The self image epidemic

I found this in my draft box from quite a while ago... it had already been posted, but i edited it a bit. i have found more information on the self image problem in our world today, which brings hope and is in the January blog posts... god bless.

Friday, October 09, 2009
8:34 AM
If you haven't noticed, we've got a problem. It's an epidemic. But it's hidden. It's spreading. But the lie so craftily hidden by Satan is in nearly every person's mind who suffers from this epidemic. What is it? Lack of confidence in regard to self image. Who does it effect? Nearly every woman. Especially young girls. Why is it occurring? Well. Because it hasn't been fully exposed. We ourselves are guilty of it. And allow it to happen. We don't claim victory in our own minds- allowing for our thought patterns about ourselves to continue. These stats are not to get you down, but to just bring some light to the issue. The stats:

One in 200 american women suffers from anorexia

Two to three in 100 American women suffers from bulimia

An estimated 10 – 15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are males

Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents

50% of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight

80% of 13-year-olds have attempted to lose weight

Rates of minorities with eating disorders are similar to those of white women
(It is of ALL races- not just one)

Eating disorders are one of the most common psychological problems facing young women in Japan

Pasted from <http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm>


Anorexia nervosa is considered a mental illness… it goes straight to the heart (that's why it's so hard to deconstruct the old patterns)
"

