Podcasts + Posts

A quick read through the Bible reveals something that sounds somewhat odd: Healing actually happens in Heaven.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. When we get there, there's no need for healing. Everything has changed, right?

* No more sickness

* No more disease

* The causes of suffering are gone!

After all, Heaven is where God intimately "wipes every tear away from [our] eyes" (Revelation 21:4).

Bear with me, though- for a second. You see, when we see healing occur now, we actually witness the presence of that future. Now. Physical healing- and physical health- demonstrates the presence of the Kingdom.

(Side note: I really believe this about physical health. I believe that one of the reasons we're drawn to health + beauty is because it's indicaitve of the image of God. Beauty didn't come from Satan- he doesn't create anything. He only perverts that which is glorious and good... things like music, astronomy, sex... and beauty.)

Between two...

One of my favorite pictures of my wife is one she never knew I took. Until after the fact, of course.

We were at a vendor booth last year, selling some of our books and training materials. We’ve chosen not to separate our faith from our business- or our business from our faith. I understand it can be tricky for some people to walk that line, but it’s served us well.

On one hand, people of faith regularly seek our help. They know we’ll support them, breathe life into them when their tank feels empty (the Lord knows ours has been tanked-out plenty of times and we’ve had amazing people pour into us!) and send them on their way feeling better than when they came.

On the other hand, I’m learning this: people who ARE NOT “of faith” (or have faith, but of a different kind than ours- I've learned that most people are open & actively seeking truth) actually appreciate us “owning” where we’re coming from- as long as we’re...

I read an interesting quote from a pastor back when I was studying to create The Healing Workshop:

"God's desire isn't for you to be healed; His desire is for you to be so healthy you won't need to be healed" (Dr. / Pastor Henry Wright).

Sounds odd, but when we really get into it and start uncovering what's in the Bible, we learn something amazing. Health was always God's design. So was healing.

Things started this way + they end this way 

Maybe that's why there were "leaves for healing" in Genesis 1:29 (the Hebrew word, oklah, which is translated as "food" in that passage literally means "food and medicines").

In other words, that verse actually reads: "Every seed bearing plant... I give you for food and healing."

Maybe that's also why healing exists in Heaven. John writes that "The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations" in Revelation 22:2.

Ezekiel says the same thing (47:12). The tree of life bears fruit for food... and healing. Even in Heaven. 

...

 In this short video I talk about part of my morning routine- something I do every single day: NingXia Red + Idaho Blue Spruce + Goldenrod. In this video, I'll tell you why!

For those of you who prefer to read, here's the short version: 

• NingXia Red = loaded with antioxidants. Helps me look good + feel even better. And, At this point, I'll take all I can get!
• Idaho Blue Spruce = may support testosterone levels in men. After the age of 30, your testosterone drops at the rate of about 1% per year. No big deal between the age of 30 and 31, right? But, by the time you're 40... and 50... you have guys with the functional muscle mass and metabolism of women. I'm a fan of the fairer sex- I married to an incredible lady- but we're designed to be biolically different, so...
• Goldenrod = supports healthy circulation in the areas that aging guys *might want it the most. Know what I'm sayin'?

There you have it. Those three.

NingXia Red + Idaho Blue Spruce + Goldenroad = Man Up!

It's...

We grow more through our interaction with other people than we do from books we read and classes we attend. Don't get me wrong, I love both. But, let's be real- the best part of attending any class, any workshop, or any seminar is really the people you meet. More happens outside of the sessions than it does inside the scheduled event itself. Right?

I participated in this exercise a leadership workshop one afternoon in which the facilitator lined us against the back wall of the room, asked us to make a paper plane, and then had us toss them one-by-one, launching them across the room.

Predictably, most planes took a quick nose dive... 

...a few made a bit of distance and then veered radically to the right or left... 

two made it across the room.

You read that right. Two. Only two people of the 40-50 who were present could make a plane that would fly all the way across the room.  

Do it again, but...

The facilitator then did something interesting. He had...

