Saturday, December 19, 2015


Gifts GIFTS. GIFTS!

I am, The Health Reverend, SandraTeresa Davenport, at your service. This time, we will discuss the topic of Giving and Receiving. So my wish for you is that you will always be gifted as your heart desires and your soul needs, and that you will also give in return.

We are now a week closer to the holiday of Christmas. Other people call it other names. And others, like me, don’t call it anything. I do, however, know what people are talking about when they discuss it. The only thing I don’t know is why so many people have been fed and accepted and continue to practice the lie about how much money they should spend, how stressed they should get; how they should give time and gifts and money to people they don’t know, or may not even like. The part I like, though, is how beautifully so many people can think of so many ways to decorate. They decorate their homes, their cars, their offices. A lot of people even put Christmas clothes on their pets! I love to see the light shows—when I make it to one.

And finally, although it is fun for a lot of people, and it is a season which seems to put people in happy, kind, loving moods, I also don’t understand why the feeling doesn’t last much past the new year. Wow. Think about it, and if you come up with something you’d like to share, let me know. There is always a door prize...

Today, we will pray a prayer of invocation, which is also part of the CME doxology: ‘Grant us God, the grace of giving, with a spirit large and free, that ourselves and all our giving, we may offer unto thee.’ Please remember these words as we proceed.

Most of you, know quite well the Christmas scriptures. I know them, because I have heard them nearly every Christmas of my life, in some fashion. I have read them in the various Christmas programs that I’ve participated in, and I have surely heard them read in the Christmas Sunday service.

We are all quite well aware of the story of the Eastern Star, the wise men and the manger story. Also, at the center of that story is an idea which is our topic today: gifting. Yes, we all know of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Do you know what frankincense and myrrh are? Do you know why a king, of all people, would give these items to a newborn baby? Ok, then, if you do, you have a job: teach them to your children. Tell them what they are, what they are used for, how they were used, and then make it very clear that it was altogether fitting and proper that they be given to a newborn king.
I was on my way to this: most every preacher, minister, theologian, seminarian who is making a speech or presentation at this hour is reworking those stories mentioned above. So, if you need to hear them, I can direct you to someone else. I have too much work to do, to pause and repeat a story that has been told as long by as many to as many as that one has been. We have got to get busy helping people get well and I thank you very much for your interest in your health, and in what I have to tell you!
So, then, whenever you look at someone and smile, or speak a word of encouragement to someone, or even when you simply keep the good thought about yourself, your life, you are, indeed, giving gifts. And, there WILL BE A RETURN. COUNT ON IT…

I DECIDED TO USE MORE SCRIPTURE TODAY BECAUSE Christmas is an emotional experience. It brings feelings of love and devotion. It gives some of a moment to pause and consider the year gone by. I am taking full advantage of these feelings and bringing us to matters most serious and precious: the health of children and future generations: our children’s children.

INSTRUCTION TOPIC: GIVING AND RECEIVING– we are soon to enter into a true season of life. The winter solstice will soon begin. Then we’ll have time to rest. Or we should. Certain feelings come to use in winter that are absent in summer and spring. One of those feelings is sometimes longing. Something about cold weather causes humans to seek more comfort. It keeps us in place a bit better and gives us a chance to think and imagine and to create. Again, many people feel spring to be the season for creating and newness. However, if you have ever noticed, newness can happen at any time. I suggest to you that you quiet down for a bit in this new season and see what gifts will come to you, and I am certain that something will.

SOURCE OF INSTRUCTION: Continues with The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children. Published in 2000. Carol Simontacchi. This time we are taking a closer look at food additives and their affect on mental health. Most especially the mental health of young people: children, babies and adolescents. Because the brains of this group of people is in its formative stages, it is more easily affected by food, drinks and drugs that the child consumes. It is important to add in drugs because, as we all know, way to many children take way too many drugs. Do us a favor: if you know of children who are ‘drugged’, look at them sometimes and try to see if you find a connection between what they eat and how they behave.

