How HEALTHY is your faith?Bookstores are flooded with books on faith. But there are few practical books that provide what you really want and need most-a step-by-step action plan that creates a faith that works, a faith that has intellectual, emotional, and biblical integrity. What will Healthy Faith do for you? Healthy Faith gives you a practical and comprehensive step-by-step plan with intellectual integrity, inspirational motivation, and faith-building exercises. It will enable you to * Perform a self-diagnosis identifying the problems with your faith * Experience intimate relationships with God and others * Eliminate misconceptions about what biblical faith is * Answer tough questions that are often stumbling-blocks to faith * Recognize God's will for you and be aware of his presence * Maintain permanent changes to your faith and relationships * Control your emotions to strengthen your faith * Practice daily faith-exercises to keep your faith healthy and in shape * Construct your own strategic lifestyle plan for daily useIn short, Healthy Faith works because it empowers you to reframe your story into the faith journey you've longed for.It will help you develop a faith that works everyday in every circumstance. And it gets you what God wants for you-a close, personal relationship with him, producing a life filled with purpose and peace.

Dr. Jacob Bronowski, in his book and PBS documentary series entitled "The Ascent of Man" spoke of unhealthy religion when he stood before the ashes of his relatives at the Auschwitz crematorium. He said, "This is how men behave when they believe they have absolute knowledge." People seek simple answers and absolute knowledge, but anyone or any religion that claims absolute knowledge or absolute and infallible religious sources and tells people what to think, is a clear carrier and manifestation of unhealthy religion. Is "Healthy Religion" an oxymoron or is it achievable in one's life? This research-based document provides you with the means for identifying what is healthy and what is unhealthy in religion. You may be surprised to discover that what you believe and the manner in which you practice your religion may be more a function of your personality than of your religion in the way in which your personality attaches itself and expresses itself in your religion. Literal, dogmatic religious postures of fundamental and evangelical groups are manifestations of close-minded authoritarianism. They also reflect militant, and extremist dictates for one to follow. The manipulation and mind-control methods of fear, guilt, and shame, used with people to secure membership and provide group consensus in belief, violate the very essence of religion and the basic foundations of what is "Healthy Religion". Certain attributes of healthy personality produce healthy religion, and healthy religion promotes healthy personality. You will uncover the ingredients and characteristics of both in this book! Visit his website: walterkaniaphd.com

A comprehensive theological framework for assessing the significance of eating, demonstrating that eating is of profound economic, moral and theological significance.

Experiencing Healing from Painful Spiritual Abuse When religion becomes a means to avoid or control life, it becomes toxic. Those who possess a toxic faith have stepped across the line from a balanced perspective of God to an unbalanced faith in a weak, powerless or uncaring God. They seek a God to fix every mess, prevent every hurt, and mend every conflict. Toxic Faith distinguishes between a healthy faith and a misguided religiosity that traps believers in an addictive practice of religion. It shows how unbalanced ministries, misguided churches, and unscrupulous leaders can lead their followers away from God and into a desolate experience of religion that drives many to despair. Toxic Faith shows readers how to find hope for a return to genuine, healthy faith that can add meaning to life. In the words of the author, “I want to help you throw out that toxic faith and bring you back to the real thing.”

This volume reviews and integrates the growing body of contemporary psychological research on the links between religious faith and health outcomes. It presents up-to-date findings from empirical studies of populations ranging from healthy individuals to those with specific clinical problems, including cancer, HIV/AIDS, and psychological disorders. Drawing on multiple perspectives in psychology, the book examines such critical questions as the impact of religious practices on health behaviors and health risks; the role played by faith in adaptation to illness or disability; and possible influences on physiological functioning and mortality. Chapters reflect the close collaboration of the editors and contributing authors, who discuss commonalities and differences in their work, debate key methodological concerns, and outline a cohesive agenda for future research.

Is it time to get rid of religion? Not so fast, says Ryan Ahlgrim. It's time for us to define and demand healthy faith. Despite the dysfunction and divisiveness seen too often in religion, we continue to need a community of love, and we yearn for a transcendent encounter that can heal us. So instead of abandoning religion, Ahlgrim outlines twelve characteristics of a healthy religious community, and describes what a healthy Christian community of faith believes and practices. Along the way he reveals the power of story, the genius of Jesus, and the path to wholeness. In the end we are faced with the most daring and fulfilling choice of all: to embrace a community of love that trusts in God.

