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Greetings!
Help........Hope.....Healing........
Best Life is founded around these 3 simple words. And yet how powerful they really are. This month, we're taking a look at the third of these words we stand behind: the word HEALING.
Join the Best Life Ministries Staff, and some of our friends, as we take a closer look at the way we react to trials and challenges in our everyday lives. Are we allowing God to bring healing into our lives and our hearts so that we can use that pain to encourage others? |
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 Healing... When the Pain is Deep
By: Executive Dir.,
Kathy A. Weckwerth
Psalm 147:3 (MSG)
"He heals the heartbroken and bandages their wounds....Our Lord is great, with limitless strength."
At times, healing can't come fast enough...but God is always in the center of the process...and the pain, along with the healing part of the journey, helps to mold and develop our character.
I remember that afternoon like it was yesterday. I was 4, my sister 11, and we were enjoying a breezy summer afternoon at Grandma's, in Aitkin, Minnesota, riding a bicycle. I rode on the back fender of that old blue bike, holding my ankles away from the wheel spokes.
After while my legs became so tired and as I relaxed them, suddenly my ankle got caught in the wheel spokes. The bike came to a screeching halt, while my sister listened to the screaming of her little 4 year old sister. Lots of blood and inexplicable pain is what I remember most of that day.
Uncle Roger raced outside to pick me up, and as I looked down at the bleeding ankle, I can't remember much more, except my uncle's calming voice and gentle manners as he cleaned and bandaged my wound.
Forty five years later, I can still look down at my ankle and see the scar, but as time ticks by, the scar lessens. I used to be so embarrassed by that ugly round scar, as children would ask, "What's that from?"
What I know now is simply this....I am no longer ashamed of the scars of my life. Instead, that scar remained a constant reminder to me of my experience. I became more compassionate to anyone with physical wounds. I understood deep physical pain, and as I went through horrific circumstances that led to a divorce, I began to understand emotional and spiritual pain.
I am reminded today, as we focus this newsletter about healing, about what it feels like to experience deep pain and anguish. We are all subject to pain in this fallen world. Sometimes our hurts come from sins we have committed, and very often, pain can come from others who sin, and the circumstances and consequences affect us.
Over my life time, I have learned several things I'd like to share with you about healing.
1. Healing does not come instantaneously, but rather seems to be doled out in small amounts, from places outside of ourselves like Scripture, friends, experiences, things we read, music, art, nature, and often in the simple words of children.
2. Healing will come more quickly, when we forgive ourselves and others. Pain and the negative circumstances will ultimately be the "winner" in our worlds, if we give in to sin, by being bitter and resentful.
3. Healing often will come from sharing our pain with others, and in so doing, encouraging them through their pain.
4. When I give in to God, and release my wounds to Him, that's when ultimate healing can begin.
There have been times I have wished and prayed away the pain, but to no avail. In those moments, I have experienced the deepest help and healing from the Ultimate Creator who loves me. I have been drawn closer to Him in my anguish, when I am most deeply drawn into raw and utter dependence on His abilities, and His alone, to meet my every need, and to rest assured that He will use that pain for His glory, if I'm just open and willing. In God's innate ability to bind my hurts, He begins to create in me a place that softens to others and their hurts, so I can bring honor and hope to others around me.
No longer do I hide the scars of my being. No longer do I cringe when people find the old wounds are still healing. Instead, I use them to help others and to make this life better.
I can still see Uncle Roger gently wrapping the torn and bleeding skin. The pain was excruciating, his touch, so gentle. God tells us in scripture that He heals our pains and bandages our wounds. I see our God gently holding us and speaking quietly, tenderly, as He wraps the wounds. I see us crying softly, and knowing that to move ahead, to move forward and to be better; we must continue to remain dependent on His arms that embrace us, so to heal our broken hearts, and His hands that soothingly bandage our wounds.
Join the Best Life Ministries Staff, and our friends, as we take a closer look at the way we deal with life when we're in need of healing.
