Christianity at the government level

Welcome back to my blog! We are exploring together what the Bible says about personal wellbeing. In other words, how can the Bible assist you in living a more contented, purposeful life? 

I concluded last week’s blog with the thought that personal service benefits not just the individual serving but the community as well; and this assistance promotes a courteous culture which allows all to pursue their best!

How Christianity influences society remains a controversial topic. I propose that Christianity profits society on two broad levels; first, at the governmental level, and second, in the local and national societal levels. This week we will examine the influence of biblical Christianity at the governmental level.

I emphasize the term ‘biblical Christianity,’ as opposed to the organized hierarchical Church, because the two have different goals and are based on a different set of beliefs.  The former establishes its basis for decision making in the Bible and seeks to follow its precepts while the latter is grounded in certain man made distortions of the Bible.

In fact, the hierarchical church seeks to follow humanistic principles. Certainly it has performed many important functions historically, including especially in the Middle Ages such as:

• The maintenance of important historical documents for future generations
• Provision of an organized government and society in many localities
• The promotion of education and healthcare
• Secure living arrangements and employment for both men and women
• Community defense arrangements

However, the hierarchical church’s departure from biblical Christianity from the late Middle Ages onward.  It promoted unhealthy societal trends such as war, oppression, corruption and totalitarianism based in political opportunism, wealth and power. Its forceful influence was from a top-down perspective.

In contrast, biblically based Christianity promotes an organized society, based in the individual, where each person is encouraged to work and provide for their family (II Thessalonians 3:10-12), and to obey the government and pays their taxes (Romans 13:1-7).  Further, each one of us should desire to maintain a good reputation in their work, be non-violent, raise responsible children (I Timothy 3:1-7), be honest (Ephesians 5:9) and do good to all men (Galatians 6:10). We will discuss these characteristics next week but suffice it to say in this blog these characteristics, on an individual level, should promote a societal atmosphere which allows for good and honest government.

Although to my knowledge no good academic, prospective, well controlled study proves or disproves these points, the best evidence of my thesis is an analysis of world history and current society. It is those countries which historically have adhered most closely to biblical Christianity (Northern Europe, the UK and the countries derived from its original colonies) that generally are the most successful economically, enjoy functional non-corrupt government, live in free, organized and efficient societies, promote science and innovation, and fight for justice for those who cannot defend themselves or who are impoverished both inside and outside their own country.

Further, government benefits from a society based in biblical Christianity because it promotes honest, hardworking individuals who minimize the need for government action to maintain order as well as provide a population with individuals of strong character to serve in the armed forces and administration.

The Bible promotes healthy wellbeing not only for the individual but also encourages healthy government and government societal interactions as well!

Thank you for joining me today. Come again next week as we discuss the Bible's benefit to local and national societies.

What was Christianity’s influence on the Roman Empire? To participate in our latest poll question - please visit our website at http://teleiosresearch.com/#anchorpoll

Thank you for joining me today. I welcome your comments and questions.

WC Stewart

http://teleiosresearch.com/

http://teleiosblog.blogspot.com/

These sources contributed to this blog:

Hannah JD. Charts of Modern and Postmodern Church History. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015.

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/listhistories1.asp

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.

Service with a smile!

Welcome back to my blog! We are exploring together what the Bible says about personal wellbeing. Otherwise, how can the Bible assist you living a more contented purposeful life? 

Last week we began a fascinating discussion of using our Biblically enhanced wellbeing to help other people. We first emphasized that our speech should not be used to satisfy primarily our own emotions or purposes, but to meet the needs of others. That takes some work!

However, to serve God we should turn our thoughts away from ourselves, as we are able, and reach out to others, not only using gracious speech, but our actions as well. Amazingly, the service we provide to others further enhances not only our knowledge of God, but our own wellbeing as well (Colossians 1:10). In a survey Teleios performed recently at Grace Community Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, pastored by Dr. Rod MacIlvaine, we found among over 300 attendees that those who were involved in church or community service demonstrated greater personal wellbeing (Community Ment Health J 2014;50:577-582).

