Ten Things you should not say at the Thanksgiving Day Table:

By Steve and Robyn Bloem

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, are ALL of your grandchildren going to be there?

I really enjoy the grocery store pies the most!

Oh, no! Who carved the turkey?

Our family really likes the dark meat, so I mostly carved the white.

Were you planning to take home any leftovers?

How are your AA/Sexual Addiction/Narcotics Anonymous meetings going?

So, are you still going to those fertility clinics?

Well, you’re young, so this probably wasn’t that much work.

What? You were planning to watch football?

Even though you’ve lost your job, your home and your livelihood, there is ALWAYS someone worse off than you-be thankful anyway!

 

Michael James Lorin 1:37am Nov 26 Hi Steve, Here is the promotional link of our interview November 29th at 6:30pm EST. The guest call in line is 347-884-9858

We will be talking about mental illness and our book Broken Minds.

Steve Bloem

I hope you will join us!

http://www.facebookblogtalkradio.com/messiahcommunity/2013/11/29/messiah-community-live-radio-interview

 

Steve and Robyn will be on blog radio, November 29 @6:30.pm EST



 

 

 

 

Hello Friends,

We are going to be on blog radio. You may say, "What is blog radio"?  I wondered the same thing when Robyn and I were invited to participate.  So I looked it up.

 

The service allows up to five callers at a time, although unlimited participants can listen in. Shows stream directly from the host page during live broadcasts, and are archived as podcasts. Previous shows can be streamed, downloaded directly or subscribed to as podcasts via RSS through any podcatcher like Juice or iTunes. The service also provides promotional badges and flash player code for placement on blogs, MySpace, Facebook and other Social networking sites.

I received this note from the moderator.

Michael James Lorin 1:37am Nov 26 Hi Steve, Here is the promotional link of our interview November 29th at 6:30pm EST. The guest call in line is 347-884-9858

 

We will be talking about mental illness and our book Broken Minds. Whether you understand it or not, please click on the link below.

Steve Bloem

 

http://www.facebook.com/l/9AQEdI_3QAQHR3N4qrD3LlOHaPYeJvv-ko9UtHybFG20p4w/www.blogtalkradio.com/messiahcommunity/2013/11/29/messiah-community-live-radio-interview

 

 

 

 

 



China, small churches harassed by China

China Aid, introducded by Heartfelt Counseling Ministries.

"I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.5"But I will warn you whom to fear : fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell ; yes, I tell you, fear Him!"Are not five sparrows sold for two cents ? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God."Indeed , the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear ; you are more valuable than many sparrows.And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of Go ;but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God."And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him."When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
Luke 12:4-12 (NASB).

Nov 24 at 12:07 AM

Dear friends,

The meeting site of a Christian house church in Beijing was raided for being an“illegal gathering.” According to the believers, at least three house church meetings in the local area were raided by police.

More than 20 people, including police officers, religious affairs officials and joint defense team members burst into a meeting of 25 believers where they began breaking up the meeting, destroying installations in the room, and removing four or five cases of Bibles!

When a radio station contacted the local police and religious affairs officials on Monday they told the station that due to security concerns believers are not allowed to meet in private.

On Sunday morning, a meeting of Christians from the Harvest Church was broken up by more than 20 people from Gaoliying Police Station where the police cut short the sermon, forcibly dispersed the believers, and searched the rooms for religious items.

Mr. He said:

“More than 20 of them came in yesterday while we were meeting. As soon as they

arrived, they started removing computers, projector and stools from the room. Their

director said that we were not welcome, and [they] took all our books, hymnals and

Bibles. These past few days, we've been getting ready to negotiate with them and get our

things back.”

         

Another person, Ms. Xing, said the police officers were rude and outrageous after they entered the room, shouting “'Stay seated! Don’t move!' [They were] like bandits, even grabbing the Bibles we were holding in our own hands. And, when we tried to make a video recording of them with our cell phones, they grabbed the phones and deleted everything.”

House church believers hold small meetings throughout Beijing, and most of the time, the authorities don’t interfere, but an Officer later explained that this meeting was broken up because, as he put it “there was a relatively large number of people there; there were children and elderly people. If something dangerous happened, they themselves cannot be held responsible.”

Mr. He said that many house churches in that town met with the same fate. Also, Beijing's Chenguang Bookstore, which mainly sells religious literature, was subjected to multiple inspections from different government departments around the October 1 National Day holiday – they were told that they could be shut down.

On October 18, 2013, Christianity Today released information about a new report that was introduced in a meeting in the Houses of Parliament. The report claims that the persecution and resulting exodus of Christians in many countries threaten the religion's worldwide status. And, the report also claims that the two largest sources of said persecution are fundamentalist Islamist groups and communist governments.

