God is stirring the hearts of His people to pray for Jerusalem as never before.

Join me, Dr. Jack Hayford and Dr. Paul Cendar in this global chorus of prayer this Sunday, Oct. 5, as hundreds of millions of Christians in literally every corner of this planet will unite for the Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem (DPPJ), a day specifically set aside annually for the church to gather and pray for Jerusalem. This prayer call has come from more than 1,300 global leaders.

Let your voice be heard on behalf of Israel and her inhabitants by doing these three simple things:

1. Please forwarding to or sharing this story with many people as you can. Our goal is to reach 150 million Christians within the next 30 days with this timely message for the body of Christ. Help us meet this goal. If you will simply take a moment right now and forward this on, especially to your pastor, close friends, and prayer partners, we can literally sound a global trumpet to bring clear focus and awareness to this urgent prayer effort. In only minutes, you can make a difference.

2. Sign the “Call to Prayer Resolution.” Thousands of Christians from all over the world have signed this document calling for a day of global prayer for Jerusalem and all her inhabitants. Add your name to this growing number today. Click here to add YOUR name to the Prayer Resolution.

3. Become the DPPJ Representative for your local church or city. Make sure that your church is praying. The DPPJ is not a single location event but rather a worldwide celebration day when local churches pray for Jerusalem in their Sunday services, in accordance with Psalm 122:6.

There will be a Jerusalem Celebration on this day carried live on GOD TV around the world, but the real thrust of the initiative is on the local church level.

Order a FREE Prayer for Jerusalem Packet, which contains helpful materials such as posters, prayer cards, videos, flyers and children’s resources for your church.

In Jerusalem? Click here for more information if you will be in Jerusalem on Oct. 5 and would like to attend the Jerusalem celebration of the DPPJ that will be broadcast by GOD TV around the world.

We thank you for putting action to your prayers and taking part in seeing God’s true peace for Jerusalem unfold in this hour of history.

May the Lord’s Shalom rest over each of you.

Note: Rev. Robert Stearns and Dr. Jack Hayford are the co-chairman for the Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem. Dr. Paul Cedar is on the executive committee for DPPJ.

If you have not yet done so, please make sure to add your name to the tens of thousands of Christians around the world who have signed the “Call To Prayer Resolution.” Be sure to check out the free online resources as well as the DPPJ materials available in more than 20 languages.

For more information, call the DPPJ office at 1-800-519-4647 or visit daytopray.com.

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.”

If you are unhappy with your weight, you need to check out the belief systems that are keeping you stuck there. Your belief systems determine how you look at things!

Scientists say that 95 percent of what you do is automatic. Think of your automatic response as like a train track running through your brain. Each day, 95 percent of your life runs on this track. At the end of your day, that track has led you to a specific destination.

A good question to ask yourself at the end of your day is, “Am I closer to being the size I want to be or am I further away?” If further away, then you need to change your track.

How do you do that? I’ll give you my own weight-loss journey as an example. When I was 240 pounds, I discovered that my belief systems about eating and exercising were keeping me at that size.

See if you can spot how these beliefs would keep you overweight:

• “I’ll always be a big girl.”
• “Large portions make me feel special.”
• “Eating healthy means being deprived of the food I really want.”
• “Fast food is good.”
• “Sweets are a treat.”
• “Eating what they eat makes me belong.”
• “Exercise is a pain.”

I had to stay alert for lies like these and replace them with the truth. Only through diligent effort did I create new tracks in my mind for my life to run on.

Think about how you view the habits you will need to reach your ideal weight. Are you thinking about these habits positively or negatively? If negative, write them down. Then write down a new, positive story to tell yourself about them, one that will create a new track that leads to the destination you want to go.

Here are some examples:

Lie: “I will always be a big girl.”

Truth: “The truth is that I am not a big girl. I am petite. Lying to myself that I am naturally big tricks me into eating more than I need to live.”

Lie: “Large portions make me feel special.”

Truth: “The truth is that my worth does not come from food. Eating portion sizes appropriate to my size makes me feel special because I am taking time to take care of myself.”

Lie: “Eating healthy means being deprived of the food I really want.”

Truth: The truth is that eating healthy means healing, energizing and nourishing my body with the food God made. I can still have not-so-healthy food on occasion for the taste, but I don’t want to fill up on them because I know they will hurt my body in the long run.

Lie: “Fast food is good.”

Truth: The truth is that eating fast food regularly led me to gain almost 100 pounds after high school. That was not good! I want to eat to benefit my whole body, not just my tongue. There are plenty of foods out there that not only taste good but are good for me.

