Have you ever experienced acts
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of worship outside
the walls of your church?
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Treating worship as a
state of mind, as an attitude
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that you engage in multiple
times each day - rather than
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just during a church service,
that may be the treatment
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that you need.
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Applying worship as treatment
is the focus of today's program.
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And we'll be sharing ideas
that you can use to improve
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your health today no matter
where you're starting from.
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"The Ultimate
Prescription" starts now.
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Thanks for joining us here
on "The Ultimate Prescription,"
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a program dedicated to
helping us better understand
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God's design for our lives
and experience better health
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by following His plan.
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I'm your host, Nick
Evenson, and I'm joined by
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Dr. James Marcum for
an excellent program today
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in which we're going to
be discussing how to apply
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worship as a
Biblical prescription.
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Wow Nick, that's a great
introduction and you really
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put the pressure on by
saying "excellent," so I hope
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everyone considers this at the
end of the program "excellent."
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But, one thing I can
say is worship is EXCELLENT!
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You know, it's an excellent
experience and I want it to be
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everyone's most enjoyable
experience as they start their
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day or whenever they
do it, but also continue
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in the state of worship.
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Now we've been talking,
the last few programs, about
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biblical prescriptions for life,
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and if you think about
the name of this program,
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"The Ultimate Prescription,"
and I'm hoping our listeners
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have tuned in... "The Ultimate
Prescription" is not necessarily
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lifestyle changes - even
though that's important...
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It's not necessarily modern
medicine, though it's important;
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the Ultimate
Prescription is when we come
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into a relationship
with our Creator with Jesus.
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That's the Ultimate
Prescription because in there,
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we're in a safe place and that's
the Ultimate Prescription,
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and we accomplish
that through worship.
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And as we discover
that worship has unique
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physiologic benefits that
we can now quantify by looking
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at the brain; by looking at
the way lifestyle improves us;
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by seeing how we
change in our own hearts.
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And today, we're going to
talk about worship and all
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the different aspects
and how we can apply it.
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It's going to be very,
very interesting, Nick.
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Yeah, you know as I was growing
up, we spent a lot of time
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at our church, you know,
the church building with other
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people there worshipping and
all that, but I think sometimes
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we forget that
worship isn't just a service,
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it's not just
an act that happens
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within the walls of our church.
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Talk to us a little bit about
different kinds of worship.
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How can we experience it daily?
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Well I like to look back
at history for lots of things.
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You know, how the
history of medicine has been.
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Well, let's think a little bit
about the history of worship.
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Let's go all the way
back to Adam and Eve, okay?
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Well, did Adam and Eve
have a church that they went to?
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Did they have a
Bible to read? No.
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No, but guess what?
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They could talk to
God directly. Yeah!
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They could see the beautiful
creation that was there.
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They could depart from
their work to take it easy,
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to have the special time.
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You know, so worship
for them might have been...
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part of it might have
been nature; communicating with
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God, talking with
Him directly. Yeah!
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Wow! What worship in that!
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And let's move forward a
little bit, what about Noah?
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What about his worship? Right.
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Well Noah, I'm sure he
didn't have a church, other than
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the boat, you know,
and probably didn't have a
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big congregation -
though he preached but for him,
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it might have been doing God's
will was part of his worship
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because he was building a
boat for 120 years. Right, yeah.
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He didn't have
some of the things
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that others might have had.
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If we talk about Enoch,
Enoch walked with God. Yeah.
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When we walk with
God throughout life,
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I'm sure he was in
worship all the time.
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You know, a state of
worship, of being with God,
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having him so involved
that God said, "Wow Enoch,
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we're having such
a great relationship,
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why don't you just come
on to heaven with Me?" Yeah.
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So worship has
changed over time.
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We think about Christ and
how He worshipped on earth.
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You know, He went to
the synagogue; He prayed;
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He did acts of
service; He healed.
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So there are many different
ways that we can worship.
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Of course today, we worship in
church; we worship in the word;
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we worship in praying.