China Aid

Part of Heartfelt Counseling Ministries Purpose statement is to help those who are suffering extreme persecution for Christ across the world.



http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing/dp/0825421187
 

Half of evangelicals believe prayer can heal mental illness.

By Bob Smietana http://blog.lifeway.com/newsroom/2013/09/17/half-of-evangelicals-believe-prayer-can-heal-mental-illness/#comment-1927

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A third of Americans – and nearly half of evangelical, fundamentalist, or born-again Christians – believe prayer and Bible study alone can overcome serious mental illness, according to a recent survey by Nashville-based LifeWay Research.




The survey also found most Americans (68 percent) would feel welcome in church if they were mentally ill. Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, said Christians care about those affected by mental illness.
He’s glad churches are seen as a welcome place for those with depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia.But he worries some Christians see mental illness as a character flaw rather than a medical condition. Christians will go to the doctor if they break their leg, he said. But some may try to pray away serious mental illness.
“They forget that the key part of mental illness is the word ‘illness,’” he said. “In a typical evangelical church, half the people believe mental illness can be solved by prayer and Bible study alone.”

LifeWay Research asked four questions about mental illness as part of a telephone survey of 1,001 Americans conducted Sept. 6-10, 2013. Thirty-five percent agree with the statement, “With just Bible study and prayer, ALONE, people with serious mental illness like depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia could overcome mental illness.”

 

 

Responses are split by both faith and age.
Fifty percent of those 18-29 years old say prayer and Bible study could overcome mental illness. That number falls to less than 30 percent for those 55-64.
Evangelical, fundamentalist, or born-again Christians (48 percent) agree prayer can overcome mental illness. Only 27 percent of other Americans agree.

Among other findings:
Just over half (51 percent) say someone close to them has experienced mental illness. That number drops to 37 percent for those over 65.



Fifty-four percent of Americans say churches should do more to prevent suicide. That number jumps to 64 percent among evangelical, fundamentalist or born-again Christians.
Americans who never attend church services are the least likely to agree that churches welcome those with mental illness. Those who attend weekly see churches as welcoming.
Tim Clinton, president of the Forest, Va.-based American Association of Christians Counselors, said spirituality can play a crucial role in treating mental illness.
He called it “soul care.”
Clinton hopes more churches will become open to talking about mental illness. That means taking a holistic approach that deals with spiritual, emotional and physical concerns.
That can involve counseling, medication, as well as prayer and Bible study.
“Churches need to be biblical communities of healing, “ he said.

---

High-Resolution Research Graphs and Charts

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Methodology: LifeWay Research asked these questions about mental illness as part of an omnibus telephone survey conducted Sept. 6-10, 2013, among a random sample of Americans representative of the U.S. population of adults. Responses were weighted by age, gender, education, race/Hispanic ethnicity, region, and CBSA market size. Interviews were conducted in either Spanish or English. Both listed and unlisted numbers were called, and approximately 20 percent of the sample was reached by cell phone. The sample size of 1,001 provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed +3.1 percentage points.


Latest News From Heartfelt Counseling Ministries


News flash, Boca Raton Florida,
Steve and Robyn Bloem, co-authors of Broken Minds Hope for Healing If You Feel Like You're Losing It are conducting a seminar at their own church, Boca Glades Baptist on Saturday February 22,2014. Registration begins at 9:30 am. and the seminar starts at 10:00 am. The seminar is Whispers in the Foyer, An Honest Look at the Christian and Mental Illness. http://sbloemreflections.blogspot.com/2013/10/news-flash-boca-raton-florida-popular.html

For more information or to register, please email us at bloemsteve@yahoo.com or call our new phone number. 561-909-9109.

A new treatment for depression that won't lift.

For reviews on Steve and Robyn's book, Broken Minds Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing It, please go to
http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing/dp/0825421187


















If you have read my blog or read our book (see above) you know that I have been extremely depressed many times in my life. In the year 2000, I was blessed by the Father of Mercies and the God of all Comfort; I was put on a medication that made it possible for me not to live in the dark dungeon of depression.
We are fortunate to be living in an age where treatment is available.  My depression was so bad that I would try anything helpful as long it was not sinful.  I probably had been on about 15-20 antidepressants before I found the right mix.  During the periods that medications were not working, I was successfully  rescued from my enemy, my depression, by Electro/Convulsive Therapy. However, it "wore off."  I still recommend ECT for those who are a danger to themselves and cannot take care of their basic needs.
This new treatment, deep brain stimulation (DBS) may seem to "push the envelope."  I would use it if I was depressed for years and years without relief.  You may say, "Steve, why would you recommended such a drastic measure for depression?" That is because you have never had my style of major/endogenous depression. Desperate times call for desperate measures!

