Community of Believers

Welcome back! Thanks for visiting my blog!

We are discovering together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Otherwise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life? Recently we have been discussing the 5 Scriptural tools to maturity (Acts 2:42, 47) as a means to build powerful Biblically based wellbeing into our lives! The first three tools were Scriptural knowledge, praise and prayer. Today, we discuss fellowship!

Fellowship is vital to our Christian walk. It may be best described by the Greek word ‘koinonia’ (the New Testament was originally written in Greek) which speaks of our partnership with fellow Christians in the brotherhood in Christ. The basis of our fellowship is our mutual forgiveness in Christ by grace (I John 1:6-10) and that each of us are placed into the church universal by the Holy Spirit (ICorinthians 12:13).

Practically speaking, those of us in the church universal often express our fellowship with those in the local church, church based small groups and close Christian friends.

How then do we fellowship? Although fellowship ‘lite’ might be merely being in the presence of another Christian, effectual fellowship depends on several Biblical standards based on how we think and speak.

• Step I, Careful Reflection - Even before we interact with another Christian we should consider how we can meet their needs; do they need to be encouraged, taught, reminded of Scripture, or just to have a quiet and listening friend? This takes a bit of time and prayerful reflection to know how to best help other people and bear their burdens (Ephesians 4:30, Galatians 6:2).
• Step II, Effective Speaking – After reflecting, we need verbally to convey our thinking to our friend or colleague based on their needs and not to satisfy our own emotions (unless we are in desperate straits). Importantly, our speech should be used as a tool for the good of other people to express: gratitude, commendation, encouragement, admonishment and teaching (Ephesians 4:30, I Timothy 4:16, II Timothy 2:23-24). 

These two steps, used together and sequentially, help assure effectual fellowship with other believers so we can help fortify each other in our faith, push each other on to greater acts of service, and a live a godly lifestyle before our precious Father (Colossians 1:9-10, Hebrews 10:25). Fellowship must be done in balance with the other for tools to maturity.

Thanks for joining me today. Please read next week's blog over the 5^th and final tool to the church: outreach to other believers and non-Christians.

Can true fellowship occur outside a church building? To participate in our latest poll question - please visit our website at http://teleiosresearch.com/#anchorpoll

WC Stewart

http://teleiosresearch.com/

http://teleiosblog.blogspot.com/

Response policy

The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language.

I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.

Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow

Welcome back! I am glad you are here.

We are discovering together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Otherwise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life? We have been discussing the 5 Scriptural tools to maturity! The first two were Scriptural knowledge and prayer. Today, we discuss praise!

Praise is paramount in our Christian life. The epistles frequently attribute praise, honor and glory to God and Christ which they deserve because of their perfect character and magnificent actions.

As mentioned in prior blogs, for the first church in Jerusalem praise was an ongoing occurrence among these first believers (Acts 2:47). Our lives also are to be a praise and honor to God (Philippians 1:11). In addition, we make a sacrifice of praise to God as a part of our daily lives (Hebrews 13:15).

Why is praise so important for a Christian? Prior Teleios sponsored research showed in a Bible believing church praise was associated with greater wellbeing especially with greater frequency.¹

We do not know the exact reason that praise helps personal wellbeing. However, we might suspect the following:

First, praise commends our great God for who He is and what He has done. Not only does He deserve this praise but it helps us think of ourselves as well as our personal issues and problems in proper perspective compared to God and His higher goals. This helps us maintain a humble attitude in life and promote service to God and others (Romans 12:1). Such an attitude allows the Holy Spirit to better work in our lives and allows us to know God better (Colossians 1:10, I Thessalonians 5:19).

Second, recognizing through praise that we have a great and powerful God, who also answers prayer, helps us to know more fully that we can trust our issues and problems to him (John 14:13, Philippians 4:6).

Praise God frequently. He deserves it and you will be better for it!