I likely have said this before, but the quality of sleep that a child [or an adult] gets, has a direct bearing on that person’s behavior. It isn’t just a matter of being groggy or grouchy or sleepy. After a person is deprived of adequate sleep for a while, the body starts to suffer and malfunction. This problem begins with the slow-down of the immune system.

I have given you a brief mention of the additives in foods [processed foods]. Now I’ll give you an idea of what growing bodies really need in order to do a good job of growing. Remember that when we talk about additives in foods, we’re mainly talking about processed foods. Processed foods are often thought of as those that are not in a natural state. Like, hot dogs, pizza, sausage, cereal, bread, muffins, cookies, crackers, pasta. Additives are also found in whole foods such as chicken, milk, produce, and dairy. Almost every item in the grocery has something added to it, whether for freshness, color, stability or taste.

On the other hand, if we know how to equip ourselves, we do stand a chance. So listen to this, when children are growing up, their brains need essential fats, saturated fats and essential fatty acids, which are found in animal products [cheese, butter, eggs and beef]. This is important for younger children but crucial for teens headed into adulthood.

Protein is also crucial. It enables the building of strong muscles. It also contains a nutrient which makes up 15% to 30% of the brain. If you don’t believe these things to be true, try them for a few days and see what happens. Start with yourself, then move on to your family. Know you will be glad you did.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT: Make a decision to gift your life with a healthier body. Sit down somewhere and consider that you may want to transform yourself. Think of what it would be like if you really wanted to renew your mind. Decide whether you want to transform your health, your body. Decide what part of your life, your health, you want to transform and make new. Then, get started. Remember, don’t take my word for anything, after you have gathered up some sources, take off! Study, read, consider, reflect, compare, and move forward. You will be so glad you did.

SIGNATURE Call me, write me an email, send a text, stop by, meet up somewhere. It doesn’t matter to me. I just want to know that you’re listening. I have a charge to keep and I won’t be stopped. The time is sure to come when we will gather at our new location and see what real study is like! I promise you. Please dial in to blogtalkradio 929 447 2763 Sunday at 3 PM to see what else I have to offer. Or listen live: www.blogtalkradio.com/thehealthreverend. Please remember to share your information and mine with all your friends, and especially your relations. We can get well...even if it is one radio show at a time.

UPCOMING

December 24 – Old Stories of Xmas

December 31 – Watch Night Service.

JANUARY – Tea/Herbals/Preventive Medicine [Colds, Flu, etc.]/Home Remedies

FEBRUARY – African-American history/heart health [depression, loneliness, loss/fear] and physical health. You don’t want to miss these meetings!

Wednesday, December 9, 2015


Real Food!




We are off again on an adventure of living well. I trust that you are living as well as you know how and that you continue to seek greater health.

DEDICATION:  Every listener who is busy trying to figure out what to give somebody for Christmas or Kwanzaa or Hanukah or whatever you call the season. I am especially dedicating it to you if you’re trying to figure out what to give a child that you know and love. And since I know every one of you fits this list, I dedicate today’s show to you all, my family of listeners.

On the topic of giving, the first scripture that most people remember is: ‘... God loves a cheerful giver...’ and the next one is ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive...’. And don’t forget, ‘...you can’t beat God giving...’ take your pick. [I’m not sure that last one is a scripture but I know it is the name of a song.] So if you are about to give somebody a gift, especially your children or the children who are in your bloodline, rethink what a gift is...

This is the part of our presentation where we get our focus. The focus of Living Well Ministries is ministry and Scripture is the foundation. My favorite scripture about giving is Proverbs 12:22 – “a good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children...” 

An inheritance most often is thought of as property, money, stocks, bonds, houses or investments. It’s usually something material that can make the life of the receiver easier in some way. We understand, however, that an inheritance takes many different forms. Let us, therefore, take a look at other ways that a good man may leave an inheritance for his children's children and that would be the inheritance of good health.

