Faith

Mark can't help but write about his faith in God as he considers it the most important thing in his life. He reflects on biblical principles, spirituality, practices and attitudes, religious structures, a bit of theology, and more - to encourage people to reflect on and rekindle their own faith and grow closer to God.

Mark Gilroy July 24, 2014

A Prayer for When You Feel Overwhelmed

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

God of Strength,

I am not handling all that I am facing very well at the moment. I feel there is too much to be done and too little of me to do it. I am falling behind. I feel like an excessive burden is always on my shoulders. There is so much to be done that I’m not accomplishing much of anything.

First of all, I pray that you help me look at my life realistically and remove some unimportant tasks. Help me to simplify appropriately. Second, I pray that you would give me a spirit that is willing to accept challenges and work hard to meet them. If my work ethic is not where it should be, I ask for more determination and resolve.

If I am in trouble because I procrastinate help me to get busy now. I pray also that you will bring people into my life that will help me shoulder the load. Strengthen me in every area of my life so that the tasks before me don’t feel so heavy and simply aren’t as hard.

But most of all I pray that you would be my helper. I pray that in every task I would be aware of your presence. Help me understand that you will not allow more to come into my life than I can handle.

I pray this in the strong name of Jesus – Amen

To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us—and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.

— Thomas Merton

From God’s Help by Mark Gilroy Published by Howard Books (Simon and Schuster), 2012

Mark Gilroy July 22, 2014

Convictions and Civility – How to Have Strong Beliefs and Get Along With Others

How do you engage in disagreement?

Convictions and civility.

I wish I could take credit for what I called the 5 Cs of Engagement with my kids as they grew up. I wanted them to hold firmly to their beliefs (convictions) but do so in such a way that they could communicate effectively and get along well with others (civility).

I picked up the concept – and have probably butchered it to some degree – from Martin Marty’s hard-to-find little book, By Way of Response, published in 1981.

In today’s political landscape I am reminded that the 5 Cs of Engagement aren’t just a lesson to try to impart to my kids, but a reminder of what I need to season my interaction with in a world where many people don’t believe the same way I do. [Read more…]

Mark Gilroy June 21, 2014

A Time to Fast

A Fast Food Fast Can Be Toughest!

One of the hot new trends in the diet and exercise world is known as IF – intermittent fasting. Tyler Graham explains in Men’s Journal, The Magazine:

IF is not what most people typically think of as fasting – going without food or sustenance for days. Instead, IFers believe you can reap all the benefits (and more) of chronic calorie restriction after as few as 12 hours without food. Which means that simply skipping breakfast and waiting until lunch to eat any food (most say it’s OK to put a splash of cream in your coffee) counts as IF. It seems counterintuitive, but skipping meals helps you feel more energized, recover better from exercise, blast fat, and retain lean muscle mass, and even protects your body from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and cognitive decline – which is why NASA is interested in looking at fasting to improve the cognitive functioning of pilots and unmanned-aerial-vehicle operators.

But many doctor’s warn against using a fast for weight-loss. A WebMD article argues:

“Fasting is not a weight loss tool. Fasting slows your metabolic rate down so your diet from before the fast is even more fattening after you fast,’ says Joel Fuhrman MD, author of Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Plan for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss and Fasting and Eating for Health. Fasting for weight loss carries other health risks as well. While fasting for a day or two is rarely a problem if you are healthy, “it can be quite dangerous if you are not already eating a healthy diet, or if you’ve got liver or kidney problems, any kind of compromised immune system functioning, or are on medication – even Tylenol,” says Fuhrman, a family physician in Flemington, N.J.

But the time to fast I’m speaking of isn’t about health or weight loss. The spiritual tradition of fasting is that there is a time to abstain from food in order to focus on God in prayer. [Read more…]