Thanks for reading my blog and please join me again next week as we continue this series on the tools to maturity

How should we praise? To participate in our latest poll question - please visit our website at http://teleiosresearch.com/#anchorpoll

WC Stewart

http://teleiosresearch.com/

http://teleiosblog.blogspot.com/

1. MacIlvaine WR et al. Association of strength of religious adherence to quality of life measures. Complement Ther Clin Pract 2013;19:251-255.

Response policy

The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language.

I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.

Pray the force be with you!

Welcome back! I am glad you are here.

We are discovering together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Otherwise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life! We recently discussed the first step to entering the gateway to Biblically based wellbeing: becoming a Christian by accepting Christ’s forgiveness by faith, understanding our salvation is permanent, and that we should not feel guilt. What great promises!

Based then on this sure foundation, several weeks ago we began to discuss the 5 Scriptural tools to mature our faith by examining Scriptural knowledge (Acts 2:42 and 47). Today, we discuss prayer!

Prayer is one of the cornerstones of the Christian life. Scripture tells us that we should pray frequently and persistently. As Christians we can come boldly before God in prayer uninhibited and unafraid to receive mercy in our every time of need (Hebrews 10:19-22). The content of our prayer should be thankfulness for God and others (Philippians 1:3-4, Colossians 1:3), praise (Hebrews 13:15) and petitions for ourselves and others (Philippians 4:6).

The content of our prayers should be consistent with what glorifies Jesus Christ (John 14:13-14, John 15:7). Paul offers 3 model prayers in which he emphasizes what God wishes us and others to attain by our prayers no matter the situation (Ephesians 1:15-23, Ephesians 3:14-21, Colossians 1:9-14) including: knowledge of our salvation and the Bible, understanding, hope, power and love as well as demonstrate service, patience and persistence in our Christian walk.

Medical research indicates that the active prayer increases wellbeing and the more frequent the prayer the better for wellbeing (1-5). Why would this be? Well this has been studied little to my knowledge but several potential benefits might be:

• Prayer provides a release for our emotions to God perhaps relieving tension and frustration.

• It engenders a sense that somebody cares and is listening. We also know that the Holy Spirit and Christ Himself pray on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:26,34)

• It causes us to pay attention to Scripture, hopefully, as we pray and so offers us help to consider, and form an answer to, our problems as we deliberate mentally our requests to God.

• It reminds us to be thankful for others and for His blessings to us.

• It helps us to praise and remember that we have a great God whose purposes are greater than ours. Thus, it helps keep our own problems in prospective.

In addition, as Christians we have the benefit of God's promise to answer prayer so there may be a further benefit through His gracious provisions (John 14:13-14).

Therefore, prayer is a key tool to maturity as a Christian, invoking God's help but yet reminding us of Scripture, praise and to be thankful, all which may our assist our wellbeing. Prayer is one of the great benefits of our Christian life. Thanks be to God for such a provision.

Thank you for joining me. See you next time

Why will God not give me my desires? To participate in our latest poll question - please visit our website at http://teleiosresearch.com/#anchorpoll

WC Stewart

http://teleiosresearch.com/

http://teleiosblog.blogspot.com/

1. Stewart WC et al. The source and impact of specific parameters that enhance well-being in daily life. J Rel Health 2015; in press.
2. MacIlvaine WR et al. Association of strength of community service to personal wellbeing. Community Ment Health J 2014;50:577-582.
3. MacIlvaine WR et al. Association of strength of religious adherence to quality of life measures. Complement Ther Clin Pract 2013;19:251-255.
4. Stewart WC et al. Review of clinical medicine and religious practice. J Relig Health 2013;52:91-106.
5. Stewart WC et al. Association of strength of religious adherence to attitudes regarding glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Ophthalmic Res 2011:45:53-6.

Response policy

The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language.

I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.

Know your Scripture!

Welcome back! I am glad you are here. We are discovering together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Otherwise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life! We recently have discussed the first step to entering the gateway to Biblically based wellbeing: acceptance of Christ’s forgiveness by faith (i.e. becoming a Christian), understanding our salvation is permanent, and that we should not feel guilt. What great promises!

Where do we go from here? Last we discussed that we can proceed in our faith using the 5 tools to maturity outlined in Acts 2:42 and 47. Today we begin to examine these tools individually and how they can promote wellbeing. Today, Scriptural knowledge!!