Also, we are returning to the 55th Chapter of Isaiah verses 2 – 5. And why, you may ask, are we doing that: although our topic is gifting, and we are specifically discussing the gift of good health. I will tell you why: Because when we talk about health, the first thing that comes to mind is food. We need to make a link between today’s food and tomorrow’s health. Or, in our case, this year’s food is next year’s health, or lack of it.

Listen to what Isaiah had to say in his 55th chapter, beginning with verse 2:

Why waste your money on something that is not real food?
    Why should you work for something that does not really satisfy you?
Listen closely to me and you will eat what is good.
    You will enjoy the food that satisfies your soul.
Listen closely to what I say.
    Listen to me so that you will live.

Then the burning question returns: Why waste your money on something that is not real food?
Before we go any further, take a close look at what we call food. There’s going to be a great deal of it consumed here in the next few weeks. Then the next few weeks after that, people will be running here and there, trying to recover from it all. It is my job to pass on some information to that might help with what you decide to eat. I have no choice but to present this information, it’s like Elder Willie Pruitt used to say, ‘yawl may not hear me, but it’s the truth, so I’m going to say it anyway!
Would you like to leave an inheritance of good health for your children's children. And be sure that they are able to prosper.

The most important part of what we do, is not just that you to listen to me and not that you read labels and not that you try and change your diet or exercise more. The most important part is that you study and learn for yourself what it is that you need to do. I will even refer you to the second letter that the Apostle wrote to Timothy you know what it says. The first word of that letter is ‘study’.
So, when I give you some information, I don't want you to stop and sit down and embrace it just because I said it. Don’t accept it just because you think it's interesting or it’s going to give you something you to talk about. No; I want you to be your own health guru. Just use what I say as a place to begin your own study.
BODY IN TWO PARTS: G I F T I N G. We settled on gifting as our topic because of  the season. These next few weeks, people are running around buying and giving and exchanging gifts with people. Eventually some people even return gifts to stores.

You know, however, that when your Health Reverend talks about it, gifting is a different matter altogether. We are discussing gifting as it relates to the giving of good health and good health habits, to your children and your children's children. I, therefore, will begin by asking just a couple of questions? What does gifting mean to you? When you think about giving something to someone, do you only think of something that can be touched or seen or held in your hand or put into a box? When you think of gifting, do you think of giving good examples or offering affection or providing inspiration? These are gifts as well.

INSTRUCTION TOPIC: a slightly different question on the same topic: What foods are you giving your children?

Sometimes the information I encounter is so exciting, I feel that I should hurry up and pass it along to you. Then, there’s so much of it, I try to summarize the high points. This time, I did neither one of those. Today’s book is ever so very exciting. I am simply bringing you a new source for instruction and information. The first one has a bit of a story: [you know, with me, there’s always a story.] I first read this book at least 10 years ago, when I was living with a couple who had a health ministry of their own. They taught classes, sold health products—supplements, vitamins, nutritional oils, and so forth. They also sold books, and I tried my level best to read all of them.

This first one is entitled, The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children. Published in 2000. Carol Simontacchi.  I never have forgotten it, for several reasons. First of all, the writer discusses the health and feeding of infants, babies, children adolescents and adults. According to her, what we are fed is the foundation of everything else that happens: physical or mental. It is a great source if you want to learn about how food additives affect the growth and development of young children. It also discusses how many different ways additives are presented; how many different ones of these additives are added to the foods that infants, children, and yes—adults, eat. Processed foods, that is.

Companies that produce and manufacture larger portions of foods, must be able to sell those foods. For foods to sell, they must be cheap enough, they must taste good and they must have a long shelf life. Another thing that must happen: they must appeal to the mothers of children! Why just mothers? Because, females make up 85% of all grocery store shoppers and the other 15% are influenced in their shopping, by females.