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I have to sometimes do
service on Sabbath, okay?
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So I like to think of service
as acts of worship. Right.
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Some other people
might like music...
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that might be a way
that they connect with God.
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In fact, we think
about when Christ was born,
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all the music - the
angels singing, you know,
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that might be a way of worship.
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Nature worship and there
are so many different ways
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that people connect with
God in many different ways.
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So we say this "worship"
term, but in a physiological
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standpoint, can you
imagine... worship, you might
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be calling it, "Well, when
I worship, it's turning on the
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anterior cingulate cortex to 8,
using this to 3, this and this."
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This is the chemistry
of worship, this is what
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it looks like
and can you imagine
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science now
being able to explain
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someday... well, for
Nick Evenson, he should have
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this proportion of this, this
and this for ultimate worship
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for ultimate
brain nourishment. Okay.
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This is the concoction that
Nick needs to feed his brain
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and to worship the best.
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Now, will we get to
that? I would doubt it.
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But technology is
heading in that direction.
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So we want to teach
people different ways that they
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can apply worship to
their lives and at least,
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if nothing else, to think
about the importance of worship
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every single day as a
way to feed the brain,
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to turn down stress chemistry
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in order to solve
some of our problems.
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What would you say is one
of the most appreciated ways
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that you worship every day?
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Every day... well, every
day I spend time asking God...
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I warm-up to
worship, okay. What's warm-up?
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Well, you know, people
warm-up to go to work...
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I warm-up to worship - I
get my body ready to worship,
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and that might
include deep-breathing;
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it might include some
stretching to active the brain.
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It might be turning down
some of the other stressors,
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so I make sure there's no
noise around me. Distraction?
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Yeah, I don't have
anything on, I like it quiet.
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Some people like noise,
some people like it quiet.
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I don't like distractions;
I don't like to see a lot of
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things; I like it relatively,
in a controlled environment.
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And I'm not saying this
is what's for everybody,
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but I like to sort
of warm-up my mind,
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and I do this with a prayer.
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And I ask the Lord... I
say, "I thank You for being my
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Lord and Savior;" I ask
for forgiveness of my sins,
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and to bring them up if
there are specific ones.
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And then I say, "And
I want You to help me to
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not remember the
things I've done in the past.
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You threw them in the
sea, help me, I don't want
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to activate those
neurons again." Right, yes.
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I also go through the aspects of
prayer, you know - thankfulness.
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Who wants to hear
petitions all the time.
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I want to thank God for
the things He did and the more
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specific I can get, the better.
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I want to praise Him for
being such a wonderful God.
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Then, of course, I've
asked for forgiveness of sins.
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I go through my petitions,
you know, the things I ask for.
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I thank Him for the
blessings and I say...
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"God, these are the
things I want, but if it's with
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Your will... I want to
petition You for these things."
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But remember, God knows
everything already! Right.
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And then I ask Him to be
Lord of my life and that's how I
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start with that prayer,
because throughout history
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we've had different requirements
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to come in front of God,
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different things that we
had to do in the New Testament.
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Well Christ is what
cleans us up - so we can come to
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God in worship now.
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So I want Christ to do
what He needs so I can come
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in front of God - what
an experience and show Him
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my worship;
however, that might be...
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So I start the day like that
and then I ask the Holy Spirit
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to keep me in a state
of worship all day long,
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and find various acts
that I can do to stay in a
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worshipful mode no
matter what I'm doing.
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Now I know that our
minds get busy - that's the
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conscious mind but our
subconscious mind, parts of us
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I want to continue to
have the Holy Spirit in with me
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all the time to help me
deal with all the stress;
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to help me deal
with my bad genetics;
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to help me realize I
need a Savior on an ongoing
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basis - it's just not
a once-and-done. Yeah.
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So this is kind of a
unique perspective, I think.
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It's probably not a very
popular idea in the medical
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field to use this.
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What are some of the barriers?