Lie: “Sweets are a treat.”

Truth: The truth is that overindulging in sweets made me obese. That was not a treat! So while it is OK to have a sweet once in a while, I will keep my portions small.

Lie: “Eating what they eat makes me belong.”

Truth: The truth is that what makes me connect with people is my love for them, not eating what they eat. So I am free to make choices that are good for me, even if they are different from what others choose to eat. I choose to take care of myself and if others don’t like it, so be it. I choose to do what is right.

Lie: “Exercise is a pain.”

Truth: The truth is that there are many exercises I like. I can walk, dance, do Zumba, weight training, kickboxing, jog on a trampoline, hula hoop. All of those ways of moving are enjoyable for me and help keep my body strong, healthy, fit and flexible. This is especially important to help me age well. So I will keep on doing it because I want that.”

Take some time today to examine your own belief systems. The Bible tells you in Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Do your belief systems serve you?

If not, the track the beliefs comprise will lead you to a destination you don’t want to go!

P.S.—One of the most important things you’ll need to do to overcome eating issues is to renew your mind. That’s why one of the bonuses in the Take Back Your Temple eBook is “Prayers and Promises to Take Back Your Temple.”

In this special bonus, you get over a dozen Scriptures and prayers specifically related to God’s promises for health and strength so you can gain physical, emotional and spiritual victory every day. Check it out!

Recently, I realized I’m too harsh with my kids.

The other day, I was driving with my two kids in the backseat. My daughter started to do things that annoyed my son. He was clearly upset and started laying into her. Immediately, I noticed his harsh words and tone. My daughter was hurt and began to cry.

That didn’t stop him from continuing. Then I became upset and was about to shout at him to stop when he slammed her with familiar words, “Don’t you ever do that again!” He used the same exact words and tone I had used with him before. It was ugly. He was merely acting out what I had modeled to him. Too many times, I respond in frustration rather than good sound guidance.

Parents need to be firm, but harshness can cause significant damage. Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes a harsh truth is an appropriate wake-up call for personal growth. This is particularly true when the person continues in repeated misbehavior.

However, it is an issue when harshness is the norm. These four simple steps helped me change harsh and angry to strong and sound. If you struggle with this, it will help you too: 

1. Admit it. When you hear your kids repeating your harshness, admit to yourself and them that you modeled the wrong thing. Apologize to your kids and then tell them how they should speak and act. Tell your wife or a trusted friend. Ask them to put a hand on your shoulder when you start going down the harsh road. This will help propel you into changed behavior.

2. Write It down. Identify and write down all of the things your kids do that cause you frustration. Think about why it makes you angry. Again, talk it over with your wife or friend. Then craft your most ideal response to each. Keep in mind what you can teach your child in each scenario. Nothing will give you more joy than when you hear your kids repeating the great things you said to them in a calm and gentle way.

3. Prepare in the morning. These encounters will arrive throughout the day. Say this to yourself and understand this reality so you can be prepared. Look the list over in the morning. Memorize your responses so they flow naturally.

4. Review at night. Before bed, review the day. How did you do? What improvements can you make? If you’re married, ask your wife for feedback. At different times, it would even be good to ask your kids. Focus on getting better each day. Don’t be afraid to pat yourself on the back. Be encouraged by the harsh words that have disappeared.

Sound off: What are some other ways to avoid harsh responses? Huddle up with your kids and ask, “Are there times when I’m too harsh?”

© 2014 All Pro Dad. All Rights Reserved. Family First, All Pro Dad, iMOM, and Family Minute with Mark Merrill are registered trademarks. Used by permission.

For the original article, visit allprodad.com.

Do you love corn, nuts, peanut butter or even milk? While these foods give you a different feeling of satisfaction, did you know that they could potentially harm your body in the long run?

Believe it or not, there is one component that grows in these food groups that can pose serious health risk—aflatoxin. But before you panic, here are some things you should know about aflatoxin and why it is dubbed an invisible food hazard.

What is Aflatoxin?

Aflatoxin is a potent carcinogen that is produced by Asergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus molds. These molds typically grow on corn, peanuts, cottonseed, milk, walnuts, pistachios and Brazil nuts. This occurs when the crops of said foods are weakened by insects, drought or other adverse conditions or when foods are not stored properly.

Aflatoxin can be transmitted to people through milk products, meats from animal-fed contaminated field corn or nut meals or from eating peanut butter, cornmeal and grits. This can lead to liver cancer, a serious health risk.