Why would this be? We do not know for certain, but we could speculate the following: first, those who serve other people have the satisfaction of knowing they are meeting the desires of God; second, their own problems are put into proper perspective not only by perceiving the suffering of other people but also by ordering their own priorities under God’s; and lastly, by serving they will focus less on their own troubles perhaps reducing the emotional burden of these problems.

Of course, the benefit of serving others is not limited to the person giving but also to the individuals or communities receiving the help. The benefit of service has been little studied in the medical literature, to our knowledge, however, we believe that assistance to communities and giving to individuals promotes a gracious and courteous culture which allows all to pursue their best. 

Consider too that a generous local community helps people to remove their dependence on state subsistence which requires taxpayer funding and limits local community action and individual care for one another. Such dependence on a distant government may result potentially in a cold and self-focused community.

Thank you for joining me today. I welcome your comments and questions.

What type of service is the most important for a church member? 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.

Spreading wellbeing: What’s good for you is good for them!

Welcome back! Thanks for visiting my blog! We are exploring together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Likewise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life?  

Today we begin the exciting journey of using our good wellbeing to help other people. Ultimately, to know and to serve God we must turn our thoughts away from ourselves and reach out to others. Amazingly, however, that service we provide to others further enhances not only our knowledge of God, but our own wellbeing as well (Colossians1:10; Community Ment Health J 2014;50:577-82).

We can divide this topic into two sections: our words and our actions. Today we start with our words!

The manner in which we speak to one another is of vital importance. The Bible implores us to control our tongue and reminds us how destructive our speech may be (James 3:1-13).

How do we do this in a practical way? Biblical speech can be broken down into three basic steps:

1. Foundational biblical thinking

2. Biblical planning

3. Biblical speaking

Let’s discuss briefly each point in turn.

Foundational biblical thinking - The first step to speaking to one another in a godly way is to control what we think about other people. Ultimately, what we think about someone will influence our behavior and speech. The apostle Paul is a good example to us in that he typically begins each epistle to a church by expressing gratitude, commendation and his commitment to pray for those to whom he is writing. It's very difficult to be nasty to someone for whom you are thankful, you realize the good things God has done in their life and you are praying. Such profitable thinking is critical to Bible oriented speech.

Biblical planning - Thinking well of someone is not the end of the process of developing Biblical speech. We must consider specifically how we might help a person. This takes some consideration (Timothy 4:16). In our busy lives it's not easy to know or even notice a person's need. Consequently, taking a few minutes to consider a person's situation in life and potential needs is critical. What if you cannot think of any needs? That's easy, ask them! This demonstrates your love and care and helps you to know how to love them. In summary, develop a plan!

Biblical speaking - Once you have a mindset that is favorably disposed towards someone and a plan to meet their need(s), you are better positioned to speak with them. Indeed, how we speak to each other as Christians is very important. Ephesians 4:29 indicates that we should speak to one another’s need. Further, the whole concept behind the Greek word for love agape (αγαπη) is to love based not primarily on emotion, but on the other person's needs. This includes speech. Our speech is not a tool to use primarily to express our own emotions but to help other people. Such thinking and speech processes then will give you the opportunity to give away the lessons of wellbeing that you have learned from Scripture and have incorporated in your own life. Wow, what transformative ideas! The Bible is a wonderful tool.

Thank you for joining me today. Next week we will continue this discussion regarding service to others.

What should speech primarily be used primarily for? 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.

Living well!

Welcome back! Thanks for visiting my blog today! We are exploring together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Otherwise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life?  

We discussed several weeks ago four characteristics in Scripture that have been shown in the scientific literature to improve wellbeing: hope, empathy, thankfulness and forgiveness. This last week we spoke about the importance of the Holy Spirit as a key link, along with the 5 tools to maturity (see prior blogs), in allowing God’s influence in our lives which leads to enhanced wellbeing.

Besides the 4 characteristics mentioned above, what other helpful attributes can we realize in our Christian lives? Many scriptures detail be helpful attributes God desires us to have. One of the most important is stated in Galatians 5:22 which details the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, humility and self-control.