For more from Executive Director, Kathy Weckwerth, read her blog at http://bestlifeministries.com/best-life-lifelines/
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Physical Healing: Let the Healer Set You Free
By: Lynn Zook
For two years I was completely bedridden-- except to use the bathroom or go to my doctor's office visits. My "show stopping" diagnosis was that I had a very rare blood disorder--- a severe leukemia of the mast cells which behaved like a cancer in my bone marrow and lymph. I almost died many times during that 2 year period because my immune system was so weak. I was in constant pain and no longer able to parent our seven children anymore. Often when I looked in the mirror, the sight of my face scared me. My skin was a sickly color of green, gray, or yellow from jaundice, depending on the day. I would think to myself, "I can't let anyone from my church see me, because if they did, they would stop praying for me." I did not look like a woman winning any battles or anticipating any victories. I looked and felt like I was dying.
Even though it was obvious to the medical profession and to my family that I was losing my battle for life, I felt strongly that I was not called to die. I got down on my belly to beg God for direction, and after praying, I opened the Scriptures. You see, when a Christian woman is under trial, there are two places it is critical to spend time: before the throne of God in prayer, and in the Scripture. God is our strength, and His Word is the tool to fight the battle you are waging.
Every word and every promise there is true. Why is that important? When you are in "the crucible", and in emotional or physical pain, you will be tempted to believe the lies of the enemy, but God wants you to hear His voice of Truth over all the others. God's Word is dependable TRUTH! I knew I needed to set my battle in God's capable hands and release it to God and God alone.
My pain and your pain can only have a purpose when we release it to God to be redeemed and healed by the Great Redeemer and Healer.
Have you ever released your pain to God to ask Him to redeem it and heal it? Now, if you choose to release it, you are agreeing not to put time limits on God or to tell Him how to do it. You are agreeing not to judge His choices to see if they are good enough for you.
If you release it for His healing touch, you are agreeing not to take back your pain. If you forget and take your pain back, you are agreeing to quickly hand the pain back to God before it turns into bitterness, anger, or resentment. You are agreeing before God not to harbor unforgiveness toward yourself or others for the pain you are enduring, knowing that if God allowed it, He can bring you through it, whole and stronger. If you release the pain to Him, You are agreeing that He is more capable of dealing with sin done against you than you would be able to accomplish by using revenge or manipulation to force your way out of the hurt.
Finally, you are agreeing to believe that Christ died to set you free, and that "whoever the Son sets free is free indeed."
Although God miraculously spared my life over a seven year timeframe, the lessons He taught me during the deepest pain have remained with me to this day. Will you give your pain to the Great Healer? He WILL redeem it and set you free!
 | | Photo by Josh Garland: Ireland Flowers |
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 | | Dr. Mary Schulze Michener |
Emotional Healing: The Tears We Cry
By: Mary Michener
If you have cried over a Kleenex commercial~you might be a woman.
If you have cried over a gift you have received, you might be a woman.
If you have cried watching a child, not-your-own, getting on the school bus for the first time, you might be a woman.
If you have cried watching a surprise miilitary reunion on the news, you might be a woman.
If you have cried because your icecream fell off of the cone and onto the floor, you might be a woman.
Sometimes, it seems like I cry over the silliest things. The other night my husband came into the living room where I was watching TV and said, "It's the Voice." I responded with tears in my eyes, "Her daddy is dying."
I am a self-proclaimed cry baby. It doesn't take much to get my waterworks going. Maybe you can relate, or maybe you are someone who likes to hold in your tears. Either way, I want to encourage you to let them out.
God did an amazing thing when He created tears in humans. Humans are the only ones who can cry due to emotions, and emotional tears are different than tears from irritants such as onions.
At the St Paul Ramsey Medical Center, Dr Frey, found that tears from emotions contain toxic byproducts. Crying removes toxic substances that build up during stress.[1] It also reduces manganese, which is a mineral that can affect mood. This means that crying can actually reduce stress and can help you feel better. [2] This research has also shown that people who suppress their tears have an increase risk for heart disease and hypertension.
Have you noticed that women tend to cry more then men? In fact, women cry about four times more then men. This is due to a hormone called prolactin. It is 60% higher in women, and even higher yet when pregnant or nursing.[3]
So, what does this research mean? It means God is caring for your heart. He is caring for your heart physically, as crying actually reduces stress on the body and He is caring for your heart emotionally and spiritually, as well. Luke 6:24 says "Blessed are those who weep now, for they will laugh." John 16:20 says to "weep for it will turn to joy."
God has creatively provided a way for us to express the deep emotions of our hearts, and when we do, He is there to provide the comfort.