We know from the medical literature that identifying as a Christian, church attendance and prayer can enhance wellbeing as well as various measures associated with wellbeing (1-3).

To gain a better understanding of this effect Teleios has analyzed specific measures associated with wellbeing, one being scriptural knowledge. Several studies indicate that studying Scripture in general enhances wellbeing (4,5). Knowledge of individual important Scriptures could improve wellbeing, such as: acceptance of salvation, confidence in salvation and lack of associated guilt. Interestingly at a study done at the University of Georgia Christian and non-Christian students alike recognized Scriptural wisdom as being good for their life, such as ‘Be slow to speak and quick to listen’ (internal data, Teleios Inc)!

More research is needed to evaluate the effect on wellbeing associated with pivotal Scriptures, but we are all off to a good start!

Why would Bible study improve wellbeing? Scripture is the manual by which we can mature and live our Christian life. Scripture indicates good fruit in our life will occur as we mature in the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Importantly, the Spirit uses God’s word to teach us and provide us power (I John 2:27, Ephesians 6:17). Just as when we buy a new iPhone or droid we read the manual (hopefully!) to determine how it may be used to help our life, so we should study Scripture for our Christian life. The more we read and understand the more fruit we should gain.

Importantly, this takes personal study of God's word. It is not enough to live by the jargon within church society which may actually not represent God at all (e.g., ‘I will do this will when I have peace from God’; or ‘God will open the door’). We are to the act obediently whether or not we have peace or not and we make decisions based on His Word and prayer and then act in faith (I Timothy 4:4-5, Romans 14:23). In a recent survey of conservative pastors conducted by Teleios, they overwhelmingly supported the concept of using Scripture to teach truth and not jargon in the church (internal data, Teleios Inc).

Study God's word and reap the reward!  If you do not know how to study the Bible contact us here please at Teleios and we will make every attempt to help you. Thanks for joining me today.

What is the best way to learn Scripture? To participate in our latest poll question - please visit our website at http://teleiosresearch.com/#anchorpoll

WC Stewart

http://teleiosresearch.com/

http://teleiosblog.blogspot.com/

1. MacIlvaine WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, et al. (2014). Association of strength of community service to personal well-being. Community Ment Health J, 50: 577-82.
2. MacIlvaine WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, et al. (2013). Association of strength of religious adherence to quality of life measures. Complement Ther Clin Pract, 19: 251-5.
3. Stewart WC, Adams MP, Stewart JA, et al. (2013). Review of clinical medicine and religious practice. J Relig Health, 52: 91-106.
4. Hamilton JB, Moore AD, Johnson KA, et al. (2013). Reading the Bible for guidance, comfort, and strength during stressful life events. Nurs Res, 62:178-84.
5. Levine EG, Aviv C, Yoo G, et al. (2009). The benefits of prayer on mood and well-being of breast cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer, 17: 295–306.

Response policy

The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language.

I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.

Pastors on church activities that might contribute to wellbeing

Welcome back! I am glad you are here. This is a third in a series of blogs discussing surveys performed by Teleios of pastors who graduated from conservative seminaries (Masters, Denver and Westminster). The first two surveys covered pastors’ adherence to biblical teaching and the influence of societal pressure on their beliefs posted on Apr 8, 2015 and May 13, 2015, respectively. Today is the third topic regarding what aspects of church life influence the wellbeing of attendees?

             Personal wellbeing has been frequently studied in recent years as a general indicator of an individual’s mental and physical health (1-5). Although variously defined, wellbeing might be considered as is a person’s emotional and cognitive evaluations of their lives, including happiness, peace, fulfillment and life satisfaction (6). A number of factors may contribute to wellbeing including mental, physical and financial prosperity, socialization, marriage and a positive relationship with God (1,2,7-13).

Church attendance also has been demonstrated to be associated with improved wellbeing not only as a general parameter, but also with increasing frequency of attendance (1,2). Potential causes of this finding are not specifically known. Therefore, we surveyed pastors to learn what they perceive as contributes to wellbeing in their church. Teleios sent the survey to 976 pastors of whom 105 (11%) responded.

