Do you pray, "Lord give me lots of money? Hear what a famous evangelist had to say about prosperity.

Quotes Worth Quoting

“If a man had nothing but prosperity, he would be ruined. A man can stand adversity better than prosperity. I know a great many men who have become very prosperous, but I know few that haven’t lost all their piety, that haven’t lost sight of that city eternal in the heavens, whose builder and Maker is God. Earthly things have drawn their heart’s affections away from eternal things.” D.L. Moody, 



Moody’s Latest Sermons, (c 1900),     
Chicago, Moody Bible Institute, page 39.

Heartfelt Counseling Ministries 
Upcoming seminars:
A Canadian seminar for our northern neighbors August 13, 2016 In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Time: Registration 9:00 am Seminar: 9:30 a.m - 4 p.m. One hour lunch 12:00-1:00 p.m. provided by hosting church There also will be snacks and coffee. Prices in Canadian currency. Cost:  $40.00 per person, includes a set of seminar notes
          $75.00  for couples, which includes two sets of notes.     Group/Student rates are also available.
 To sign up, please follow the link below. 
You can pay online or by check.
http://www.heartfeltmin.org/resources.html 

A Florida seminar for our southern neighbors

October 15, 2016 in Boca Raton, Florida

Time: Registration 9:00 a.m.
Seminar: 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
One hour lunch 12:00- 1:00 provided.
Cost: $60.00 per person, $90.00 per married couple. (U.S. currency) Set of seminar notes included; two sets for a couple.

If you would like to sign up, please go to the link below. If pre-registered, you may pay online or by check. 

http://www.heartfeltmin.org/resources.html 
The Bloem's book, Broken Minds Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing It, will be available for purchase at the seminar.
 
The Bloems will also be selling CAMI  (Christian Afflicted with Mental Illness) Leader and Study Guides for support groups in your church or ministry. The last session of the seminar is training for how to begin and maintain your own mental health support group with this popular and tested CAMI material.
Remember--if you are unable to attend either one of these listed, contact Heartfelt Ministries and find out when the Bloems will be in your area with the Whispers seminar or how you can host one for your church or organization. They are also available for schools, inspirational talks, gatherings of any kind to share their story of Christian perseverance in spite of mental illness, the loss of pastoral ministry and the sudden and unexpected death of their nineteen year old daughter in a tragic car accident. You will be strengthened and encouraged. All of us at Heartfelt look forward to seeing you soon!

OCD, great quote and deep sorrow

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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors such as hand washing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these so-called "rituals," however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety.
OCD is not a personality disorder.  It is treated effectively by Serotonin Selective Re-uptake Inhibitors , Some of these are: Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, Lexapo.
 Behavior management has also had some success in treating this disease.

Quotes Worth Quoting

Christmas Evans

Speaking of man kind."He is an enemy to His maker; a rebel against Jehovah; a blank-nay, worse--a blot in God's creation; dead to every virtue, dead to everything but sin;..... lost to every gracious purpose of his being;  A withered branch, fit only to be plucked off, and cast into the fire; stubble, ready for the burning.  "Let him alone!" said Reason.  "Cut him down!" cried Justice. "I hate the workers of iniquity!" added Holiness. "He or I must perish!" exclaimed  Truth.
"Spare him! Spare him! Spare him!:" pleaded weeping Mercy.  And Wisdom came forth, leading the Son of God, and said: "I have found a ransom! "Behold the Mediator!"  And all the attributes met and embraced at the manger, and kissed each other at the cross"
Evans, Christmas. (c.1844) " Sermons of Christmas Evans" Philadelphia: J. Harmstead,  p. 123

Bereavement

Acts 8:2 -devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. (NASB)
Some think that 'being strong' for the LORD in grief is to show little emotion.  It is true that we must be trusting God in the dark valley.  However the Scripture says that devout men... made loud lamentation over him. Loud here (megan) means great.  The word devout (eulabeis) denotes being "in reverence of God and cautious about doing his will" ( TNDT, volume 2:751). These men gave full vent to their grief. 

Deep Sorrow-

 I remember when I had just witnessed the death of our daughter in a head-on collision, a well meaning police officer upon seeing me crying said, "Come on now, you have to be 'strong' for your family." I told him, "you be the cop and I will be the father." Being strong is not bottling up your emotions.  Lamentation in the above text. (kopetos) carries the idea of  wailing and beating on the breast (See Vines Expository Dictionary, p. 124, under bewail).

This was no quiet acquiescence to God's will.  It was an expression of deep, noisy sorrow over a godly man who was taken before His time. I am speaking about the human response of grief and not the divine sovereignty which also is valid and denotes God's providential will working out in the lives of His people.