[1] The Miracle of Tears 1993, answersingenesis.org
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 | | Photo By: Josh Garland: Robin's Eggs |
Healing Scriptures
There are days in this life, when we feel overwhelmed by physical or emotional needs. It's easy to begin to believe the lie of the enemy that tells us....there is no hope. But we have a STRONG & MIGHTY tower....a God that loves us and wants us to ask Him for help, comfort, and healing. His Word is the Ultimate Source of Power....Read on for more help!
Commit to God Your Need
Psalm 30:2 "Lord, my God, I called to You for help, and You healed me."
Jeremiah 17:14 "Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are the One I praise."
Believe That He is Able to Heal
Psalm 107:20 "He sent out His Word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave."
Psalm 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds."
Jeremiah 30: 17 " 'But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the Lord."
Confess Your Sin
James 5:15 "Therefore, confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
I Jn 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
2 Chron. 7:14 "If my people who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and I will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Continue In Faith
Luke 8:48 "Then He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.'"
Psalm 103:1-4 "Praise the Lord, my soul, all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion."
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Spiritual Healing: Too Far From the Heart
By: Keith Tally
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Keith Tally |
"Too far from your heart to kill you"
I'm not sure where this phrase originated, but I first heard it when I was a young boy. While helping our dad with work around the farm, we would sometimes get a scratch, or a scrape, or maybe even a bruise. Dad would take a look at it, and he would either say the above, or something along the lines of, "It'll feel better when it quits hurting."
Just before my dad passed away last spring, that same phrase came to my mind. "Too far from your heart to kill you." I thought, "It's funny, but it doesn't apply right now." Not until several days later, did I realize that it DID apply.
When you consider what life is, the hurts that come from everything that this world throws at us, along with our inability to handle them properly, are "too far from our hearts" to kill us.
Paul wrote, "But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness." (Romans 8:10, NIV). Jesus, just before His crucifixion, was praying with His disciples and said, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."
True life, eternal life, life without limit - comes when we know God, and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Isaiah prophesied, "...by His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5 NKJV) Peter made reference to this when he wrote, "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." (1 Peter 2:24-25 NKJV) Peter explained that we were healed, in that we have been enabled to return to relationship with our heavenly Shepherd and Overseer.
Jesus, in taking the whippings of the Roman soldiers, absorbed the wrath of a Holy God, taking the punishment that was meant for us. The word atonement has a connotation of turning aside God's wrath, much as an umbrella turns aside a downpour.
When we have Jesus in our hearts, and our lives in Jesus Christ, we CAN be certain of our spiritual healing, our eternal life, and knowing that everything in this life is "too far from our hearts" to kill us.
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Photo by: Alexis Iskierka |
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Celebrate Easter Week with "The Loving Kind"
An Interview With Cindy Morgan
By: Executive Director, Kathy Weckwerth
For many years, as a former Director of Worship & Creative Arts, I have used the music from my favorite cd, Cindy Morgan's "The Loving Kind" for our Good Friday dramatic presentations.
Cindy's music, has transformed a sanctuary, time and time again, into the Good Friday Event, as Christ-followers are drawn back in time, to review the events of the days that proceeded Christ's death.
This month, I asked friend Cindy, if she would walk us through the behind- the- scenes of creating this very moving cd, and she graciously accepted our invitation to share how she created one of the most moving cds on my cd shelf.
Q: What prompted you to create this emotional and very moving project called "The Loving Kind"?
Although I grew up in East Tennessee attending churches that ranged from Baptist to Charismatic, my family's heritage has some Jewish blood running through it. I had taken a trip to Israel with my mom (who attends a Messianic Jewish Congregation) a couple years before I was inspired to make The Loving Kind. I think my first trip to Israel awakened something in me as a follower of Jesus.
Q: During the process, what helped you to craft the music and write the lyrics?
In order to integrate the sounds and the feeling of Israel into the record, my husband (Sigmund Brouwer) and I flew to Israel. Unlike my previous trip where we were a part of a tour and each location was carefully timed out, we rented a car (he is a fearless driver and map reader!) and went all over. Absorbing the music, the culture. We chose the sites we wanted to focus on and spent more time at those locations. We hired a private guide (who was actually muslim) to give us a look at the city from the other side of the political spectrum) I bought a lot of local music at the Old Jerusalem Market. It is one of the favorite memories of my life. The wonderful thing about writing these songs is that the basis for each song is there in the gospels. The challenge was to come at it from a fesh perspective.