Even if you consumed small amounts, the International Food Policy Research Institute warned that the effects can be cumulative, which can also lead to liver damage, gastrointestinal dysfunction, decreased appetite, slower reproductive function, and stunted growth.

Aflatoxin vs. the Government

Sometime in the early 1990s, federal inspectors found out that Midwestern corn and grains that were grown during the 1988 drought had high levels of aflatoxin. Although no safety measures were adopted during this time, at present, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration recognized aflatoxin as a serious health risk.

As a matter of fact, FDA has already set a tolerance for aflatoxin at 20 parts per billion. The amount may be small and unfortunately, the standards imposed by the FDA only apply to foods that cross state lines and are not applicable to foods produced and sold in the same state.

Tips to Reduce Aflatoxin Exposure

Here are some things you can do to minimize your risk of getting exposed to aflatoxin:

• Go for fresh, frozen or canned sweet corn.
• Avoid nut pieces or broken nuts since it is more likely to contain aflatoxin. At the same time, check if the nuts are already moldy, rotten or bitter. If they are, simply throw them away.
• Stay away from grind-your-own peanut butter. Peanut butter-making machines, especially when not cleaned daily can be a breeding ground for Aspergillus molds. Hence, it can be contaminated with aflatoxin, and the peanuts inside the machine may likewise contain this toxin.

It may be the food industry’s responsibility to self-monitor its products to make sure nothing is contaminated with this toxin. At the same time, the proper government agencies are also tasked to conduct regular inspections for public safety. But through these simple tips, you still will be able to reduce your risk of getting exposed to aflatoxin.

Don Colbert, M.D. has been board certified in Family Practice for over 25 years and practices Anti aging and Integrative medicine. He is a New York Times best-selling author of books such as The Bible Cure Series, What Would Jesus Eat, Deadly Emotions, What You Don’t Know May be Killing You, and many more with over 10 million books sold. He is the Medical Director of the Divine Health Wellness Center in Orlando, Florida where he has treated more than 50,000 patients.

For the original article, visit drcolbert.com.

Married men have gargantuan responsibility to provide, protect, lead, love, be available for the kids, shepherd the family faith and, most importantly, wear the pressure that accompanies these responsibilities and burdens.

In the midst of the battle, we also have the daunting assignment of cultivating and protecting that most mysterious marital commodity called I-N-T-I-M-A-C-Y. You know—that unspoken, life-giving connection with your wife that feels like Christmas morning.   

When it comes to the issue of connection between husbands and wives, I am reminded of the cell phone commercial that asked: How many bars do you have?” Everyone gets it. The more bars you see displayed on your screen the better your connection. Now ask the same question measuring your connection level with your wife. Full bars? Two bars? No service?

The No. 1 complaint wives have about their men is, “He doesn’t listen to me because he’d rather ‘fix’ the situation.” “Listening” must not be confused with “hearing,” that biological miracle that helps us interact with our environment. Listening is an acquired skill, a conscious effort to take in what is being said by another person.

Keyword? Conscious, which means present, aware and concerned. The issue women raise is that we men are more concerned about the problem than we are about them. Get that. For them the problem is never more important than the person. Great listening focuses on the person not just the problem. That may or may not come up later. 

In Romans 14:19, the Bible says we are to make “every effort to do what leads to peace and edification.” Unfortunately, men often overlook the power of active listening which leads to mutual demolition vs. edification. That’s exactly what our enemy wants. He loves a bad listener.

Poor listening:

• Kills intimacy
• Creates resentment and contempt
• Increases vulnerability to sin

If you are struggling with motivation to work on your listening skills, consider this:

“…You husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered” (I Peter 3:7).

In this verse, God commands you to elevate your wife to a high position by honoring her, by appreciating her with understanding. Ultimately, God is evaluating husband’s efforts to connect with wives. If we do not, our prayers will be hindered. God’s point is crystal clear for husbands: Your connection with your wife will either help or harm your relationship with God.

Fortunately, the Bible also gives us the formula that looks like this:

“You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry” (James 1:19).

Quick + Slow + Slow = Understanding

Instead, we often are slow to listen, and quick to speak and quick to get angry.