Little children like things that look pretty and they generally will eat something that tastes good. The first thing comes to my mind is a gummy something. Next time you go in a grocery store, check out how many different food items have been made into ‘gummies’.
Now then, let’s go to taste. There are only three ingredients that make food taste good: fat, sugar and salt. Of course, you can add other spices but without  these first three, not much happens. In my view, there is no substitute for taste, and in my further view, nothing tastes as good as butter, bacon and eggs. All these things have one thing in common: FAT! Salt isn’t nearly as appealing as the first two. Fat has been given a really bad name here in the recent 30 years or so, leaving only one choice: Sugar. You already know how I feel about sugar so I’ll just keep moving.

Shelf life. Shelf life. What in the world does that mean? This is the short version of it: before food can legally be sold, in cans, it has to be cooked. Once it is cooked, it has little, if any nutrition left. The story is, it will last longer in a can than it ever would in the produce section. Next thing, packaged foods. Some of them have shelf life – USE BY dates of at least 12 months. Are you sure you want to feed something to your little children that has lost all its nutrition?
Now, additives. Additives, it turns out, are also not your friend. Just for the fun of it, I thought I should give you a few of those names: check it out:


artificial color [unnamed]
artificial flavors [unnamed]
calcium propionate
mono calcium phosphate
oleoresin paprika
partially hydrogenated soybean oil sodium bicarbonate
sodium acid pyrophosphate
Sodium lactate [associated with panic attacks]
sodium nitrite
sodium phosphate
sorbic acid


We will sit with this book for the entire month of December. Maybe by January, you will have one of your own and we can move on to a different one.

I have all but one of my teeth. I’m sure it’s because of all the butter milk I drank when I was a child. Many of the people I started first grade with have few of their own teeth, if any and they all that I have all of mine! After you have taken a look, a listen to what Simontacchi says, you may be pressed to reconsider what you are feeding yourself and your children.

A DOOR PRIZE!!! The Gift of Taking, Honor Yourself First – All Else Will Follow. Dr. Jill Kahn.  Dr. Kahn is a medical doctor who works closely with cancer patients. Her book is all about how taking for ourselves, for our greater personal good, is the number one goal. She tells of her many enlightening experiences with finding her purpose in life. But she wasn’t just finding her purpose: she was accepting her calling. It is the same high call that we all have: honor yourself...first. It is only then that we can fully and openly honor others. This is still true in our quest for health and wellness.

I am putting this book aside and making it a ‘door prize’ for the person to contact me after reading this blog.  It doesn’t matter if you call, email, text. Just contact me and let me know that you heard me. Also, I’ll want to know what part of the discussion sparked your interest and got you to move. 

One thing that I really love about this book is that she gives us an ‘alternative’ look at the experience of giving. Taking, she calls it, when we are giving to ourselves. Again, remember, we are not talking about material ‘things’, but spiritual gifts of joy, given and shared from a position of full abundance. This reminds me of Rv HR Delaney, Jr., his prayers always included this line “...that we may all have a right to the tree of life, and have it more abundantly...” give yourself the gift of an abundant life, abundant health and happiness. Let me hear from you, OK! Your book is waiting! Remember now, it is a used book but we’ll find some way to cover over the inscription that’s already in it! 

HOW TO CLAIM A DOOR PRIZE: Be the first to contact me with at least a one-line [not one-word] comment about today’s post, call, text, whatever you like. Give me an address and I will send it to you!

It is a common response to this commentary for people to say, ‘...but what can you do?’ I’ll tell you this: there’s plenty to be done if those things in boxes in the grocery store are left on the shelves. When McDonald’s can’t sell a happy meal and gummy bears don’t go home with you, something will surely change. i know that. I’m sure you or someone you or someone you know, can remember quite well when cigarette smoking was allowed in every quarter. But today, it ain’t.

TODAY’S ASSIGNMENT: First, reconsider what you see as gifting. I suggest to you that the greatest gifts cannot be put into a box. When you sit quietly and listen to what you are hearing, from the voice of God, you will find some wonderful gifts that will greatly benefit your children and their children. Your assignment, therefore: listen and take heed. Take notes, if necessary, learn more about health and find ways to teach all that you learn to your children. That way, you will be certain to leave an inheritance of the most precious sort: good health and long life.