So yes. This is an epidemic. And it goes against the will of God. It has to- Everything God has made is good. And this is clearly not good. One of the reasons: Many girls look around and see other skinny girls. They tend to think that these girls are naturally skinny. Likewise, the girl who thinks she isn't skinny begins to regulate her eating patterns, look in the mirror too many times each day, care too much about what she looks like, focus on herself too much (rather than focusing on God), and because of her preoccupation with her weight and her constant resistance towards God's better plan in her life, she grows ever further away from how God designed her to think about herself. And the sin creates the feeling of a wedge between herself and God.
He will never let go. He will never let go. But she has. The sin so prevalent (which we convince ourselves isn't a sin at the time) is a trick. The thing she doesn't realize is that the reason why many of the other girls are so skinny is because they are thinking and doing the same thing- the same unhealthy pattern. So because of this trick, our minds no longer desire to obey God. This is unfortunate and saddening. We become futile in our thinking towards God. Watch- prayer slowly slips out. Reading the Bible wholeheartedly slowly slips out. And the mirror slips in. Thoughts about food slip in. Food is all you can think of. When I focused on the food I was eating all the time, I didn't have anything else to talk about. I would talk about high-calorie foods I loved, and I loved baking. Which was true. But I let talking about that food be my supplement so I didn't have to eat them. The Spirit of God no longer seemed to be dwelling in me. I didn't let it. I seemingly became more selfish. In my heart. I don't know if you could tell it on the outside. I bet so. But I knew it. As I was preoccupied with my weight and what I ate, the less I cared about sharing a meal with someone- because it meantthat I would have to eat where they wanted and not stick to what I preferred eating. The more I ate healthy, the more I seemed stuck-up and disconnected. As if I was better because I was eating better foods. i didn't believe this and i gladly knew it to be false, but my heart felt mean towards others many times.
And another lie snuck in there while all this is going on: "But I am supposed to be eating better foods. God says to take care of my temple." You see. It's the half-lies that get us in trouble. Yes. Take care of your temple. Take care of the body christ has given you. But there are multiple meanings to this idea of taking care of his temple. His temple also means taking care of the Body of Christ- other people around you. When you care only about how you look and what you're eating, you aren't thinking about others! It's a horrible trap! The other thing "temple" means is take care of the Holy Spirit- the body of Christ living in you. While being semi-orthorexic, I sure didn't care as much about how I maintained the Holy Spirit living in me. I didn't let him live in me. So yes. Take care of your temple. But if you're starving yourself. Or caring too much about your diet or food at all or if you're preoccupied with how much fat or not-fat you have on your body, you are not taking care of your temple he's given you! IF YOUR TEMPLE IS WEARY BECAUSE YOU HAVE DEPRIVED IT OF CARBS, THEN HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO SUFFER AND LABOR FOR HIM! If you can't hold yourself up because you feel too tired and sick and you look pale, how in the world are you going to resist the temptation of the devil? The sad thing is, when I was preoccupied by my body, I didn't mind giving in to the devil. I just let things slip. It took a very loving mom to get me to stop. To tell me that she was done worrying about me and letting me try and deal with it on my own. And you know what. Everytime someone offered me food I wouldn't let myself eat, the devil came out in me. My spirit grew mean. Cause there was confrontation. I had to lie to find some way to not eat it. Adding another conscious sin to the pile. And when mom made me eat. I in my heart was horrible. There was such ugliness building up in my heart because of my resistance to the confrontation God put in my life. It was the day before our mission trip to chicago. And she told me I had to start eating real foods or I couldn't go. The thing is- it got to the point where I didn't even have a preference to what I ate- I didn't know what I wanted to eat. I just knew what I was allowed by myself to eat. And that became what I wanted. Healing didn't come over the chicago trip. I still watched what I ate. I still censored everything that went in my mouth. I had the healthiest thing at Jamba Juice and the healthiest thing at Oberweis. Not even ice cream when I was in the best ice cream place in the world. I had deep dish pizza. One piece I think. It was good. The thing is. I could have served so much better on that trip. My mind, as much as I tried, still had a long way to go to get back into serving mode. I am ashamed to say that I was trying to talk to God about getting over myself so much that I probably missed many God-ordained moments with the homeless. I know we can't always feel God, because we must live by faith, not by feeling, but we still must see Him working in all things. When we are so consumed with ourselves, it's hard to see Him working. It's horrible. Your mind just lacks praises. And joy. You lose yourself. You don't know what to eat, let alone pray about. What is in the darkness must be brought to light. If you don’t tell someone who will kick your butt and force-feed you, I'll let you know, you might not ever get over it. Tell the person who cares enough about you to sacrifice your comfort for your life. Because if you consider yourself a child of God, and let your eating disorder/preoccupation continue, you'll lose yourself. And you'll quickly lose sight of the plan for your life God's given you. You might feel great in the new clothes you fit into. In the clothes you see on TV and you might have room left in the shorts you never thought you'd wear, but I'll let you know. Those shorts can't go to Heaven with you. Those outfits can't go to heaven with you. They could clothe the homeless though. They could clothe the orphans. "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep onesself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:26) I was so consumed with not eating food that I forgot that there are people in our own backyard who don't have the choice of getting to eat today. I was worried about whether my bread was whole wheat or not while the starving would just like a piece of bread. Let me tell ya- jesus doesn't care if the communion bread is wheat or white. The communion juice- it has sugar in it. Don't let it come to the point where you consider not taking communion because it's white bread. Eat. Eat anything. Not gluttony, but if that's what it takes for a bit to get you out of this current pattern, then go for it. Go for balance. Consider every "unhealthy" thing you eat as communion he's provided for you- because you've been blessed with daily bread, no matter whether it's wheat or white. So be thankful for it. Claim every "unhealthy" food your put into your mouth as a stab at the devil who's trying to convince you that your legs are too fat. Look in the mirror! Take a good look! You are fearfully and wonderfully made! REPEAT THAT TRUTH TO YOURSELF UNTIL YOU BELIEVE IT! I STILL HAVE TO REPEAT IT EVERY DAY!
YOU
ARE
FEARFULLY
AND
WONDERFULLY
MADE.
Turning your way of thinking around is hard. I know. Pray through it. And if you feel like you don't think He's listening, just keep praying. Get some truth into your bones and repeat it in your mind. If going into the bathroom to look in the mirror makes you think about food- then don't go in!!!! Put verses on your mirror! Wear sweatpants with a friend for the whole week! Get comfortable and allow yourself to get comfortable! Have someone with you at all times if going into the bathroom makes you want to throw up! (Trust me, they probably care about you enough to not worry about whether they are in the bathroom with you. They'd probably mind you being unhealthy more than they'd mind hearing you pee.) It's hard. Your mind is probably fighting healing right now. Does this make you cringe- the idea of eating ice cream, or not going on a run today, or claiming freedom from this and calling out to God, or praying? Good. I'm glad you realize you've got a problem- that's a start. If you are cringing at the idea of healing, then it's time to heal. It'll be hard but it'll be worth it. Is your soul getting mad at me for saying this? Let it. Then come over and let's have coffee and talk. I know. It's hard. But God is faithful. And I want you to know- HE LOVES YOU. HE MADE YOU. HE SEES YOU AS HIS PERFECT BEAUTIFUL CHILD. AND WHEN YOU SEE HIM IN HEAVEN, HE'S PROBABLY NOT GOING TO CARE IF YOU ATE VEGETABLES AS OPPOSED TO POTATO CHIPS, BUT HE MAY ASK YOU IF YOU USED WHAT HE GAVE YOU TO BRING HIM GLORY. THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO CARE ABOUT. That's my prayer. That I love God enough and have a level enough head to realize that one day, all this around me isn't going to matter. The only thing that will matter is what I did with what He gave me. So please. If you need to talk, shout out to God. He's right there. He loves you. And He made all of the foods in the grocery store just for you- he brought the new covenant of Jesus, and with that comes the fact that we are denied no food in moderation. We can eat whatever we want in moderation! So give God a call. And find that friend who is going to make you eat. You're probably going to feel like resisting that. Wake up, o sleeper, and let Christ shine on you.
Romans 2:5-11