COVID-19 has transformed our everyday lives. It’s as if another world has arrived in the blink of an eye. Yet life is not on pause. We still need to live. The pandemic, like any other time, is a moment both of opportunity as well as challenge. Healthy Faith in the Coronavirus Crisis is a briefing on how to thrive in a world of restrictions. Twenty leading Christian thinkers have come together to help you begin to navigate this strange reality. Each contributor writes on their area of expertise, and topics covered include prayer, loneliness, work, singleness, marriage, parenting, grief, death, imagination, conversations, humour, and much more. They offer practical advice as well as helpful perspective from Scripture. This is an essential resource for anyone looking to cultivate a healthy faith which infuses all areas of life during this disorienting time. Early Reviews This really is an excellent book... informative and useful, and I would not hesitate to recommend it widely to believers and unbelievers alike. - Eddie Arthur, Kouyanet “Healthy Faith is essential reading for any Christian.” - Terry Wright, Spurgeon’s College “beautiful and arresting” - Johan De Young, Before Leaving Earth blog, Oak Hill student CONTENTS Section One: (re)orientation 1. Orienting to the New Reality (Luke Cawley) 2. Homecoming: The Art of Being Human (Kristi Mair) Section Two: fragile life 1. Viruses and God’s Good Creation: How Do They Fit? (Paul Copan) 2. The Art of Dying Well: Reflections of a Christian Medic (John Wyatt) 3. Dancing with Uncertainty: Lessons from the Persecuted Church (Eddie Lyle) 4. Grief and Comfort: Understanding and Responding to the Experience of Loss (Richard Winter) 5. Navigating Loneliness: Why It Hurts and How We Can Respond (Ed Shaw) 6. Healthy Fear: Keeping Calm and Considering Christ (Dan Strange) Section Three: connected life 1. Stable Disruptions: Furlough, Unemployment, Front Line, and Our Constant Call (Ed Creedy) 2. Working in God’s World: A Time for Recalibration (Cal Bailey) 3. Connected Singleness: Distance Without Isolation (Kate Wharton) 4. The Shape of Marriage: Scriptural Principles (Dianne & Derek Tidball) 5. Communicating With Your Other Half: Tips from the Marriage Coaches (Julie & Keith Johnson) 6. Parenting: The Opportunities of Being Trapped With Your Kids (Rachel Turner) Section Four: growing life 1. Church, Crisis and Creativity: A Chance for Revitalization (Krish Kandiah) 2. Prayer in Confinement: Postures and Practices for a Flourishing Faith (Jill Weber) 3. Encountering Scripture: Turning to the Psalms in Times of Trial (Matt Searles) 4. Viral Conversations: Extending the Hope of Jesus to Friends (Andy Bannister) 5. The Liberated Imagination: Realities Beyond Restrictions (Mark Meynell) 6. Infectious Laughter: Humour in an Age of Tragedy (Andy Kind) Afterword God With Us: A Paradigm for Life During the Pandemic (Tom Wright) Appendices 1. A Psalm in the Epidemic: Trust Triumphs Over Fear (Pablo Martinez) 2. How Hope & Patience Embrace Each Other: A Reflection (Pablo Martinez) 3. Advice for Carers & Relatives: Practical, Medical, & Pastoral issues (John Wyatt) 4. Current legal framework for end-of-life decisions (John Wyatt) 5. Sample Statement of Wishes and Values for a Christian Believer (John Wyatt) 6. Safeguarding tips for churches (Thirtyone:Eight) 7. Guidance for working and communication safely online (Thirtyone:Eight) 8. Ten Tips for Working From Home (Luke Cawley)

Presents a collection of classic Southern recipes, modified for healthier lifestyles, in a volume complemented by anecdotes about the author's Southern childhood.

This book is the first to present new medical research establishing a connection between religion and health and to examine the implications for Eastern and Western religious traditions and for society and culture. The distinguished list of contributors examine a series of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) topics that relate to religious faith and behavior. PNI studies the relationships between mental states and the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. Among the issues it focuses upon are how mental states, in general, and belief states, in particular, affect physical health. The contributors argue that religious involvement and belief can affect certain neuroendocrine and immune mechanisms, and that these mechanisms, in turn, susceptibility to cancer and recovery following surgery. This volume is essential reading for those interested in the relationship between religion and health.