I have the utmost sympathy for those who after much prayer and the use of medical interventions still find no or very little relief.  This is why I recommend this article which gives real hope to people who have not been able to escape the vortex that depletes brain chemistry and results in a  hopeless feeling that says, "I will never be better again." SB
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The treatment is called Deep Brain Stimulation or DBS. It consists of drilling two nickel size holes in the skull and snaking long metal electrodes into tiny nodules of tissue in a deep brain region called area 25.

Editor's note: "Battery-powered brain," a report by CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, premieres on CNN Presents, Sunday, April 15, at 8 p.m. ET. Gupta is also an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University's School of Medicine.

 

Atlanta (CNN) -- The first time Edi Guyton tried to commit suicide, she was 19 years old, wracked with depression and unable to deal with the social and academic pressure of college.

Even as a little girl, Guyton never seemed happy. Her mother had encouraged her to smile, but she didn't see any reason to. In her mind, everyone who smiled was "faking it."

She often thought about taking her own life, and one night in her college dorm, Guyton's dark thoughts gave way to action. With a razor blade, Guyton cut one wrist, then the other.

"I think I wanted it to get better or I wanted to die," she said. "The point was that everything was so bad, I wanted people to know that it was controlling me."
 

 

Edi Guyton lived with debilitating depression for 40 years before experimental brain surgery.

Her depression controlled her life for the next 40 years -- until she decided to volunteer for an experimental treatment. A neurosurgeon would drill two holes in Guyton's skull and implant a pair of battery-powered electrodes deep inside her brain.

Fore more on this subject, please go to the link below.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/14/health/battery-powered-brain/index.html

 

Please forward this to a person you know that has tried everything for their biological depression but

it has not succeeded.

SB

Justice or Forgiveness

 

Lindsay and her daughter were killed by a drug addict. Many of you have heard that our nineteen year old daughter, Lindsay Bloem Hoover and her daughter, Emily Hope, (who was full term in the womb), were killed by Timothy Fields on September 11, 2001 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Lindsay was returning from a special prayer vigil that had been called on that tragic day by Pastor Doug Compton of Alpine Baptist Church in Comstock Park, Michigan. On that horrible eventful day there were terrorists in the New York and in Virginia. There were terrorist in the air and terrorist on the ground.  Lindsay in my opinion was killed by a terrorist,on the ground, who was American, who was driving under the influence of heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Afghanistan has been the greatest illicit opium producer in the entire world for many years. The suicide bombers were the heroin killers  that came from that area in the world. Apparently the American government did not dare to do something with the opium trade after they kicked the Taliban out of Afghanistan. Drugged drivers continue to go through the land killing people in their drug induced stupor.   Robyn, her siblings and I witnessed the accident.  My wife Robyn, two of my sons, and I were in our van following right behind Lindsay.  Robyn was driving because I was still sick with Lithium toxicity. I had been in the hospital, just prior to this, for about 8 days.  Our smiling Lindsay was driving next to us on the passenger side of our van.  Anyone who knew Lindsay knew how friendly and fun-loving she was. She was on her way to pick up her husband, Bill Hoover, from work. As she smiled and waved, she passed our van. We watched in horror as seventeen year old, Timothy Fields of Newaygo, MI crossed four lanes of traffic. We began to scream as we heard a sickening thud and saw our precious Lindsay being hit head-on by this stranger. Who could begin to describe the dreadfulness of the scene that unfolded before us? I felt suspended in some type of surreal time warp, as Brant, Robyn and I rushed to the mangled car. Eleven year old Tyler had to be coaxed out of our vehicle. Precious Lindsay was trapped in the wreckage of her obliterated car.   Lindsay and Emily were killed by the above mentioned terrorist,Timothy Fields.  I cannot begin to tell you how terrified we were as we were the first responders to this attack by Fields and his friends. A car can be a terrible weapon. The autopsies of Lindsay and Emily showed that their vital organs were eviscerated. As those that had gone before us that day, we were now thrust into a world of chaos with a result of post traumatic stress disorder. As I mentioned, heroin was found in the car. It comes from opium.        Fields is a predator. In a bizarre but all too predictable turn of events, five days after Fields posted bond, he robbed a seventy eight year old woman at gun point with three other young men, one being her neighbor. The woman was pushed on the floor and Fields put a gun to her back. After stealing about $2,500.00 from her, they got into a get-a-way car driven by a woman in her forties. A couple of hours later the Grand Rapids Police Department arrested the woman, finding crack-cocaine near her seat. However, they did not impound the car but released it to the young men. Fields once again drove a car back to Newaygo, and I am not at all doubtful that he was under the powerful influence of drugs, while driving (Grand Rapids Press Saturday, Article 3, 6/15/2002). Fields stands before the Judge. At the sentencing in May, we were in very close proximity to Fields, (though he never looked at us). We were not told of the parole violation I just described. Robyn and I both had our say. I still remember the last words that I said, to the courtroom, asking Judge Kolenda to throw the book at him. My point was that if they did not get harder on crime in this country, Fields and people like him would be "coming to a suburb near you." Those were my exact words. I am not a prophet; I was merely looking at the type of criminal Fields was.  (I have seen many like him) and given the Biblical view of sinful human nature, it is was very predictable that he would again, given the opportunity, demonstrate no true regard for the lives of others or show any respect for them. There are many like him across this land of ours, killing people and getting off with light sentences. The civil law in our land is not just didactic and rehabilitative. There is a punitive aspect to the civil law as well as rehabilitative. God uses government to deal out retribution to and suppress evil doers.   Romans 12:17-21 very importantly talks about “forgiving your enemies." We have forgiven an unrepentant Fields; this is our part of living out the Christian life. We cannot take the law into our own hands and deal him his due; that is the job of the legal system. Does forgiving your enemies negate justice for those who transgress serious laws of the land? No.  Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. "For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.   Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God ; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil" (Romans 13:1-3)