Listening is not easy, especially when emotions are running hot and there’s a lot at stake. So, it takes practice to overcome these barriers to good listening:

• Men want the bottom line, not the details
• Men’s agenda suffers when stopping to listen
• Men want to feel in control and listening gives that away
• Men are distracted, i.e. ESPN
• Men are bad at dealing with feelings
• Men’s fatigue reduces energy to listen
• Men are in a hurry

But husbands who win in their marriage will tune in. Here are a few quick pointers:

Create quiet. Don’t allow chaos. Turn off the noise and distractions. Put the kids to bed and make an environment for conversation.

Turn and face. Don’t talk into space. Turn your body and mind to face your wife and look into her eyes. Be present in the conversation, not just present in the room.

Repeat. Don’t delete. Active listening involves hearing her words, interpreting them and saying them back to her to confirm you’ve got her intent. Don’t dismiss what she says.

Act. Don’t ignore. Demonstrate your understanding by taking action, without announcing it. Listening followed by ignoring the conversation suggests you’re manipulating her instead of honoring her.

Men need to earn a Ph.D. on their wives. Be a life-long learner about her so your marriage and relationship with God will become more intimate.

Kenny Luck, founder of Every Man Ministries, men’s pastor at Saddleback Church, and ChristianMingle advisory board member, provides biblically oriented teaching and leadership for men and pastors seeking relevant, timely material that battle cultural, worldly concepts threatening men and God’s men. Follow Kenny and Every Man Ministries now on Facebook, Twitter (@everyMM) and YouTube.

For the original article, visit everymanministries.com.

The drastic increases in the number of people living with diabetes and the number of new cases diagnosed each year may have leveled off, according to U.S. health officials.

Researchers found little change in the prevalence and incidence of diabetes between 2008 and 2012, following drastic increases in both numbers between 1990 and 2008.

“We are now for the first time showing that (those rates are) slowing down,” Ann Albright told Reuters Health. “We’re encouraged by that but it also means that we need to continue to watch this and make sure it’s not just a blip, to make sure we can sustain this and ultimately reverse this trend.”

Albright, who directs the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, is a co-author of the new report in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

She added that more work is needed to make sure all groups benefit from the leveling off of diabetes rates. The number of new cases continued to increase among Hispanics and blacks, and the overall number of diabetes cases increased among those with less than a high school education, according to the new report.

“The interventions that are effective in treating obesity and preventing type 2 diabetes, we know what those are,” Albright said. “We need to be implementing them on a wider scale if we’re going to turn this tide.”

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. but is often underreported on death certificates, according to the CDC. The condition also costs the country about $245 billion each year.

Approximately 29 million Americans—about 9 percent of the U.S. population—have diabetes, according to the CDC. About 30 percent of those people are undiagnosed. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes and is often linked to obesity. In type 2 diabetes, the body’s cells are resistant to the hormone insulin, or the body doesn’t make enough of it. Insulin gives blood sugar access to the body’s cells to be used as fuel.

Type 1 Diabetes typically appears in childhood or adolescence and results from a failure to make insulin in the pancreas.

The new study found that in 1990, 3.5 of every 100 people had either type of diabetes, and by 2008, that number had climbed to 7.9 per 100. But as of 2012, it had risen only slightly, to 8.3 per 100.

As for the number of new cases each year, the researchers found it went from 3.2 per 1,000 people in 1990 to 8.8 per 1,000 people in 2008. It then fell to 7.1 per 1,000 people in 2012.

The researchers cannot say whether the leveling off of diabetes rates is due to changes in type 1, type 2, or both. Also, they can’t say why trends appear to be changing, but it may be related to stabilizing rates of obesity.

The CDC reported in February that the overall obesity rates appear to be stable at about a third of all adults since 2003—with a drop reported among preschool-aged children (see Reuters Health story of February 26, 2014 here: reut.rs/1uW2v6b).

“The improvement that we make in obesity and the diabetes prevention work that we do, these are all going to be contributing to slowing the rate,” Albright said. “Ultimately we want to reverse these (rates).”

© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

Getting irritated by your spouse is an occupational hazard for marriage. It happens in all marriages—some more than others.

Sometimes I frustrate and annoy my wife, Susan. I confessed that when I wrote about how sometimes I can be like a prickly porcupine. And sometimes Susan can get on my nerves too.

Take a recent weekend this summer, for example. Susan came into the kitchen and discovered a chip in one of our counters. Quickly, she declared quite irritably that either me or my son were guilty of the damage since we were there.

My reaction wasn’t award winning, but it was natural since her accusation irritated me too. I countered, in front of my son, with the defensive question, “Why do you just assume that one of us did it when it could have been someone else?”

That didn’t work too well. She got more irritated with me, walked out of the room, and went upstairs.