1 Corinthians 4:5
He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

Ephesians 5:11-17
11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."
15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

Whatever you are doing that is in the darkness, let it be exposed. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth [God's Truth] buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith [claim faith that He will get you through. Remember- faith not sight] with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation [you have been saved] and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (ephesians 5)
God is with you. There is hope. God loves you and He'll never stop loving you no matter what the reflection in the mirror looks like. No matter what. Claim Truth.
Amen.

Why does God allow suffering?

so i prayed for God to answer one of the questions because i didn't know which one to do and he answered it yesterday when i went to visit Taylor U. in chapel, reverend Dwight Knight partly answered why suffering happens:
-pain is God's indicator that something is wrong. without pain, a toothe ache could eventually kill you. Likewise, when there's pain, God is telling the world that something is wrong! It's not always Satan. Yes Satan tries to distort the purpose of the pain and tries to steal our joy while we are in pain. If he's stolen your joy in any circumstance, he's gotten you to lost your trust in God. That's why Paul suffered so much yet was such a godly, joyful, persevering man. He realized that his joy was not in this world but in heaven and that he no longer feared death- pain is god's megaphone to a deaf world.- in pain there is refinement. he came baptizing with the Spirit and with fire. The fire part, i believe (and correct me if i'm wrong), is the pain. Pain is for refinement. Something's wrong. Figure it out and fix it. Let God.C.S. Lewis said that God whispers to us in our pleasure and screams to us in our pain.
looking up that quote, i read this article. it's quite purposeful:
God Whispers in Our Pleasures and Sings Over UsC.S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." (The Problem of Pain, 1940). inside me, I did not yet understand how painful life could be. I understood a child's pain, but had yet to discover a woman's pain, or a mother's pain. All of those pains laid before me as I totally trusted Jesus without question.
Many of us would never have recognized our need for God had it not been for the pain we were experiencing. It was that way for me. Even though I had accepted Jesus as my Savior as a child, and asked Him to come and liveThen, as inevitably happens, the noise of the world began to drown out the voice of God's Spirit. It grew harder and harder to hear The Spirit's voice. At first I recognized the difficulty, but without coming back to Him, each succeeding time His voice grew dimmer and dimmer.
Then, because God is a God of unlimited grace, He allowed painful circumstances to enter my life. In essence, He said, "OK, have it your way." But He did not leave me! I picture Him standing back, arms folded, brow furrowed, eyes fixed on His precious daughter to see what a mess she could make.Each time I ran to the Arms of God, He sat me on His Lap, hugged me with His Arms, and rejoiced over me with songs (Zephaniah 3:17).
The Lord your God is with you,He is might to save.He will take great delight in you,He will quiet you with His love,He will rejoice over you with singing.
There is nothing like hearing - with your spiritual ear - God rejoicing over you with singing! No emotion known to man can compare with it. I'm so thankful for the megaphone of God, followed by His singing over me. I know exactly how the prodigal son felt, and it feels good!"

Out of their poverty overflowed a rich generosity. let us excel in the gift of giving.