Depression
 
Again often in Teutonic cultures a stoicism wins the day.  We are here to 'celebrate the life of the believer'.  This may be so but it is valid to do so through a veil of tears and and deep groaning.
Depression - I have cried loudly day after day for months. Why was this so? It was because my central nervous system and my brain  were not doing what they use to do in the daily grind of normalcy.   I was walking in darkness like Job, not as far as sin goes but as to the face of the Lord being hid from him through this awful disease of depression.  When did it all stop? I will not lie to you; it was when they found the right medication, to regulate my brain and central nervous system.
 







There are still many who deny the efficacy of anti-depressant,; they are greatly mistaken.
God numbered every tear drop, I cried and they have been written in His book, the Bible. .Once again I find that Spurgeon said it well in his book, The Treasury of David. Please go to this link.
 http://biblestudytools.com/commentaries/treasury-of-david/psalms-56-8.html

 
 

Persecution, Polycarp, a friend of John the Apostle

       

       Poly-carp serves food  to his arresting soldiers

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

  

Poly-carp was an old man (at least 86 years old) and probably the last surviving person to have known the Apostle John. His friendship with John was one reason why Poly-carp was greatly revered as a teacher and church leader. As you read the letter below, look for parallels between this story and the Easter story in the gospels.The paragraph below is from the Foxe's Book of Martyrs.  It is not God - breathed like Scripture but it is considered reliable history.

Poly-carp, the venerable bishop of Smyrna, hearing that persons were seeking for him,  escaped, but was discovered by a child.  After feeding the guards who apprehended him, he desired an hour in prayer, which being allowed, he prayed with such fervency, that his guards repented that they had been instrumental in taking him. He was, however, carried before the proconsul, condemned,and burnt in the market place. The proconsul had urged him, saying, "Swear, and I will release  thee;--reproach Christ." Poly-carp  answered, "Eighty and six years have I served him, and he never once wronged me; how then shall I blaspheme my King, Who hath saved me?"

 At the stake to which he was only tied, but not nailed as usual, as he assured them he should stand immovable, the flames, on their kindling the  fagots, encircled his body, like an arch, without touching him; and the executioner, on seeing this, was as ordered to pierce him with as sword, when so great a quantity of blood flowed out as extinguished the fire. But his body, at the instigation of the enemies of the Gospel, especially Jews, was ordered to be consumed in the pile, and the request of his friends, who wished to give it Christian burial, rejected. They nevertheless collected his bones and as much of his remains as possible, and caused them to be decently interred. 

  https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/polycarp/

  From Voice of Martyrs - persecution.org

 June 17/2016/ Sudan
Pray for "Esther," a Disabled Christian in the Nuba Mountains

“Esther,” a widow with four young children, lives a difficult life in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. She has physical disabilities resulting from polio and lives in a region that is frequently bombed by the Sudanese government in an attempt to rid the area of Christians. When VOM partners learned about her situation, they gave her a wheelchair to help her care for her family. Pray for Esther and her family as they and other Christians face continued bombing in the Nuba Mountains.

 Jun. 17, 2016 | Colombia Pray for Nine Pastors Threatened by a Violent Rebel Group

Nine church pastors in Colombia were given until June 14 to pay 2 million pesos ($700) in “protection money” to a violent guerrilla group that controls the area. On June 12, members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) visited each of the churches, warning them that they had two days to come up with the money. The pastors refused to pay the ransom, knowing that non-payment could cost them their lives. Please pray for these pastors and their church congregations.

Jun. 17, 2016 | Korea, North Pray for North Korean Orphans in China

Christian workers traveled to China in February to minister to North Korean children as part of an ongoing outreach to orphans and other North Korean families. Workers met with 12 elementary and middle school students to encourage them and share God’s love. They also met with many of the children’s mothers, encouraging them to stay with their families despite difficulties. Children with North Korean mothers and Chinese fathers often live in unstable homes. The North Korean women often flee to South Korea while the Chinese men abandon the family, leaving the children as orphans. Since the children have no citizenship, the Chinese government refuses to help them. Pray for these children and for continued ministry to reach these families for Christ. Please visit our web site at  heartfeltmin.org

Christian workers traveled to China in February to minister to North Korean children as part of an ongoing outreach to orphans and other North Korean families. Workers met with 12 elementary and middle school students to encourage them and share God’s love. They also met with many of the children’s mothers, encouraging them to stay with their families despite difficulties. Children with North Korean mothers and Chinese fathers often live in unstable homes. The North Korean women often flee to South Korea while the Chinese men abandon the family, leaving the children as orphans. Since the children have no citizenship, the Chinese government refuses to help them. Pray for these children and for continued ministry to reach these families for Christ.