As I followed her upstairs, my frustration was growing too. When I asked her why she was so upset, she said I “chastised” her in front of our son and that I never listen to her about taking care of our furniture. Naturally, I had some examples of my own to share with her about how she irritated me …

You probably see where this went—nowhere. In marriage, either of us can make a HUGE list of how the other annoys and irritates the other, but that won’t get us anywhere.

Thankfully, after we processed this squabble, we came to the following conclusions:

1. We are equal-opportunity agitators. Husbands and wives BOTH do, or don’t do, things that irritate the other. So often, I forget about the things that I do that frustrate and irritate Susan, dwelling instead on all those things she does that get at me. We should take a step back and remember that we are a source of irritation too. Then, maybe we can overlook some things that our spouse does.

2. It’s not all about me. Marriage is not all about me. Our job as a husband or wife is not to make sure our spouse follows all our instructions and does what we want them to do for us when we want them to do it, like a king or queen issuing edicts to a subject. Rather, we should strive to serve one another. Remember, love is all about giving.

3. I’m an agent of change … for myself. It’s always easy to focus on what the other person needs to change. It’s easy to make mental lists of what we want our spouse to do differently. But each of us needs to focus on those things that we need to change about our own behavior first. Then, when we become models of perfection, we can start working on changing our spouse.

4. She/he is not me—and that’s fine. Our spouse is not made in our likeness. Our spouse is not designed to conform to our image. Our spouse does not think or act the same way we do, and they are not supposed to. They have a different personality and different ways of doing things. But how often do we act as though our spouse should be just like us? Don’t demand conformity. Celebrate the differences.

What are some things you think are important to remember when your spouse annoys you, or you annoy your spouse? Please share your comments below.

Mark Merrill is the president of Family First. For the original article, visit markmerrill.com.

One in four Americans suffers from some kind of mental illness in any given year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Many look to their church for spiritual guidance in times of distress. But they’re unlikely to find much help on Sunday mornings.

Most Protestant senior pastors (66 percent) seldom speak to their congregation about mental illness.

That includes almost half (49 percent) who rarely (39 percent) or never (10 percent), speak about mental illness. About 1in 6 pastors (16 percent) speak about mental illness once a year. And about quarter of pastors (22 percent) are reluctant to help those who suffer from acute mental illness because it takes too much time.

Those are among the findings of a recent study of faith and mental illness by Nashville-based LifeWay Research. The study, co-sponsored by Focus on the Family, was designed to help churches better assist those affected by mental illness.

Researchers looked at three groups for the study.

They surveyed 1,000 Protestant senior pastors about how their churches approach mental illness. Researchers then surveyed 355 Protestant Americans diagnosed with an acute mental illness—moderate to severe depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Among them were 200 churchgoers.

A third survey polled 207 Protestant family members of people with acute mental illness.

Researchers also conducted in-depth interview with 15 experts on spirituality and mental illness.

The study found pastors and churches want to help those who experience mental illness. But those good intentions don’t always lead to action.

“Our research found people who suffer from mental illness often turn to pastors for help,” said Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research. “But pastors need more guidance and preparation for dealing with mental-health crises. They often don’t have a plan to help individuals or families affected by mental illness and miss opportunities to be the church.”

A summary of findings includes a number of what researchers call “key disconnects” including:

• Only a quarter of churches (27 percent) have a plan to assist families affected by mental illness, according to pastors. And only 21 percent of family members are aware of a plan in their church.
• Few churches (14 percent) have a counselor skilled in mental illness on staff, or train leaders how to recognize mental illness (13 percent), according to pastors.
• Two-thirds of pastors (68 percent) say their church maintains a list of local mental-health resources for church members. But few families (28 percent) are aware those resources exist.
• Family members (65 percent) and those with mental illness (59 percent) want their church to talk openly about mental illness, so the topic will not seem taboo. But 66 percent of pastors speak to their church once a year or less on the subject.

That silence can leave people feeling ashamed about mental illness, said Jared Pingleton, director of counseling services at Focus on the Family. Those with mental illness can feel left out, as if the church doesn’t care. Or worse, they can feel mental illness is a sign of spiritual failure.

“We can talk about diabetes and Aunt Mable’s lumbago in church—those are seen as medical conditions,” he said. “But mental illness—that’s somehow seen as a lack of faith.”

Most pastors say they know people who have been diagnosed with mental illness. Nearly 6 in 10 (59 percent) have counseled people who were later diagnosed.