Everybody can juggle 1 ball.  I know- that's not technically a "juggle." Just bear with me...

Most people can juggle 2.

Some people can handle 3.

A few can deal with 4.

That's just the way it is. Some of us can handle more than others.

In our day, it's become en vogue to handle more- to grab all we can and chunk it. In fact, one of the hallmarks of our conversations is to relay how busy we are....

"How's it going...?" someone asks.

"Busy," we say.

Or maybe they say it if we ask them. And we're in awe. For some reason, we think it's a mark of failure if people have some free time. That they're lazy. That they don't have priorities in line.

In other words, we all like juggling. And, as is the case in most things, the more we juggle, the better... 

Or so we think. 

What juggling is, what juggling isn't

Notice that-really- the juggle is NOT multi-tasking. Often, we think that multi-tasking is the way to get more stuff done. Busy people are great multi-taskers, we...

Most of the the time we see what we want to see. In the book Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior (now, think about that title!), Ori & Rom Brafman write about the effects of pre-existing beliefs and how they effect our ongoing belief patterns- even when confronted with new information to the contrary.

They write about a visiting lecturer, a guest teacher at MIT. As an experiment, the teacher lectured 70 economics students at the prestigious university.

Now, you've gotta think- if anyone is not going to be swayed by something, it's going to be this bunch of smarties. Right?

Well, all 70 students were given a bio on the visiting professor. The bio was a page long and detailed the profs accomplishments. The students were instructed to review it before listening to the lecture.

The only difference was this:

* half of the students had a bio that said the guest teacher was "a very warm person"

* the other half had a bio that said the prof was "rather cold"

That's it. ...

Somewhere, we bought the line that poverty is noble, that sickness is a blessing, and that Heaven is when things really start happening in our favor. Yet, a quick look at the Father of our faith shows us something radically different...

In fact, Paul writes that one of the reasons Christ redeemed us was "so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles..." (see Galatians 3:13-14). 

Health + vitality = wellness

Abraham's story begins in Genesis 12:14, when he is 75 years old! So, this concept may help some of you who feel like the best years are in the past, that there's not enough time in your life-calendar remaining to do something that matters. His life didn't start until well after most people retire. 

Early in his story, we see his grown nephew, Lot, get "kidnapped." So, Abraham does what any 75-plus year old guy would do- he goes to war and actually defeats five kings (Genesis 14:14)!

(I know- 75 year old guys don't pick fights,...

Every bridge breaks down to one piece of wood. If you know WHERE you want that bridge to go, you can build that bridge anywhere as long as you build it once piece at a time. 

A few years ago we renovated our house. We bought an old, old house (as in "1903" old- it had already seen more than 100 years when we purchased it). By the time we got it, it had been through two world wars, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights movement, and several renditions that invovled carving up a once-big house into tiny apartments. 

It needed a lot of work.

I wasn't really a carpenter. I'm still not. Up to that point, though, I'd only used a screw gun (read: cordless drill) a few times. I could swing a hammer. And I knew how to do basic repairs on a bicycle (I know- this has nothing to do with carpentry or houses at all, other than the fact that you usually store your bike at your house... just pointing out that I had some tool experience). I'd never used anything with a compressor- like a...

You can go anywhere you want to go- if you FIRST admit where you are. We know it's true. That's how we find out how to get to the coffee shop (like the example in the video above). It's how we take vacations. It's how we change jobs, move houses, and even select our classes in school.

In each of these instances, we simply decide where we want to go... then we "own" where we are now. From there, we move forward to our destination. 

There's no shame in it. In any of these cases. We know that in order to move anywhere, you have to know where you're standing right now. 

Here's the problem, though. When things get "more serious"- when it's a big dream we're pursuing, particualarly something we feel that we should already have achieved...

* how many of us thought we'd be farther along in life by now?

* how many of us have compared our ditch with everyone else's highlight reel, thinking we should have better kids, more stuff, and a bigger whatever...?

* how many of...