Hey so this is an article i read in yahoo news and was surprised at the facts in here. please feel free to give it a quick read and read what's after it.... there's hope:)"RELIGIOUS LIFE WON'T BE THE SAME AFTER DOWNTURN by RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll, Ap Religion Writer – MonSep28, 7:11pmETNEW YORK – Organized religion was already in trouble before the fall of 2008. Denominations were stagnating or shrinking, and congregations across faith groups were fretting about their finances.The Great Recession made things worse.It's further drained the financial resources of many congregations, seminaries and religious day schools. Some congregations have disappeared and schools have been closed. In areas hit hardest by the recession, worshippers have moved away to find jobs, leaving those who remain to minister to communities struggling with rising home foreclosures, unemployment and uncertainty.Religion has a long history of drawing hope out of suffering, but there's little good news emerging from the recession. Long after the economy improves, the changes made today will have a profound effect on how people practice their faith, where they turn for help in times of stress and how they pass their beliefs to their children."In 2010, I think we're going to see 10 or 15 percent of congregations saying they're in serious financial trouble," says David Roozen, a lead researcher for the Faith Communities Today multi-faith survey, which measures congregational health annually. "With around 320,000 or 350,000 congregations, that's a hell of a lot of them."The sense of community that holds together religious groups is broken when large numbers of people move to find work or if a ministry is forced to close."I'm really still in the mourning process," says Eve Fein, former head of the now-shuttered Morasha Jewish Day School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.The school, a center of religious life for students and their parents, had been relying on a sale of some of its property to stay afloat but land values dropped, forcing Morasha to shut down in June."I don't think any of us who were in it have really recovered," Fein says. "The school was 23 years old. I raised my kids there."The news isn't uniformly bad. Communities in some areas are still moving ahead with plans for new congregations, schools and ministries, religious leaders say.And many congregations say they found a renewed sense of purpose helping their suffering neighbors. Houses of worship became centers of support for the unemployed. Some congregants increased donations. At RockHarbor church in Costa Mesa, Calif., members responded so generously to word of a budget deficit that the church ended the fiscal year with a surplus."We're all a little dumbfounded," says Bryan Wilkins, the church business director. "We were hearing lots of stories about people being laid off, struggling financially and losing homes. It's truly amazing."In the Great Depression, one of the bigger impacts was the loss of Jewish religious schools, which are key to continuing the faith from one generation to the next. Jonathan Sarna, a Brandeis University historian and author of "American Judaism," says enrollment in Jewish schools plummeted in some cities and many young Jews of that period didn't have a chance to study their religion.Today, some parents, regardless of faith, can no longer afford the thousands of dollars in tuition it costs to send a child to a religious day school. Church officials fear these parents won't re-endroll their kids if family finances improve because it might be disruptive once they've settled into a new school.Enrollment in one group of 120 Jewish community day schools is down by about 7 percent this academic year, according to Marc Kramer, executive director of RAVSAK, a network of the schools. A few schools lost as many as 30 percent of their students. Many of the hundreds of other Jewish day schools, which are affiliated with Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements, are also in a financial crunch.Kramer says 2009-10 will be a "make or break" year for Jewish education, partly because of the additional damage to endowments and donors from Bernard Madoff's colossal fraud.Overall, U.S. Jewish groups are estimated to have lost about one-quarter of their wealth."It's going to be painful," Kramer says. "There will be some losses." The Association for Christian Schools International, which represents about 3,800 private schools, says enrollment is down nationally by nearly 5 percent. About 200 Christian schools closed or merged in the last academic year, 50 more than the year before. At least 80 members of the Association of Theological Schools, which represents graduate schools in North America, have seen their endowments drop by 20 percent or more. The National Catholic Education Association is still measuring the toll on its schools, but expects grim news from the hardest hit states, after years of declining enrollment. "Some schools that were on the brink — this whole recession has just intensified that," says Karen Ristau, president of the association. Clergy in different communities say worship attendance has increased with people seeking comfort through difficult times, although no one is predicting a nationwide religious revival. Americans for years have been moving away from belonging to a denomination and toward a general spirituality that may or may not involve regular churchgoing. The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey found more people who call themselves "nondenominational Christians" and rising numbers who say they have no religion at all. Before the stock market tanked last fall, only 19 percent of U.S. congregations described their finances as excellent, down from 31 percent in 2000, according to the 2008 Faith Communities Today poll. Because of