Please visit our web site at  heartfeltmin.org

                   

New Seminars

Hi Anita, would you be able to put this on our web site with a shopping cart. Feel free to proof it and reduce it. Thanks, Steve

 Whispers in the Foyer, An Honest Look at the 
Christian and Mental Illness.

Robyn and I are excited about seminars that we have
recently put on our calender's.in the Summer and Fall of 2016. 
If your church or ministry can guarantee ten or more people
 will attend one of our seminars, we will come to you.

Heartfelt Counseling Ministries' upcoming seminars:

August 13, 2016
 In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Time: Registration 9:00 am
Seminar: 9:30 a.m - 4 p.m.
One hour lunch 12:00- 1:00 p.m. The church will provide.
There also will be Free snacks and coffee.
Cost: $60.00 per person.This includes seminar notes and one copy of
 Broken Minds, Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing It.

Couples Rate: $90.00 which includes one book and two sets of notes.

Group/Student rates are also available.
http://www.heartfeltmin.org/resources.html




2. October 15, 2016
 
Boca Glades Baptist Church
Boca Raton, Florida.

If you wish to pay by credit card, please go to our website. The link will take you to our "events" page. If you scroll down you will see the donation button.  Read the material and then click the donate now button.  Put the cost that you owe in the cost amount. That of course will be determined by how many people you are paying for. For example; Single person, $60.00; married couple, $90.00. Fill out the information as you are prompted.

.

All others can pay by check or money order. In this case please go to our contact us link

and type in your name, address, phone number and the number of registrants:
.http://www.heartfeltmin.org/index.html#%21seminar/c12qe
 http://www.heartfeltmin.org/resources.html
Send a check to Heartfelt Counseling Ministries for all those you would like to register.
Heartfelt Counseling Ministries
4371 North lake Blvd. Suite 256
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410.
To contact us by phone, please call 561.909.9109.
We hope to see you soon

Suicide a public enemy.

Copy right all rights reserved, 2010, Rev. Steve Bloem

Statistics on suicide tell the story.  Fifteen percent of persons with a depressive disorder will successfully commit suicide.  It is hard to understand how a person can ‘out of the blue’ begin to have intense thoughts of taking his/her own life.  However, if you have been seriously depressed you can empathize with those who are stepping  near the threshold of eternity.
Suicides are every where. This is not the time to be idle.  Lives are  being lost.

“Just say no” will not work when you are dealing with suicide. 

The nature of the disease and the devil himself, prove formidable obstacles to cause a person with severe depression and other symptoms to keep living.

Suicide, the elephant in the room
Suicide is the subject and the death that very few talk about.  It happens all the time.  If you don’t believe that, just look at the statistics for this last decade. It is not getting any better; in fact, it is getting worse. This is not the time to sit idly at home saying, everything will be alright.  You can make a difference!

Pastors should be trained in suicide assessment

 










Yes, we know that The battle belongs to the LORD.  However, this does not mean that churches should just “let go and let God” when its members come up against suicide.  In your church, you should have a Suicide Hot Line.  The pastors should be trained in suicide awareness and stop gap interventions. The devil is a very intelligent being.  He knows more Scripture than we do.  He takes advantage of the hopelessness and horrible psychic pain of depression.  Suicide leaves in its wake, children who will practice it like the parents who model it.  Most people don’t commit suicide the first time they try it.  Each time a person attempts suicide, it weakens his/her resolve to live. Here is an acrostic which I wrote and have used in my practice.

Suicide Acrostic

Severe depressive symptoms must be relieved.

Unconditional Love should be shown to the suicidal person.

Interventions are in order, such as, obtaining lethal means of suicidal people, implementing a more detailed treatment plan if necessary, which includes such things as getting them effective medications or possibly ECT, (electro-convulsive therapy.)

Cries for help should be attended to -- not ignored.  These cries may

be verbal or could be actions that a suicidal person takes to be noticed.

Intoxication of drugs and alcohol impairs judgment and loosens

inhibitions which make it easier for the suicidal person to take his/her life.

Deliberate planning by a person contemplating suicide should be identified

and sometimes psychiatric hospitalization is required.

Exhortation needs to be done by a fellow believer urging the suicidal person not to buy into demonic deception or submit to the devil who appears as a roaring lion.

Bloem, Steve and Robyn, CAMI (Christians Afflicted with Mental Illness) CAMI Leaders Guide (2007, Grand Rapids