Second: pay a visit to the Habitat Re-store near you. Browse—slowly, browse—the book shelves and seek out an ‘alternative’ source of health information. Pick one up, flip some pages, read the inside flap. Pick up something that you would never have given a second look to. Don’t stop with health, move on to wealth, to spiritual instruction, to child-rearing...reading has no limits. There’s bound to be something in there you want to know. Do this, and make it a gift to yourself. Then, you know, after you take these books home, you have to do something with them. That mean: turn off the phone, the computer, the TV and turn on your new, improved brain and let it expand and grow new pathways. You’ll love it. Remember, a mind is a terrible thing to waste! 

I want Yawl to keep reading and keep sharing what you read. I am making my best efforts to make the best use of every piece of IT that I can. You can now hear me on www.blogtalkradio.com at 3:00 p.m. Sunday – 929 447 2763. It’s similar to here but a bit different. Also, you may listen live ot my local show www.wchmradio.com.

Please remember to check: www.thehealthreverend.blogspot.com; email: thehealthreverend@gmail.com; phone: 706 768 4917; twitter @healthreverend. Thank you for time in reading this. I am SandraTeresa Davenport, The Health Reverend, yawl holla, and no matter what, live well!

UPCOMING

December 17 – getting ready for xmas and how to stay well till the new year comes.
December 24 – old stories of xmas and what it means to give and share
December 31 – Watch night service.
The prayers of Isaiah.
Good Health – Weight Loss/Gain – Body Image [Not just a concern for women]
JANUARY – Tea/Herbals/Preventive Medicine [Colds, Flu, etc.]/Home Remedies
FEBRUARY – African-American history/heart health [depression, loneliness, loss/fear] and physical health. You don’t want to miss these meetings!



Sunday, December 6, 2015

Franken-Foods...at their best.

Have you ever been called sugar or honey? My grandmother Elvira always said, Sugar, Pie! Now that’s sweet. But, do you know how sugar affects every other aspect of your health? Do you how it raises blood pressure, creates and worsens depression, how it interferes with sleep and concentration? If you want more of this information,  join in!  Listen live at: Saturday, 7:00 p.m. and Sunday 8:30 a.m. [EDT]: www.wchmradio.com. Sunday, 3:00 p.m. www.blogtalkradio.com/thehealthreverend - or dial in (929) 477-2763



LET ME REMIND YOU THAT: I am not a physician; I have no medical training or experience. I have read some medical texts and have talked to a few people who have read them. I do, however, know health and nutrition. I have studied health and wellness and I have experienced various degrees of improvement by applying that which I have learned. Any information that I pass along will be from personal experience, and absolutely not intended to replace professional medical advice. Having said that, let us continue:


You will recall that the topic for this month is sugar. You may remember that: sugar is not your friend and That will not change We are coming close to the national overeating season, so, we don’t want to miss out.

Today’s scripture: EASY-READ VERSION [ERV] - Isaiah 55:1-3

Isaiah was a major prophet – his writing is very lengthy and has a greater influence in Christian teachings. However,  he is highly regarded in both Judaism and Islam. Generally, when people such as Isaiah speak of food, it is referring to spiritual food. The opening section of this book speaks to people who have been distanced from God and God is inviting them back.

Back when these scriptures were written, no one had yet heard of these five major killers that we know so well today [cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and stroke]. No one had ever been told that they had high blood pressure and surely, nary a soul had ever been told they needed to lose weight! Well, today, that’s not the case. Back then, no one was eating packaged foods, processed foods or Genetically Modified Foods. Today, we do have these problems and today we do eat these things.