these trends, mainline Protestants were among the most vulnerable to the downturn. Their denominations had been losing members for decades and had been dividing over how they should interpret what the Bible says on gay relationships and other issues. National churches had been relying on endowments to help with operating costs, along with the generosity of an aging membership that had been giving in amounts large enough to mostly make up for departed brethren. The meltdown destroyed that financial buffer. The Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and other mainline denominations were forced to cut jobs and their national budgets. The damage was felt across Methodist life. As of the summer, more than half of the church's 62 U.S. regional districts, or annual conferences, reported they had budget deficits. Some sold property and buildings to continue their ministries. Two national Methodist boards cut more than 90 jobs. Fifty bishops took a voluntary pay cut. Annual conferences in hard-hit regions, such as Florida and Ohio, lost thousands of members as people moved to find work elsewhere. "Many of these groups have such large endowments that they're not going away," Roozen says. "But I think there's no question that they're going to be smaller both as organizations and in membership." Roman Catholic dioceses for years had been struggling with maintaining their aging churches, paying salaries and health insurance and funding settlements over clergy sex abuse. With the hit to investment income and a drop in donations, they are now freezing salaries, cutting ministries and staff. The Archdiocese of Detroit, at the heart of the meltdown, had a $14 million shortfall in a $42 million budget in the fiscal year that ended in June 2008. Conservative Protestant groups, known for their entrepreneurial spirit and evangelizing, were not immune. The 16.2 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant group in the country, has had budget cuts in its North American Mission Board, at least three of its six seminaries and in its publishing and research arm. Religious leaders say the next year or so will be key in determining which organizations survive the downturn intact. Even if the recession ends soon, religious fundraisers say the angst donors feel will not lift immediately, prolonging the difficulties for congregations, schools and ministries."Pasted from <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090928/ap_on_bi_ge/us_rel_meltdown_religion> 1 Timothy 6:17-19"17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."2 Corinthians 8:1-4"1And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints."Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. Their poverty welled up to generosity. The more impverished they became the more they gave. Where our treasure is there our heart will be also. In the time of recession, let out churches not get scared. We will take this as a reminder that our joy is not in this earth. Nothing on earth can satisfy our desires so our joy remains in heaven. Solomon already tried it: he had everything he could ever want yet, he found that "Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income." "The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep." John D. Rockefeller said, "I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness." W.H. Vanderbilt: "the care of $200 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it." So why are we at a loss of funds in the church? Why are child support organizations losing sponsors? Out of our poverty, let it overflow in rich generosity towards others. We've got nothing on earth to lose- its all already God's and we've already got our treasure. Let us give.I pray to continually find joy in trading my earthly treasure for heavenly treasure. In our poverty, let us give recklessly as we are commanded to, trusting it will be repaid to un one day tenfold. Our hope is not in a church building but in the death and resurrection and kingdom to come. So if our building campaign funds run out or pastors start volunteering, let us rejoice in the hope that the hungry are being fed and the poor are becoming richer and that we are growing ever closer to the goal of equality. Our abundance or poverty will overflow to provide their needs. Let our giving beyond our ability be a testimony that God can provide in any circumstance. Daily bread.

Psalm 49
"5 There is no need to fear when times of trouble come, when enemies are surrounding me.
6 They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches.
7 Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paing a ransom to God.
8 Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough
9 to live forever and never see the grave.
10 Those who are wise must finally die, just like the foolish and senseless, leaving all their wealth behind.
11 The grave is their eternal home, where they will stay forever. They may name their estates after themselves, but they leave their wealth to others.
12 They will not last long despite their riches- they will die like the animals.
13 This is the fate of fools, though they will be remembered as being so wise.
14 Like sheep, they are lead to the grave, where death will be their shepherd. In the morning the godly will rule over them. Their bodies will rot in the grave, far from their grand estates.
15 But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of death.
16 So don't be dismayed when the wicked grow rich, and their homes become ever more splendid.
17 For when they die, they carry nothing with them. Their wealth will not follow them to the grave.
18 In this life they consider themselves fortunate, and the world loudly applauds their success.
19 But they will die like all others before them and never again see the light of day.
20 People who boast in their wealth don't understand that they will die like the animals."