And pastors themselves aren’t immune from mental illness. Almost a quarter of pastors (23 percent) say they’ve experienced some kind of mental illness, while 12 percent say they received a diagnosis for a mental-health condition.

But those pastors are often reluctant to share their struggles, said Chuck Hannaford, a clinical psychologist and president of HeartLife Professional Soul-Care in Germantown, Tennessee. He was one of the experts interviewed for the project.

Hannaford counsels pastors in his practice and said many—if they have a mental illness such as depression or anxiety—won’t share that information with the congregation. He doesn’t think pastors should share all the details of their diagnosis. But he said they could acknowledge they struggle with mental illness.

“You know, it’s a shame that we can’t be more open about it,” he told researchers. “But what I’m talking about is just an openness from the pulpit that people struggle with these issues, and it’s not an easy answer.”

Those with mental illness also can be hesitant to share their diagnosis at church. Michael Lyles, an Atlanta-based psychiatrist, says more than half his patients come from an evangelical Christian background.

“The vast majority of them have not told anybody in their church what they were going through, including their pastors, including small-group leaders, everybody,” Lyle said.

Stetzer said what appears to be missing in most church responses is “an open forum for discussion and intervention that could help remove the stigma associated with mental illness.”

“Churches talk openly about cancer, diabetes, heart attacks and other health conditions; they should do the same for mental illness in order to reduce the sense of stigma,” Stetzer said.

Researchers asked those with mental illnesses about their experience in church:

• A few—10 percent—say they’ve changed churches because of how a particular church responded to their mental illness. Another 13 percent ether stopped attending church (8 percent) or could not find a church (5 percent). More than a third, 37 percent, answered “don’t know” when asked how their church’s reaction to their illness affected them.
• Among regular churchgoers with mental illness, about half (52 percent) say they have stayed at the same church. Fifteen percent changed churches, while 8 percent stopped going to church, and 26 percent said “don’t know.”
• Over half, 53 percent, say their church has been supportive. About 13 percent say their church was not supportive. A third (33 percent) answered “don’t know” when asked if their church was supportive.

LifeWay Research also asked open-ended questions about how mental illness has affected people’s faith. Those without support from the church said they had struggled.

• “My faith has gone to pot, and I have so little trust in others,” one respondent told researchers.
• “I have no help from anyone,” said another respondent.

But others found support when they told their church about their mental illness.

• “Several people at my church (including my pastor) have confided that they too suffer from mental illness,” said one respondent.
• “Reminding me that God will get me through and to take my meds,” said another.

Mental illness, like other chronic conditions, can feel overwhelming at times, said Pingleton. Patients can feel as if their diagnosis defines their life. But that’s not how the Bible sees those with such conditions, he said.

He pointed out that many biblical figures suffered from emotional struggles. And some, were they alive today, would likely be diagnosed with mental illness.

“The Bible is filled with people who struggled with suicide, or were majorly depressed or bipolar,” he said. “David was totally bipolar. Elijah probably was as well. They are not remembered for those things. They are remembered for their faith.”

LifeWay Research’s study was featured in a two-day radio broadcast from Focus on the Family on Sept. 18 and 19. The study, along with a guide for pastors on how to assist those with mental illness and other downloadable resources, are posted at thrivingpastor.com/mentalhealth.

LifeWay Research also looked at how churches view the use of medication to treat mental illness, about mental and spiritual formation, among other topics. Those findings will be released later this fall.

Methodology

LifeWay Research conducted 1,000 telephone surveys of Protestant pastors May 7-31, 2014. Responses were weighted to reflect the size and geographic distribution of Protestant churches. The sample provides 95% confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus-or-minus 3.1%. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups. In addition, LifeWay Research conducted 355 online surveys July 4-24, 2014 among Protestant adults who suffer from moderate depression, severe depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. The completed sample includes 200 who have attended worship services at a Christian church once a month or more as an adult. LifeWay Research also conducted 207 online surveys July 4-20, 2014 among Protestant adults who attend services at a Christian church on religious holidays or more often and have immediate family members in their household suffering from moderate depression, severe depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

For the original article, visit lifewayresearch.com.

After only a couple years of marriage, my buddy and his wife still found themselves having multiple trust issues. The major difference now, was that his wife was pregnant with their first child.

That was great news, but it certainly didn’t make the trust issues any better. As she got more pregnant, her insecurities only grew stronger and stronger.

As the relationship and pregnancy continued, things only got worse. He said that most of the occurrences happened when they were either fighting about something off the topic or when they were out in public and other women were present.