As they are a fruit of the Spirit how can they be gained? Last week we learned that in general there are three roles in the Christian’s relationship with the Spirit. These roles can be used to gain the 9 attributes of the fruit of the Spirit as well as other godly characteristics that can improve our lives. Let’s apply these three principles in regard to the fruit of the Spirit (please see last week’s blog for a more complete description).

Non-variable actions of the Spirit: A Christian should first realize they possess the Holy Spirit permanently: He dwells inside them with all of His available power (Ephesians 1:13-14; II Corinthians 1:22; 5:5); and the Spirit is our seal (guarantee) of salvation and cannot be removed (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30).

Variable actions of Christians: It is only the believer themselves who can limit the action of the Spirit in their lives. Therefore we are told to “walk” (i.e., lifestyle) in the Spirit and become mature in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:18). We do this by being obedient and seeking the attributes of God through scripture.

Variable actions of the Spirit: If allowed, the Spirit through the word of God can empower our lives, put to death the deeds of the flesh, and lead and comfort us (Romans 8:13-16), changes us (II Corinthians 3:18) and helps produce in us the 9 fruits of the Spirit. Not only may these characteristics contribute potentially to better wellbeing personally, but their presence is a measure of our maturity as a believer.

Other verses also speak about wonderful attributes the Christian may acquire from the Spirit (Romans 15:13; Romans 8:6; II Timothy 1:7; Romans 14:17; Ephesians 5:9).

That’s all for now. Thank you for joining me. Next week we will discuss how a Christian, having gained better wellbeing themselves, can also enhance the wellbeing of their family, friends and colleagues. See you next week!

Can the fruits of the Spirit produce better 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/ 

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.

The Holy Spirit and wellbeing

Welcome back! Thanks for visiting my blog today! We are exploring together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Otherwise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life?  

Last week we began our series on the results of using the five tools to maturity: praise, prayer, fellowship, outreach and receiving teaching to cultivate the results of Biblically based wellbeing in our lives. We discussed initially four of these results: forgiveness, hope, empathy and thankfulness. An important verse with additional results of Biblical living is Galatians 5:22 which denotes the ‘fruit of the Spirit’; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, humility and self-control.

What role does the Spirit play?

This is an important issue to understand how the Spirit works in conjunction with the tools to maturity to produce good results in our lives. Consider that the five tools represent the motor for maturity. The Spirit acts as the gasoline, enriching us with power to drive the engine. Both must be present and work in conjunction to each other to create movement.

The Spirit is often misunderstood and Christians are often unclear how it works in their lives in a Biblically based way. We can summarize the Christian's relationship to the Spirit in three basic ways:

• Non-variable actions of the Spirit: These include: convicting the world of sin (John 16:9), regeneration to life of new believers (Titus 3:5), indwelling believers from the time of salvation onwards (Ephesians 1:13-14) and praying for believers (Romans 8:26).
• Variable actions of Christians: As believers we can influence our relationship with the Spirit and so we are told not to quench or grieve the Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19 and Ephesians 4:30 respectively) but to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) and be filled (mature) in the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)
• Variable actions of the Spirit: If the Christian, being indwelt by the Spirit, allows Him to act then the will teach us (I John 2:20,27, John 16:13), put to death the deeds of the flesh, lead us based on the word of God, comfort us that we are His sons and daughters (Romans 8:13-16) and act to empower our lives through the word of God (Ephesians 6:17)

It is impossible to overestimate importance of the Spirit in our lives. He has given us new life through our faith in Christ and lives in us permanently, making available the full power of God for us based on his Word to mature us providing the fruit of the Spirit and the enhanced wellbeing of our lives. 

Indeed it is the Spirit that fuels the engine of our growth as an obedient Christian to God’s word.

That is all for now. We return to results of a Biblically based life next week based on the incredible promises of God.

What can make a Christian lose the Spirit? 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.

Good CHARACTERistics to enhance wellbeing

Welcome back! Thanks for visiting my blog today!

We are exploring 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 robust Biblically based wellbeing into our lives! Today, with these tools in hand we discuss the results of the process!

