5 Quick Tips to Getting Healthy

Psalms 119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. I know some of you have said to me that you don't know how to do it....you know, to be healthy.  It's too hard, it's too complicated, you hear too many conflicting reports about what is healthy anymore.    I am going to give you some simple easy steps.  God's desire for us, is to be healthy and feel our best, so we can carry out His missions that He has set out for each of us.  His instructions for health are easy and they are easy for us to follow...it's all about simplifying it down.  He wants us to eat what He created for us.  He wants us to work and get exercise physically.  He also has instructed us to get rest when we need it. All those tips are located in His word. 5 Quick Tips to Getting Healthy  1.  Plan your meals You know the phrase, "You are what you eat." ?  .  You must be prepared in advance and plan your meals and your families meal in advance.  Plan your recipes, shop and read your labels, and plan your meals and snacks in advance.  When you have no plan, this is where unhealthy options seem like the only way to get a meal. 2.  Get enough Sleep. Everything seems easier with a good night’s sleep and with good reason… your adrenals are functioning better and you’ll get stressed less easily. Getting quality sleep is an important pillar of health, especially if you have any underlying adrenal, thyroid or endocrine issues. Catching ZZZZs is also the most ignored part of overall health in my experience, and unfortunately, you can’t out diet, out exercise or out supplement lack of sleep. Ignoring this one factor can have a serious negative impact on your health! 3.  Stick to the Basics Eating a healthy diet doesn’t have to be complicated. A protein, healthy source of fat and vegetable make a meal and there are thousands of combinations..  Just read the labels, avoid ingredients that you don't know what they are.  It really is that simple.  If you have a recipe that you like, buy the ingredients for it by reading the labels on your items and make it healthy! 4.  Avoid the Worst Offenders The best laid plans of mice and men…. It’s not always possible to eat completely healthy 100% of the time, especially when traveling or at other people’s houses. Try to avoid foods like grains, vegetable oil and sugar completely if you can, and don’t stress too much if you can’t eat a completely optimal diet all the time. My 80/20 rule comes into play here… sometimes the stress of avoiding certain foods is worse than the foods themselves. If you do indulge occasionally, aim for the healthiest option available and move on! 5.  Simplify Your Fitness More isn’t always better! Save time and improve your fitness faster by optimizing the types of exercise you are doing. Consider ditching the treadmill or gym membership and take your simplified fitness routine outside!  I love to do videos that combine cardio and weight and stretching all in 30 minutes!  I do those 3 times a week and I'm done. Brandy Kisner Health & Wellness Coordinator

Learning to Be the Light

The past few weeks I have just struggled.  I almost feel like assuming the position you would pose for an earthquake, down on all fours with my hands over my head just bracing for impact!


It seems like when things go not so well, its not just one thing its everything. Sure, my plate overflows and I have so many "irons in the fire".  The only problem is that every iron is poking my backside! Have you been there?


As a Sunday school teacher and Bible study leader I tend to take things so personally.  When attendance is down I automatically start thinking, "What have I done?  What can I do differently? Have I.......???" A blue million questions, questioning myself..doubting.  Thank God He used Pastor Mark this Sunday, to speak to me, to remind me that our responsibility as Christians is to pass the Gospel down, which is a release from me. My husband tells me all the time, "Why do you take this so personally? Why do you let it get to you? You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink."  I guess we women do have the tendency to become emotionally attached and its harder to break through.


This is just one of the many struggles I have dealt with lately.  Every piece of tension, stress, heartache, doubt etc, all accumulates and we wear it around us like a chain. The weight of all the junk gets to be pretty heavy. The realization I came to after the sermon was -  our duty is to live in the light of the Holy Spirit and walk by what he tells us to do. It is not our duty to hold on to all of these 'unfriendly things.' and pass them on to others. By merely passing them on by way of prayer we are handing them over to God. If we approach each situation as it comes they don't have time to pile up and weigh us down. Sure, I pray as my problems and stressors arise but, there is only one problem;  I speak the words out to God but I don't fully hand it over to Him.  An illustration of what I mean is imagine taking our prayers written on a paper and laying them on the altar at church, then picking them back up before you return to your seat.. uh, yea, I am so guilty of this!