He expressed to me that as they walked around, she would ask him if he thought particular women were pretty or if he found them attractive. He mentioned that in most cases, he didn’t even see the woman until she pointed her out to him and then he had to react. As he attempted to say no and confirm his desire only for her, she would push away with disbelief and get disgusted with him.

He felt that he was at a loss and had no way of getting around the lack of trust and insecurities in his marriage. I agreed with him that it would be hard but told him there was still hope and challenged him with the following questions.

If you personally find yourself in a similar situation as the one mentioned above, I will challenge you with these questions as well. I would also ask that you don’t lose hope or give up on your marriage. You agreed to some very sacred vows, and now you need to put in some time and hard work to get your marriage on the right track.

1. Are you being honest about the path your eyes travel and your temptations? I believe this to be more of the case early in the marriage, but many men do not realize how distracted they are with the opposite sex. Their own desire for lust and temptation masks their ability to recognize they are blatantly getting caught up in the passing beautiful woman. This question requires a man to take a deep look into his heart and into his past, and see if there is any truth to his eyes traveling in the wrong directions, especially around his wife.

This question also needs to wake men up to the time that maybe they did mess up and get caught by their wife. Since my buddy was only married for three years, I asked him if there was a particular time or moment that his wife did catch him. If so, did he honestly seek forgiveness for that time or did he brush it off, not realizing the negative impact it was going to have on his future relationship with his wife? If there were any past mistakes, it’s time to man up to your wife and seek real forgiveness.

Confess that those were moments of failure, and you now realize how hurtful or “not loving” those were to her.

Confirm that you are working on this area in your life with Jesus and that she is the only woman you desire.

2. Are you aware of her past and if she experienced any trust or insecurity issues? If you have reviewed that first paragraph closely and believe that you are either clear of the questions brought up or continue to experience pains even after seeking forgiveness, you may be dealing with her past hurts. This is when it’s important to ask some of the following questions. Was her father a faithful man to her mother? Or did he have a wandering heart? Did she have any previous relationship issues that might still make her insecure?

Personally, my wife and I experienced some intense trust issues early in our own marriage. Some of the issues did have to do with me falling victim to my own temptations, but the majority of the issues stemmed from her past relationships.

Even a couple of years into it, she was still battling insecurities from the man who came before me. Even though I loved her, she was still applying the issues she had with him to me. When I found out about this, I was very offended, but not to the point of ending the marriage. We both realized we needed real help.

If you feel that these scenarios are in line with you and your marriage, I would suggest seeking help on a higher level. Resolving past pains and hurts is something very difficult for the other spouse to resolve and handle.

Speak to your wife about this, but I would suggest the both of you seek marriage counseling. The best place to engage in this is at your home church. See what they offer for counseling or even marriage mentoring. You need to find a place where you can share your deeper issues and have someone experienced break them down for the both of you as individuals and for your marriage.

3. Are you praying for your wife or with your wife? Last and most important, I asked my buddy about his prayer life. Are you praying often? Are you honestly seeking out God about these trust issues in your marriage and asking Him for healing and direction? Are you praying with her?

Praying with your wife may be the hardest, but it could bring about the most resolution without seeking help from an outside source. The beautiful thing about praying with your wife is that you can say things to God that are directly impacting her.

“Lord, thank you for my beautiful wife and the blessing that she is my life everyday.”

“Lord, thank you for bringing such a wonderful woman into my life. I pray that you would continue to watch over and protect our marriage from any outside sources of temptations or insecurities. Watch over our hearts everyday that we might seek You first above all things and seek each other in love. Thank you for my wife and continue to bless our marriage.”

Now, imagine if you were to pray those types of prayers together. Imagine if she was sitting right next to you and you said these words every time! God is ready to do amazing things in your marriage, but He’s also waiting for you to ask.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7).

Husbands, the vows you spoke meant something strong. They meant you signed up for the good and the bad. If you are experiencing anything like the questions or issues mentioned above, I challenge you to take action in your marriage today.

Review yourself. Seek assistance. Pray.

What are some effective ways you resolved trust or insecurity issues in your own marriage?

Manturity is a blog built on establishing spiritual maturity in today’s man. The goal is to assist men in building better marriages and help them grow in maturity and explore different aspects of manhood. Manturity.com features new weekly blog posts, daily social-media updates and a powerful resources page. Stay up to date with the Manturity blog communities on Facebook and Twitter.

For the original article, visit manturity.com.