Our study found that overwhelmingly pastors believed the experiences of their congregation as positive to very positive, in all typical areas of church life. (Please see table for partial results). Those activities that showed the greatest ‘very positive’ responses were generally spiritual in nature including: praise, prayer, sermons, hearing the gospel and baptisms. Those that demonstrated the lowest ‘very positive’ answers were liturgical readings, amount of time spent at church, social structure within the church, Sunday school and children’s programs. Consequently, items not specifically discussed in Scripture, and potentially more rigid in design, potentially might aide wellbeing less although necessary they may be necessary at some level.

Why would church attendance help wellbeing? We do not know precisely, but potential causes could be from subordination of self-interests to those of a greater being (so personal problems are considered less onerous), social support, adoption of healthy practices through church emphasis on respect for the body, relief from anxiety through prayer and the discipline of gratitude (14-21).

In summary, our study suggested that church attendance, and especially the spiritually based activities, may contribute to wellbeing. These factors that help explain findings from prior studies that have shown church attendance having a positive influence on wellbeing.

Thanks for reading my blog. Join us next week as we continue our investigation of how the Bible might benefit personal wellbeing.

Table: Percent of Bible believing pastors indicating that a church activity would have a very positive response on wellbeing

	Responses	Percent
Praise (including musical worship)	58	55%
Prayer	59	56%
Liturgical readings	6	6%
Sermons	75	71%
Hearing the gospel explained	67	64%
Amount of church responsibility by members	32	30%
Baptismal services	59	56%
Celebration of communion	49	47%
Amount of time spent at church weekly	18	17%
Socializing with other worshipers	42	40%
Social structure within your church	21	20%
Children’s programs	31	30%
Small groups	41	39%
Sunday school	23	22%

How does church best help your wellbeing? To participate in our latest poll question - please visit our website at http://teleiosresearch.com/#anchorpoll

WC Stewart

http://teleiosresearch.com/

http://teleiosblog.blogspot.com/

1. MacIlvaine WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, et al. (2014). Association of strength of community service to personal well-being. Community Ment Health J, 50: 577-82.
2. MacIlvaine WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, et al. (2013). Association of strength of religious adherence to quality of life measures. Complement Ther Clin Pract, 19: 251-5.
3. Stewart WC, Adams MP, Stewart JA, et al. (2013). Review of clinical medicine and religious practice. J Relig Health, 52: 91-106.
4. Cotton S, Levine E, Fitzpatrick C, et al. (1999). Exploring the relationships among spiritual well-being, quality of life, and psychological adjustment in women with breast cancer. Psychooncology,8:429-38.
5. Reed P. (1987). Spirituality and well-being in terminally ill hospitalized adults. Res Nurs Health, 10:335-44.
6. Diener E, Oishi S, Lucas RE (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annu Rev Psychol, 54: 403-25.
7. Diener E, Ng W, Harter J, et al. (2010). Wealth and happiness across the world: material prosperity predicts life evaluation, whereas psychosocial prosperity predicts positive feeling. J Pers Social Psychol, 99:52-61.
8. Penedo FJ, Dahn JR (2005). Exercise and well-being: a review of mental and physical health benefits associated with physical activity. Curr Opin Psychiatry, 18: 189-93.
9. Horwitz AV (1996). Becoming married and mental health: A longitudinal study of a cohort of young adults. J Marr Fam, 58:895-907.
10. Marks NF, Lambert JD (1998). Marital status continuity and change among young and midlife adults longitudinal effects on psychological well-being. J Fam Issues, 19:652-86.
11. Lillard LA, Waite LJ (1995). 'Til death do us part: Marital disruption and mortality. Am J Sociol, 100:1131-56.
12. Lipnicki DM, Sachdev PS, Crawford J, et al. (2013). Risk factors for late-life cognitive decline and variation with age and sex in the Sydney memory and ageing study, PLoS ONE, 8.
13. Schneider B, Rapp I, Klein T, et al. (2014). Relationship status and health: Does the use of different relationship indicators matter?  Glob Public Health, 9:528-37.
14. Levin JS (1994). Religion and health: Is there an association, is it valid, and is it causal? Soc Sci Med, 38: 1475–82.
15. Krause N (2010). Church-Based Emotional Support And Self-Forgiveness in Late Life. Rev Relig Res, 52:72-89.
16. van Olphen J, Schulz A, Israel B, et al. (2003). Religious involvement, social support, and health among African-American women on the east side of Detroit. J Gen Intern Med, 18: 549-57.
17. Davis DT, Bustamante A, Brown CP, et al. (1994). The urban church and cancer control: a source of social influence in minority communities. Public Health Rep, 109: 500–6.
18. Eng E, Hatch JW (1991). Networking between agencies and black churches: The lay health advisor model. Pre Hum Serv, 10:123–46.
19. Whooley MA, Boyd AL, Gardin JM, et al. (2002). Religious involvement and cigarette smoking in young adults: the CARDIA study. Arch Intern Med, 162: 1604–10.
20. Stanley MA, Bush AL, Camp ME, et al. (2011). Older adults' preferences for religion/spirituality in treatment for anxiety and depression. Aging Ment Health, 15: 334-43.
21. Inzlicht M, Tullett AM (2010). Reflecting on God: religious primes can reduce neurophysiological response to errors. Psychol Sci, 21: 1184-90.