Today, therefore, we really need some help. To this end, I will read from the 55th chapter of Isaiah,“All you people who are thirsty, come!    Here is water for you to drink.Don’t worry if you have no money.    Come, eat and drink until you are full!You don’t need money.    The milk and wine are free.Why waste your money on something that is not real food?    Why should you work for something that does not really satisfy you?Listen closely to me and you will eat what is good.    You will enjoy the food that satisfies your soul.Listen closely to what I say.    Listen to me so that you will live.


Here’s the question: Why waste your money on something that is not real food? What did you eat for breakfast today? Bagel, Toast with cream cheese. Bowl of cereal, maybe. Did you give your children a high-protein/high fat breakfast? If not, I ask this question again, Why waste your money on something that is not real food? By the time you get done with all the ingredients that you know, and then move on to all those you can’t even pronounce, it is hard to know that you are even consuming food, at all. But we need food. A person wants to eat something before leaving home. And you must, simply must give your children something to eat. But, Have you considered the food value of your last meal? Is there enough nutrition in your breakfast to get you to lunch? Did you remember to bring along a protein bar for your mid-afternoon snack?

I am borrowing from the great African Historian Neely Fuller, Jr.: If you don’t understand health, nutrition, wellness, disease, everything else that you think you know will surely only confuse you.


HERE’S THE PROBLEM, AS I SOMETIMES SEE IT:  Nobody can be sure of what to eat, when to eat it or how much to eat, because there are so many conflicting ideas about it all. Low-fat/high-fat, low-sugar, no-sugar, natural sugar/ artificial sweeteners, dried fruit or fresh fruit; white bread or wheat bread; organic or traditional; canned or frozen. Which? When? How Much? How often? Just too much information. Another name for it is confusion.

The next thing we know, we can’t sleep; can’t wake up; can’t relax, can’t concentrate, can’t see; can’t focus when we can see. Most of the time, we can’t even remember what it was we ate that got us to feeling so bad. Confusion.

What does sugar have to do with all this? Every item of low-fat food has a high sugar content. Every canned fruit has sugar added [just depends on which name it’s using].  Every cracker, every protein bar, or shake, you guessed it: has sugar added. We know ice cream has sugar: yogurt so does. If not, it has enough aspartame to make your brain wish you had eaten sugar!

Sugar, even a little, can be a very dangerous thing: it can, cause cancer, diabetes, rotten teeth, sleep
Sugar, not fat, makes you fat. it can cause depression, sugar increases the release of insulin, which if not used up properly, is stored as fat and you know what increased insulin can do. Sugar causes digestion problems. Listen, sugar can even cause your brain to shrink! That’s right. How is that: well, your brain needs fat and protein. If there’s more sugar than fat, we got problems. Sugar affects vision, it causes stiff joints, makes you shakey. Wow. Is that enough? Ok, good. but I can come back with more.

The next time someone tells you something about health, and start with ‘they say’, that’s when you should stop listening. If you keep listening and they can’t tell you where they found the information, stop listening. If, on the other hand, someone is telling you about personal experience: good, bad and otherwise, listen to them.  Don’t be caught in another fad; don’t be concerned with how some Hollywood type lost weight, or which one Oz is endorsing this week. You want to know the best diet for you? the one that works! And there are several layers to that, so be ware.

Here are some of the fads that are really popular as ‘general information’ or ‘generally agreed upon fiction’:
Sugar don’t cause diabetes
Yogurt is better for you than ice cream
A little bit of sugar if not a problem.
Honey is better for you than sugar.    
Fad ≠ Fact – no questions asked.
I don’t suggest that you base your health, your family’s health, your future health, on a fad. I suggest that you take to heart the information I bring to you and use it as a guide toward improved, enhanced, excellent health.

For more information, please explore the following sites:

https://www.youtube.com/user/butterbobbriggs
www.drberg.com

Thank you for your time in reading this information. I am SandraTeresa Davenport, TheHealthReverend. Please come again and please come often! Meantime, LiveWell


The Rev on Medium

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Subscribe For Newsletters

* indicates required

Popular Posts

Image Gallery