Generic drugs have long been pushed on American consumers as cost-effective alternatives to brand-name prescription medicines. But widespread manufacturing irregularities at drug factories overseas are raising troubling new questions about the safety of generics and whether they are putting Americans’ health at risk.

A new analysis by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research reveals extensive problems with the quality of generics produced by Indian pharmaceutical companies, which supply about 40 percent of the generic drugs sold in the United States. Bureau investigators examined nearly 1,500 India-made drug samples collected from 22 cities and found that up to 10 percent of some medications contained insufficient levels of the key active ingredients—concentrations so low, in fact, that they would not be effective against the conditions they’re designed to treat.

This new research adds to a growing body of evidence that the generic-drug industry, which supplies 85 percent of the prescription medications sold in the U.S., routinely violates basic quality-control standards and ships sub-par medicines to the U.S. and other countries.  

What that means is that many patients prescribed generic drugs are not only getting ripped off, but may be at risk because their medications are not treating the conditions they have, says renowned cardiologist Chauncey Crandall, M.D.

Story continues below video.

“I always try to put my patients on brand-name drugs,” says Dr. Crandall, author of the Heart Health Report newsletter. “The generics are starting to give us a problem, and I’m very concerned about that.”

In an interview on Newsmax TV’s Meet the Doctors program, Dr. Crandall says he has seen firsthand among his patients the dangers posed by inferior generic medications. He recalls giving generic drugs to heart-failure patients and found the medications simply were not working.

“I put them back on the brand-name drug and their heart failure disappeared, so this led me to believe that there is something going on with generic medicines that we need to be concerned about,” says Dr. Crandall, director of preventive medicine at the Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic and author of the No. 1 Amazon best-selling book The Simple Heart Cure.

And it’s not just heart drugs that are the problem, he says.

“This is a deep concern of mine that I want to emphasize,” he says. “If at all possible you need to go on a brand-name drug. The insurance companies, the VA Medical System and the government want to push you to generic drugs because it lowers the cost of medicine, and this is a big concern of many physicians today—that generics are not equal to brand-name drugs.”

The latest findings by the National Bureau of Economic Research adds to the growing body of evidence that the generic-drug industry in India, and possibly elsewhere, is falling short of quality standards.

International regulators found more than 1,600 errors in 15 drug applications submitted by the Indian generic giant Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited. Officials noted that these pills were “potentially unsafe and illegal to sell.” 

The findings come in the wake of a string of drug recalls of products made by Indian pharmaceutical companies. Some 100,000 bottles of the heart drug Toprol XL were recalled because they didn’t dissolve properly. The medication is a beta blocker taken by millions of Americans to prevent strokes, heart attacks and sudden cardiac death. 

In recent months the Food and Drug Administration has banned the import of medications made at facilities owned by Ranbaxy and two other large Indian drug manufacturers, Wockhardt and Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Here are some of the drug recalls resulting from manufacturing problems at major Indian pharmaceutical firms: 

• Sun Pharmaceuticals recalled nearly 400,000 bottles of the decongestant cetirizine (generic version of Zyrtec) and 251,882 of the antidepressant venlafaxine (Effexor) in May because the pills failed to dissolve properly. The drugs were distributed by the drug maker’s U.S. subsidiary Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories but were manufactured in India.
• Also in May, Ranbaxy recalled 30,000 packs of the allergy drugs loratadine and pseudoephedrine sulfate extended-release tablets because of manufacturing defects in packaging.
• In March, Sun recalled a batch of a generic diabetes drug bound for the U.S. after an epilepsy drug was found in it. A patient discovered the error after noticing the wrong medication in the drug bottle.
• Also in March, Ranbaxy recalled nearly 65,000 bottles of the statin drug atorvastatin calcium (Lipitor) after 20-milligram tablets were found in sealed bottles marked 10-milligrams. A pharmacist in the U.S. discovered the mix-up.
• The FDA issued an alert in 2013 over manufacturing problems occurring in one of Ranbaxy’s Indian facilities and advised U.S. customs officials to hold up importation of the medications until the company complied with regulatory standards.

In light of these developments, Dr. Crandall says patients need to talk to their doctors about the medications they are taking.

“There is a difference when we [use] generics, and it can cost the patients his life,” he says. “So at all costs I would urge [patients] to pursue the name-brand drug. I think we need to make our government officials aware of this. They are pushing you to inferior drugs, and we need to get a revolution going to get these inferior drugs off the market.”

For the original article, visit newsmaxhealth.com.