The fruits of maturing in Christ are multiple and are mentioned throughout the New Testament. Let's begin by focusing on four Bible-based characteristics shown beneficial for wellbeing in the medical literature that we recently reviewed (forgiveness, gratitude, hope and empathy).¹ This article was recently published in the Journal of Religion and Health. To accomplish our goal we reviewed clinical studies covering these four characteristics in patients from 1966 to present. We included 63 articles in the review.

All four measures evaluated in our study were shown to improve wellbeing, from pre-adolescents to older adults. Further, these measures were associated more specifically with improved social relationships and physical health as well as reduced delinquent behavior.

Although our review focused on the effect of four specific measures on individuals themselves, and not on the recipient, we might speculate that any increase in wellbeing among the evaluated individuals could transmit a greater sense of wellbeing to others.

The source of the four evaluated parameters also was evaluated and only two primary sources were found!  First, forgiveness, gratitude and empathy could be taught, at least to some degree, through classes or a training module. Hope has not been evaluated in a training module to our knowledge.

Second, a person’s religious faith, or their involvement in a community of believers, appeared positively associated with all four evaluated measures. How the measure was developed through religion was not completely clear. We might speculate that forgiveness, gratitude, hope and empathy were produced through knowledge from the religion’s scriptures, through self-learning or sermons, or through interaction with the faith community.² Importantly, almost all articles evaluated in our review were from traditionally Christian countries.

Our review suggests that forgiveness, gratitude, hope and empathy may improve general wellbeing, pro-social and positive relational behavior and demonstrate positive health effects. These four measures may be derived from religious instruction and through a faith community.

What other Biblical characteristics are beneficial to wellbeing? Join me next week as we continue our exciting discussion of the Biblical characteristics that can change your life.

Please download the infographic of this review at our website www.teleiosresearch.com. 

Could improved wellbeing be gained from any religion to the same extent as Christianity? 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, Reynolds KE, Jones LJ, Stewart JA, Nelson LA. The source and impact of specific parameters that enhance well-being in daily life. J Rel Health 2015; in press.

2.     Hong IW, Ow R. Hope among terminally ill patients in Singapore: An exploratory study. Soc Work Health Care 2007;45:85–106.

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.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations

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! Today, we discuss the 5^th and final tool: outreach to other believers and non-Christians.

The first four characteristics of the early church (prayer, praise, fellowship and receiving Biblical teaching) were centered around assisting the individual believer and the faith community itself. However the 5^th principle concerns reaching beyond the established community to those in need, physical or spiritual. This tool was noted in Acts 2:47 ‘the ‘Lord added to the church daily.’ Since we know that to believe in Christ people have to be told verbally (Romans 10:14), consistent with one of Christ’s last commands on earth to ‘teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 28:19), it is highly probable that those in the first church were telling others about their faith. 

Further, the Apostle Paul urges us to teach others individuals in the faith (I Timothy 4:6, 11, 16; II Timothy 2:25). Even more simply we are to encourage one another to love and do good works (Hebrews 10:24) and to speak to others according to their need (Ephesians 4:29).

Beyond this we are told to do good and pray for all men, be good citizens (I Timothy 2:1-2; I Peter 2:13-15), work hard and honestly to the glory of God (II Thessalonians 3:10-12, I Timothy 2:1-2; Colossians 3:17), and within the church provide social help to those in need (I Timothy 5:1-16).

Why does Scripture tell us to reach out to serve and influence others by teaching our beliefs? We do not know for certain, but we might hypothesize several results of teaching and serving others:

• It takes our mind off ourselves and focuses on someone else's needs. This most likely is healthy for us and gives our mind a rest from ruminating over our own troubles.
• It orients our goals under those of the almighty God and recognizes His purposes are greater than ours. Therefore, our personal troubles are set in proper perspective, providing a balance to our own mental health. 
• It helps build community, both in numbers and maturity, by encouraging a civil and gracious society.

Outreach and service combine as the last of our 5 tools to maturity. When practiced in balance according to God's Word these 5 areas will provide you the opportunity to incorporate the wise characteristics in the Bible that were known by the apostles and the first generation Christians.

What are these characteristics that are so beneficial to wellbeing? Join me next week as we begin our discussion of the Biblical characteristics that can change your life.

Which of the five tools to maturity is most important? 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