Gods grace is an overflowing fountain, filling up our every need. We have to allow room for His grace. If we have so much 'clutter' we are filled we can't sense His measure of grace pressed firmly in our lives.. we have to receive it.

1 Peter 1:2 (NASB)

"According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure."

The fullest measure.. an indescribable vast amount is ready and available!


As Christians, we cant assume things are going to always be a path of peace and tranquility. It surely wasn't for Jesus, but I'm still learning, and although I fall short, He loves me anyway. As darkness comes into our lives, we just have to look to The Light.

~ submitted by Jeni Morelock

Whom Do You Glorify?

Recently, I found out that servers at restaurants don't like to work on Sundays. It was shocking to me to find out why.  They are quick to tell that overall, Sunday crowds are rude and bad tippers.

Yesterday as I was scrolling looking at posts on Facebook, it hit me, a lot of the posts I was reading well.... were not very nice. Yet, the very people that post these not so very nice things, go to church regularly.

As Christians, we should really open our eyes and maybe start reminding ourselves that everything we do glorifies someone, God or Satan.
As we jump down our server's throat, post ugly snide remarks in  social media, talk to our neighbors, or whatever it may be, if it is not glorifying God, Satan surely is happy.

It's really sad.. pathetic actually, that we are so caught up in our fleshly feelings that we can't control ourselves from being ugly and bitter.  I certainly don't want to walk away from a conversation with those who are left saying 'and she calls herself a Christian'......

The cashiers we are ugly to, the people we haven't seen in ten years on Facebook.. what kind of impression are you leaving? Are you allowing Christ to shine through you, exposing something to the world that they might want to come to Christ, or are you giving Christianity a bad name?

Fruit of the Spirit:

Galatians 5:16-17
"Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things you wish".

Verse 19-23
"Now the works of the flesh are evident which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like; of which I tell you before hand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But, the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control...."

Verse 24-25 "Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

What Paul is saying in his letter to the Galatians, we should heed today, if we are born again believers we need to act like it and bear the fruit of the Spirit, not of the Flesh.

~ submitted by Jeni Morelock

How to Raise Godly Children-By Example

Last week we talked about the importance of attending and being involved in church, among fellow believers. The conclusion was that if we don't make it a priority while the children are growing up, it certainly will not be a priority when they are grown.

The second half of this vital training is that we must reiterate what they learn at church in the home.  Being a Christian isn't only something we say or do, it is a lifestyle.  It means that we must be consistent in every area of our lives.  What we say, where we go, what we watch on TV or movies, the music we listen to, the friends we associate with, should be consistent, and not contrary to what the Bible teaches us to do.  God's intent in laying out commands and commandments was not to punish us, but to protect us.  When we step outside those commands and go it on our own, we are sure to stumble and fall, and there will be consequences.  

Reading the Bible to and with our children is a must.  We must teach them the Word.  Bible stories when they are smaller, and Bible study as they get older, will instill in them scripture with which to combat the enemy when he tempts and attacks them. "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I may not sin against thee." - Psalm 119-11.   "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,…" Deuteronomy 6:6, 7

The way we treat our friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and strangers are a reflection of what's in our hearts.  Our children observe and learn from us.  What are we teaching them?  

What about your mouth?  Are you a gossiper?  Are you hateful to your spouse?  What about cursing?  "And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!" - James 3:10

If you are a grandparent, it is your responsibility to help to train your grandchildren and teach them about Jesus.

Our lives are a recording that our children will replay in their own minds and lives.  What are you recording by the example that you set before them?

Pam Archer

Women's Ministry Director