A New Life: Part 1

-The Salvation Army, this is Lori Miller and I'm Bernie Dick, thanks for joining us and welcome to wonderful words of life. All you welcome back everybody and Lori. Congratulations you just finished recording your 10th episode. How do you feel yes I feel phenomenal and I feel actually really grateful to share this sort of topic.

We are glad that you are here you know where in our last two weeks of our series on mental health in this series began on September 15, so if you've missed any absence.

Be sure to subscribe where you get your podcast or visit Salvation Army's downcast.org I love that through this whole series. All Jan doesn't just discuss mental health clinical way but she's wrinkle Scripture on every topic, absolutely because I think we sort of make the mistake of compartmentalizing mental health and spirituality when in fact they are one and the same. I think it's so important that we recognize God's ability to restore in the midst of brokenness. Lori, it really is a bruschetta beer because you are a very deep individual. I love your writing. When you share some of that vulnerability with us.

I love the fact that you keep that kind of in front of us so that faith can play a role in mental healing right there's a thing that our production staff gave us an schism, it's important for us to understand that the church should be part of a coming alongside people living out our faith and being a part of mental health, wellness, so here's something I need to read for you and for faith community leaders in particular Nanny faith that is a network of anatomy and AMI members and friends dedicated to promoting, caring, faith communities and promoting the role of faith in recovery for individuals and families affected by mental illness visit and a MI faith net.

For more information on how you can promote the role of faith in recovery. I think we need to be responsible and careful not to spiritualize every aspect of mental health because they think we do that, so there is great value in therapy and there's great value in in science in regard to mental health because much of it is a chemical thing so we wanted to trivialize that at all. I think we just want to recognize the power of faith on him hand in hand. Sort of together with the other aspects of healing and so I think it's really important to say and I don't want to overplay this idea mentioned a couple episodes back were just to be present day to put down the phone.

The social media just take a break and be present with other people or just become aware of yourself and take a minute to breathe. In fact, in the word we read simply to be still.

That's right, no, that he is God and that of course for us as a Bible believing Christians. It is important to this say out loud and to understand personally. We have to dwell by stay and when we do that even secular studies have shown that faith helps people to live with mental illness.

If this series is been a blessing to you.

We'd love to hear from you. Share your testimony with us or let us know how we can pray for you. Send us an email at radio@uss.salvationarmy.org or call one 800-2299 96. If you're just joining us this week.

I pretty will go back and listen to the previous episodes because we have an incredible godly woman in our studio for the series. Her name is Arianna Dawkins and she works for the Salvation Army in Washington DC here in the United States, which is our nation's capital, and she comes with a lot of experience and passion related to mental health and over a series of talk about so many different things this week. We want to kinda talk about the idea of new life. The Bible and second Corinthians talks about being a new creation. We are a new creation. We ask God to forgive us our sins are when we accept Jesus in your heart as our Savior and idea. It we are a new creation were a fresh start. Nothing in your past needs to be brought forward into the future unless it's experience that will make you stronger help you make better decisions. On the other, as it relates to that. How would you encourage your listeners. In this regard, mental health, new life and new life. I think you just think way is right and so it is speaking about the Bible and new creation.

As I said earlier in the show is that there are 365 references regarding anxiety and not fearing well in the Bible.

I do not think that is by coincidental way, if you look up just the word anxiety in the scriptures that are related so you so it just 53 of the house. So now we got one for every day and one it was one for every week you I truly believe that God knew that in this life we would experience ups and downs, as did his mouthpieces in the Bible you know they had great victory and then you had some not so great victories he has in seasons of dryness and drop drought. As I think finding this information is interesting because at some point in time in our life will all feel that we don't measure up. You know that we don't measure up to what our preconceived expectations were of ourselves and the trajectory of our life, but that God gives us opportunities through just these instances. When we look up the word anxiety in the Bible to know that he's always already laid out a foundation of encouragement and support, and I will where thinking and talking about mental illness.

It is beyond an occasional sadness as we talked about with the price. There's a difference but you can have sadness that brought on by life events course and those who should not be mixed, when there is a consistency in your ability to feel sadness, then that's what we should reach out for help. You know, that's when we should allow guy who's grace all these various doctors and clinicians with the gift to support arms allow them operate in their gift things with those things. I we've made mental health and mental illness so complicated as I talked about earlier with such the negative stigmas attached to warm but why should we be a shame if somebody has heart disease or their diabetic date. Adjust. You know they go see a doctor, but if there's something chemically wrong with our brain or emotions or feelings. We don't so much when their sympathy and encouragement. We share personal stories of overcoming and that's what a new life. He is, is that sometimes we don't believe that the instances I believe that instances in our life are not just for ourselves. They for us to share our testimony of overcoming of that, I went to that but it did in heal me and make me stronger and things like that so I really want us to be able to know I'm in this instance that I you can deal with mental illness. Mental illness is not you, it's a part of you just like anything is a good words. I love when you bring Scripture into how we address mental health. II think that the word of God is is true. I believe it to be true in the Salvation Army as an organization, believes that the Scriptures of the old and New Testament were given by inspiration of God and that they only constitute they only constitute the divine rules of Christian faith and practice on those Christian people when it comes to these like you mentioned stigma which goes back to a previous episode when it comes to the stigmas, you know, perception is not reality for people that are struggling with the way they feel someone sees them. That's I believe it's just the devil lying to them, you know, try to play tricks on them emotionally.

Your reality is that you are a child of God, a new creation, which we talked about last week for us as Christian people we need to rely on God and 365 instances or more of him, saying, fear not, and then 53 instances of him saying you know all your anxiety. Be anxious for nothing, so God is not a God of chance.

God has got you right in the palm of his hand that if we go all the way to Jeremiah in the Old Testament 2911. A lot of you know this verse God knows the plans he has for you. He declares that plans for hope in the future, plans to prosper you not to harm you. So hide these words in your heart hide God's word in your heart and know that he will never leave you or forsake you. These are our words, I'd love to take credit for some of the beautiful Scriptures that we read.

But God put them there for a reason. He inspired people to write them based on the experiences that they had with him or with his son here on earth.

And I think for God to come inhabit our praise is important for people to see him in us literally so I'm so glad you're here because you bring wisdom and experience to our show and make us better, we hope you're having a good time without a great one more episode with her and we pray that maybe we even get to hear you sing before the end of the series, but I haven't teased you about it.

But since a church girl and I don't know if you can hear her South Carolinian accent sneaking in every so often, but we are so leather here. Thank you and thank you for joining us. God bless you for coming out and listening to the show.

We hope that you are blessed, and if you are to God alone be the glory publishes the Salvation Army's mission doing the most good means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army visit Salvation Army USA.org to offer your support and we would love to hear from you. Email us at radio@uss.salvationarmy.org or call 1-800-229-9965 or write us at PO Box 29972, Atlanta, GA 30359 20 contact us will send you our gift for this series is totally free for listeners like you, one per household, while supplies last. You can also subscribe to our show on iTunes or your favorite podcast store and be sure to give us a rating. Just search for wonderful words of life follow some social media for the latest episode extended interviews and more. And if you don't have a church home. We invite you to visit your local Salvation Army warships will be glad to see this is Bernie date inviting you to join us next time. Salvation Army wonderful words of life