Q: Did you feel drawn to any specific song on the cd in particular?
For me it is very difficult to select one or two songs from this record that are the most special because the record represents the entire story and each time I think of each song, I get a feeling about that part of the story that is so important.
But...
I think the two songs that I have the most emotional connection with are Higher and The Whipping.
These are very dark moments on the record but of course, the gravity of the sacrifice Christ made is what makes it so powerful.
On the more hopeful side, the song I have a great fondness for is Take My Life.. from Mary's Magdalene's perspective.
Q: As you wrote many of the songs by yourself, and a few were co-written with others, did you write the project in the order that scripture recites the story, or did you write certain songs first, and then put them in order.
I went with the moment of inspiration, which means "out of order" The first song to be written on the record was "Praise the King" which I wrote on an Easter morning before church (roughly a year before I wrote the rest of the record)
One moment that I found very interesting in the writing process was being seated (as I was flying from Tel Aviv to Paris) beside a hasidic jew. I found his ora very dark and rigid. I felt a great deal of sadness and frustration for him. While I was sitting beside him on the plane I wrote out the lyrics to Hard Heart.
Q: How long did it take you to write and produce "The Loving Kind"?
The writing process took over a year. The process of making the record was about 3 months.
Q: Throughout the years, as my churches have produced a live music video and included many of the songs from this cd, people are so overwhelmingly moved. Did you have any idea how God would use this work for His glory?
Of any record I have been a part of I feel most humbled and fortunate to have been able to tell a musical story of the last 8 days of the life of Christ.
Nothing I have ever written about can compare to the importance of this story. For a writer, what you hope for is to make a connection with the listener. I feel so encouraged and grateful that this record has made such a connection. I do feel that the basis for that connection is the bond of our faith. Ties that bind us together.
*** I want to also mention that my husband, Sigmund Brouwer wrote a novel based on this same time period (that he was researching on the very same trip) called The Weeping Chamber. A beautiful companion piece to the record.
We actually created a dramatic presentation of both the record and his book for several months during the release of The Loving Kind.
Q: What projects are you currently working on and how can people find out more about you?
I have recently released Some Glad Morning Hymns and Spirituals which is available at the Lifescapes counter in Target, Walmart and also at Family Christian stores.
Also, I am currently booking a celebration of hymns tour as well as releasing a new song in a "songwriter series" each month on my website cindymorganmusic.com
For booking info contact webmaster@cindymorganmusic.com
 | | Cindy's New CD |
 | | The Loving Kind: by Cindy Morgan |
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Upcoming Best Life Conferences: Find One Near You!
April 21, 2012
Gateway Church,
Elk River, MN
April 28, 2012
Friendship Church,
Shakopee, MN
For more information, log onto www.bestlifeministries.com
 
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Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep in perfect peace, those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You." (NIV)
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 Best Life Ministries Celebrates Spring!!
"Now hear this......
to the women everywhere...
banish the black
burn the blue
bury the beige
from now on girls....
Think Pink."... excerpt from "Think Pink" from the movie "Funny Face."
It's time to celebrate spring. Time to start thinking about new life, new hopes, and a fresh new season. Join us as we share our favorite things.....all pink.
1. Audrey Hepburn's Classic Movie "Funny Face," starring Fred Astaire and Audrey.
2. These are a few of our favorite....PINK....things:
Powerpuff candle and pillow from Urban Outfitters
NIV Pink Bible from CBD
and then......
OPI nail polish in "it's my pink" Lovely Perfume from Sarah J. Parker.....and peonies from the garden outside!
 
Favorite Audrey movies: Roman Holiday, Funny Face, Sabrina, How to Steal a Million, and My Fair Lady!
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 | | Rising Sun Conf |
Fill 'Er Up Conference
We've enjoyed presenting our conference this year
at Westwood Community Church, NorthRidge Fellowship, Marshall Efree and Rising Sun Church of Christ.
We're headed next to Gateway Church and First Presbyterian.
If you know of a church or location that is interested in booking this conference for fall 2012, or our new conference " Closed Doors/Open Windows: A Conference of God's Possibilities, please connect with us at kathy@bestlifeministries.com
or 320-444-6082. |
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Remember, it's never too late to make changes. Start today. Start living your best life!
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