 

Please don't take your life!

This is a repost in light of the suicide of Robin Williams.

 

From the Reformed Reader Blog

Several weeks ago, Steve and Robyn Bloem were gracious enough to send me a copy of their book, Broken Minds: Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're "Losing It" (Kregel Publications, 2005). Shane has drawn attention to this book before.
http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing/dp/0825421187/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382740705&sr=1-1&keywords=steve+bloem

I've been working my way through this book and was really struck by a list of reasons Steve gave to himself to convince himself not to commit suicide. This is a dark and difficult subject and is often not blogged about in polite company, but I was struck by how thoughtful and gripping this list was. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, perhaps this list might serve as a place to start when thinking of reasons to choose life:

• It is a sin and would bring shame to Christ and His church.

• It would please the Devil and would weaken greatly those who are trying to fight him.

• It would devastate family members and friends, and you may be responsible for them following your example if they come up against intense suffering.

• It may not work, and you could end up severely disabled but still trying to fight depression.

• It is true - our God is a refuge, "and those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you" (Ps. 9:10). God, your Father, will deliver you through what you are facing. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:10 that God "delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us."

• Help is available. If you push hard enough, someone can assist you to find the help you need.

• If you are unsaved, you will go to hell. This is not because of the act of suicide but because all who die apart from knowing Christ personally will face an eternity in a far worse situation than depression.

• If you are a Christian, then Jesus Christ is interceding for you before the Father, that your faith will not fail. He shares your afflictions. Psalm 56:8 says, "Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in your book?"

• God will keep you until you reach a day when your pain will truly be over. Wait for God's time for that, not your own. According to Revelation 7:17c, "God will wipe every tear from their eyes." After going through some awful things, Paul was still able to say, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Rom. 8:18).

Pgs. 59-60.

May God be pleased to strengthen his dear ones who are at the edge of despair and fighting the temptation to take that short-cut through suffering instead of waiting on God's timing (something easier said than done, and indeed, impossible to do in one's own strength). May his Holy Spirit indeed comfort them with that peace that passes understanding (Phil 4:7).

_______________________
R. Andrew Compton
Christ Reformed Church (URCNA)
Anaheim, CA The End
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If you would like to buy our book, Broken Minds Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing It, we are offering a signed copy  for $10.00 + $3.00 shipping. If you bought ten copies the shipping would be about $6.00. The total for one copy from us would be $10.00 a copy +  shipping and you don't pay the tax.. This is a good time. to buy it and give to a friend or read it yourself.  I guarantee that if you read it prayerfully God will in some way bless you. You can read it with your Bible open.  It is one of the first books where Christian authors, one,depressed and two, the Caregiver talk about how depression  hit their family and how  the grace of God comforted and healed them in a mighty way.
You can order it in two ways. 1. Go to heartfeltmin.org . Just follow the prompts and put the amount  of money per copy you order. We will get your shipping  information off the Pay Pal.  2. You can send us a check for the amount using as a guide the top of this page. If your mailing address is not on the check, please fill out our Contact us form with the information. You can send the check.  Our address is Heartfelt Counseling Ministries, 4371 North Lake Drive, Suite 256, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
SB
If you are a teacher and want to buy books from us we can give you discount rates.  Broken Minds has an academic status at Kregel Publications.You can also email me at pathema@msn.com

Reformed Reader | October 25, 2013 at 9:40 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p6Yga-3gU