Response policy

The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language.

I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.

A sure-fire way to enhance heath: Pay attention to your body!

In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

This would have been a very surprising statement for Paul to make to an assembly of sophisticated Greeks living in the 1^st century. The Greek view of the body suggested it was the prison house of the soul. The body was a hindrance to the freedom of the inner-self. That view caused many people in the ancient world to disrespect their bodies in many health-destroying ways.

The biblical view of the body is very different. From Genesis to Revelation the Bible asserts a unity between the physical body and the immaterial soul. What we do with our bodies affects our soul; what we do with our soul affects our body. Because we are a soul/body unity, it’s critically important that we respect our physical body as something that can impact emotions, joy and consequently many ranges of mental health.

Conversely, those disciplines that calm and center our soul on God have the potential to affect our physical health.

Specifically, in this case, Paul says, “Don’t commit acts of sexual immorality.” Why? We know today from the vantage point of modern science that these acts will create body/soul memories, imprints that often interfere with genuine long-term stable relationships, especially with those we love the most, not to mention causing estrangement in our relationship with God.

Moreover, sexually transmitted diseases are exploding today. According to the CDC, “half of the estimated 20 million STDs that occur in the United States each year are among young people.” According to RH Reality Check, the recent rise in sexually transmitted diseases continues as epidemic proportions.[1]

But we can extend Paul’s principle of respecting the God-given boundaries of our bodies, to other areas as well. We live in a world where science-based studies inform us about all sorts of healthy and unhealthy behaviors. So, I think Paul would say, by application, “Look, glorify God in your bodies by maintaining good habits of mental and physical health.”

All of us know that certain habits will quickly destroy physical and mental health. Pornography is a quick way to addiction. Drug abuse is a quick way to mental instability. Abusing food is a slow path toward physical ill-health.

But the ultimate reason for maintaining habits of health is that our bodies are a portable mini-temple for the Holy Spirit. Our bodies are containers. But they are more simply disposable containers. 

Our bodies are dignified and spiritual. We are a temple reserved for God the Holy Spirit to do his work.

If we are healthy we’re going to have greater opportunities to represent the risen Christ through the power of his Spirit.

Another passage supports this as well: Romans 12:1-2 – “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.” The fundamental way we steward our bodies is to present them to God each day.

And because we’re a soul/body unity, we are simultaneously presenting both body and mind.

Daily stewardship of our physical bodies is going to lead to greater long term health and happiness.

