to live like you.

Here’s a challenge from me to you today…

Do you feel you are serving in a way that makes you vital to the body of Christ? If not, please takes some steps today toward getting more plugged into how you can serve.

Start small if you have to, but get started. Even serving every other Sunday in the 1st graders class can make you vital in the life of children learning about the love of Jesus.

Another day towards a new you and a new identity

When we receive Salvation through our Faith in Jesus Christ, by confessing with our mouth and believing in our heart that Jesus is the Son of God, we become a new creation. Our identity now lies with him and in him. We are believers, followers, we are Christians.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

I don’t want to take away or distract from that, but when you’ve committed to a Christian Weight Loss Program you’ve also committed to building a new identity for yourself. A healthier, happier you who is more like Christ in spirit, but one who is also eating right & exercising.

You are no longer that overweight, clothes-fit-too-snugly, person that you’ve been with for the previous part of your life. You, although the outside appearance of your body may not 100% agree YET, are a healthier & happier version of yourself.

You are working on a new identity. Pretty soon you will be known as the guy/gal who is pretty disciplined with how he/she eats and exercises.

Funny how the word disciple can be extracted from the word disciplined. In conjunction with your evangelism for Christ (sharing the goodness of Jesus Christ) you will also be sharing the good news of eating healthier & living happier (how you learned here). My main point is start to see yourself differently. Divorce (yes that is a strong word) yourself from your old identity. That’s not me anymore is your new attitude.

Doing so will make your new life in Christ and Christian Weight Loss easier and more natural as you make better choices that will get you down the path to a healthier happier you.

Let me be honest. Even if you go through a few or several 40-day cycles and lose significant weight over the next few months and longer, it won’t last and you’ll gain it all back UNLESS you buy into a NEW identity.

So, as you go through your day today start to work on thoughts and actions that support your identity in Christ, but also your identity as a healthier, happier version of yourself…one who’s lost a ton of unnecessary baggage (fat).

May God richly bless you as you make it a great day friend!

I’m going to really focus on opportunities that I can shift my focus to how I will be a new creation. What it will feel like to be able to wear some of the close I gave up on because they were too tight. How, when I’m down significantly I won’t be down on myself anymore. I’ll likely have to go shopping for more clothes because my pants won’t stay up. My belt may not even fit anymore. I won’t be that guy “whose always been a bit of a big guy”. I’ll be the guy people look to for advice on how to get fit and live healthier & happier while following Jesus. That’s the new me…my new identity.

Join me today in doing the same!

Excerpted from the Christian Vitality™ Weight Loss Program