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A Circle of Friends

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friendThe presumed benefits of friendship have been the focus of many self-help books and the authors have suggested that healthy friendships are a key metric to measure happiness; boost your physical and mental health; and, they may even extend your life.

A group of researchers from the University of Oxford decided to test the value of friendships, and their research has yielded some interesting results:

  • The research suggests that people with a large circle of friends have a higher pain tolerance.
  • The social interactions you have with your friends triggers the release of endorphins that are conducive to positive emotions.
  • Endorphins generate a strong pain-killing effect that’s stronger than morphine.

Which is of more value: Facebook posts or face-to-face interactions?  Katerina Johnson, co-author of the study, has said: “In this digital era, deficiencies in our social interactions may be one of the overlooked factors contributing to the declining health of our modern society.”

Even though, he didn’t make his conclusion based on a questionnaire, Solomon knew the value of a good friend:

  • Proverbs 17:17: A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
  • Proverbs 27:17: In the same way that iron sharpens iron, a person sharpens the character of his friend.

I’m not sure who Aristotle had in mind when he said, “The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.” I do, however, know that his words remind me of something Jesus said:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:12-15).”

Death by Cliché

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abideLast week was a rough week for the FCC family, and it was harder for some than it was for others.  It’s always difficult when you’re trying to manufacture enough strength to keep your feet on the ground; your head above the clouds; your shoulder to the wheel; your nose to the grindstone; your ear to the ground; your eye on the ball; and, finger on the pulse.

Take a moment to look, again, at each of the mantras above.  What is the common theme?  Isn’t it spiritual desertion through physical exertion?   If you’re not careful, you’ll cliché yourself to death with this sort of bumper sticker philosophy.

The key to managing life is not the saccharine sentimentalism that’s posted on Facebook.  Meaningless and sappy slogans are a poor substitute for the vitality of the vine that is promised by Jesus in John 15.  Here are the key points to what Jesus said concerning this relationship:

  • Productivity: The branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me (15:4)
  • Prayer: If you abide in me, and my words abide in you . . . (15:7)
  • Proof: By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples (15:8)
  • Practical Obedience: If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love (15:10).

The key to escaping a tireless existence is to entirely focus on the principles above.  Develop the habit of abiding in Christ by interceding in prayer, ingesting His word, and intentionally obeying His commands.

When you abide in Him, you’re nourished by the vitality of the Vine, and you can  “Be imitators of God as dear children.  And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma (Ephesians 5:1-2).”

The Power of Green

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Video_Landing-Page_0007_20131227_093457Before last week, there is a good chance that your roof was not at the top of your list of major concerns.  If it was pelted by hail during the recent storm, your roof may have become a source of worry. Because of the massive damage in the short-lived storm, Butler County has been swarmed by colonies of contractors hoping to make a buck off of you.

Unless you are a roofer by trade, you may given little thought to the decking, shingles, and the other components that are used to build a roof.  A movement underway to change the constitution of roofs, may change that.

Facebook, the social media giant, installed a 9-acre green roof at its office in Menlo Park, California.  “Green roofs can reduce the retention of heat in urban areas, help to cool down buildings and thereby lower their energy use, and even pull some carbon dioxide from the air and feed it back into plant growth (The Washington Post).”

In the June edition of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, a report focuses on the psychological benefit of green roofs: 40-second Green Roof Views Sustain Attention: The Role of Micro-Breaks in Attention Restoration.

Kate Lee, the lead researcher of the study (University of Melbourne) has concluded that “Modern work drains attention throughout the day, so providing boosted ‘green micro-breaks’ may provide mental top-ups to offset declining attention.” If a person can look outside his office window and see a flowering meadow green roof instead of a bare concrete roof, he will experience cognitive benefits.

This new research, reminds me of a very old peace in the Bible.  This piece of peace is found in Psalm 23 where David spoke of God leading him to the “green pastures” and “still waters” to “restore his soul.”

To help you have a “green” moment, take just a second or two to read Psalm 23 from  The Message:

God, my shepherd!

    I don’t need a thing.

You have bedded me down in lush meadows,

    you find me quiet pools to drink from.

True to your word,

    you let me catch my breath

    and send me in the right direction.

Whatever your concern might be today, remember God is able!

The Memory Book of Life

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If you use Facebook, you have probably seen the offer to tell your life story through photos you’ve posted during 2014.  The social media giant has bruised shins due to people kicking-back because the program has caused them to relive unwanted memories.

Facebook’s memory-making-methods pale in comparison to the life-in-review process that God has designed for each of us.  Let me shatter any feel-good, party-time thoughts with three words: the judgment seat.

The thoughts of the most stalwart among the faithful turn sober when they think of standing before the Righteous Judge, and He reviews each moment of our lives.  Think I’m kidding?  Here’s the proof:

  • Hebrews 9:27: It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:10: We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
  • Romans 14:10: We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

The good news is that God is not just a God of judgment, but He also a God of mercy and grace:  “. . .all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest…But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!

Since you know what the future holds, why not get a grip on the present.  Live 2015 with the resolve of the Apostle Paul:  “For me, living is Christ and dying is gain.”