Rod MacIlvaine

W. Rodman MacIlvaine, III, D.Min

Director of Faith-Based Research, Teleios

http://www.teleiosresearch.com/

W. Rodman MacIlvaine, III, DMin is on the adjunct faculties of both Oklahoma Wesleyan University and Dallas Theological Seminary. He is the founding senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Northeastern, Oklahoma – a church that has worked extensively to serve educational needs in the Spanish Speaking Caribbean. A Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, Dr. MacIlvaine works with men and women in transition, especially those who are shifting into second careers. Dr. MacIlvaine specializes in apologetics from an historical and theological perspective. His emphasis is in showing how adhering to God’s word has generated many benefits to societies, cultures and individuals.

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[1] http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/01/14/report-sexually-transmitted-disease-cases-increased-2012/

Tools needed to mature your relationship with God

Welcome back to my blog. We are on a fascinating journey evaluating what the Bible says about wellbeing. We recently discussed the first step to entering the gateway to Biblically based wellbeing: acceptance in Christ’s forgiveness for our misdeeds by faith in his death on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:23-26). Then we evaluated the importance of understanding that our salvation is permanent – no matter what - and that we should not feel guilt in daily life (I Peter1:4-5, John 10:27-31)! 

This is a great start but is there more? Can we further improve our lives with the benefits of Christianity and the Bible? The answer comes from the Bible’s 5-step approach to maturing our relationship with God which helps us access additional benefits to our wellbeing. I call this method the ‘5 tools to maturity’ and they are taken from Acts 2:42 and 47. They are as follows:

1. Prayer
2. Praise
3. Fellowship
4. Receiving Biblical teaching
5. Reach others with Biblical truth

These five tools describe the activities in the very first church in Jerusalem and provide a model to us today for what actions individuals and the church should perform routinely. Importantly, these five activities are confirmed in later verses in the epistles.

Why are these 5 tools important? When implemented consistently, and in balance with each other, these activities appropriate God's Word into our daily lives. We will consider them individually in upcoming blogs.

For now it is important to emphasize that the 5 tools may enhance personal wellbeing, not only when performed individually, but even more so done in aggregate. A number of studies have shown that church attendance, which would allow for these five tools to be expressed in a community setting, may enhance personal wellbeing (1-4). Further, several studies sponsored by Teleios also have noted that individuals who perform these activities have enhanced wellbeing and especially when performed in aggregate (5-6).

This is exciting news! Consequently, scripture tells us that we can have a sure and certain relationship with God, guilt free, and He provides us measures to propel our spiritual growth leading to better personal wellbeing. What great promises! Join us in upcoming blogs as we look individually at these 5 tools, and why and how they can promote wellbeing. Thank you for joining me today. I look forward to seeing you next time. Please tell me your questions and comments and please share this blog with your friends.

Does Scripture suggest enhanced wellbeing based on a Biblical Lifestyle? To participate in our latest poll question - please visit our website at http://teleiosresearch.com/#anchorpoll

WC Stewart

http://teleiosresearch.com/

http://teleiosblog.blogspot.com/

1. Parsons S, Cruise P, Davenport W, Jones V: Religious beliefs, practices and treatment adherence among individuals with HIV in the southern United States. AIDS Subject Care STDS 2006;20:97-111.
2. Reed P: Spirituality and well-being in terminally ill hospitalized adults. Res Nurs Health 1987;10:335-44.
3. Keefe F, Affleck G, Lefebvre J, Underwood L, Caldwell D, Drew J, Egert J, Gibson J, Pargament K: Living with rheumatoid arthritis: the role of daily spirituality and daily religious and spiritual coping. J Pain 2001;2:101-10.
4. Cotton S, Levine E, Fitzpatrick C, Dold K, Targ E: Exploring the relationships among spiritual well-being, quality of life, and psychological adjustment in women with breast cancer. Psychooncology 1999;8:429-38.
5. MacIlvaine WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, Stewart WC. Association of strength of community service to personal wellbeing. Community Ment Health J 2014;50:577-82.
6. MacIlvaine WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, Stewart WC. Association of strength of religious adherence to quality of life measures. Complement Ther Clin Pract 2013;19:251-5.

Response policy

The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language.

I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.