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Why don't you think
more people are treating
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with biblical prescriptions?
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Well, I honestly think
that there is truly a battle
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going on in the world.
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There is a battle
between good and evil.
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A lot of people
don't realize it.
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They don't even think
about it, but I think there's
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a battle between good
and evil going on every day.
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There's a battle for our
mind; there's a battle for
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our loyalty and that's
going on at levels that maybe
00:09:08.08\00:09:11.55
we can't even understand.
00:09:11.58\00:09:13.21
So I believe that that's
part of this big battle...
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that there are distractions
being made by the evil one
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that keeps us away from
worship or that wants us
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to worship things we
shouldn't be worshipping...
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you know - the
false gods of this world.
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The substitutes.
Yes, the substitutes,
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and putting so much stress
on our brain that's making it
00:09:28.66\00:09:31.87
harder and harder, and harder
00:09:31.90\00:09:33.80
for us to
worship and find truth.
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To have so many other
experts out there throwing what
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they think is right and
I go to a lot of websites
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and read books, Nick,
and some of this can sound
00:09:42.88\00:09:45.48
really, really great!
00:09:45.51\00:09:46.95
You know and they have
some great science and great
00:09:46.98\00:09:48.72
theories but then they
throw one or two things in it
00:09:48.75\00:09:51.29
that doesn't make sense and
so 98% truth can still be a lie.
00:09:51.32\00:09:57.06
So it's through the worship
that I pray, "God, please
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help me - just show
me truth," and, you know,
00:10:01.26\00:10:03.37
I'm going to miss
things sometimes because
00:10:03.40\00:10:06.03
that's just human, but as
long as I'm in that relationship
00:10:06.07\00:10:09.20
His grace makes up
for my weaknesses...
00:10:09.24\00:10:11.87
I know I'm always
in that safe place.
00:10:11.91\00:10:13.91
Now how do you go about
sharing this with a patient
00:10:13.94\00:10:16.71
who really could benefit
from some of these biblical
00:10:16.75\00:10:18.61
prescriptions, but maybe
they're unchurched; maybe
00:10:18.65\00:10:21.28
it's just a very
foreign concept, like do they
00:10:21.32\00:10:24.09
find objection to it or how
do you do it in a loving way?
00:10:24.12\00:10:27.36
Well, I don't do
it to everyone, Nick.
00:10:27.39\00:10:30.99
I pray that God help
me, Your will, you know,
00:10:31.03\00:10:34.46
help me to share the
gospel, and sometimes it takes
00:10:34.50\00:10:37.47
time and a rapport.
00:10:37.50\00:10:38.83
So sometimes just by
meeting someone's needs
00:10:38.87\00:10:41.94
and loving them,
that's the first step...
00:10:41.97\00:10:44.51
Accepting them. And
building a relationship...
00:10:44.54\00:10:46.37
Yes, building a
relationship; listening to them.
00:10:46.41\00:10:48.24
Sometimes I'll be impressed
to say, "Listen, would you
00:10:48.31\00:10:51.35
like to learn something
more that I've learned?"
00:10:51.38\00:10:53.48
And, you know, most people say,
"Oh, sure yeah, I want to know."
00:10:53.52\00:10:57.09
And then I'll show
them some of the science,
00:10:57.12\00:10:59.82
science behind worship that
I've learned and I'll ask them,
00:10:59.85\00:11:02.82
I say, "Well do
you believe in God?"
00:11:02.86\00:11:05.09
And some people do
not; some people do!
00:11:05.13\00:11:07.36
Now if they believe in
the living God, I say, "Well,
00:11:07.40\00:11:09.56
did you know that
there's health benefits both now
00:11:09.60\00:11:12.63
and forever in having a
relationship - would you like
00:11:12.67\00:11:15.07
to learn more about this?"
00:11:15.10\00:11:16.44
So basically, this is presenting
the everlasting gospel. Right.
00:11:16.47\00:11:20.81
Now some people say, "No,
I don't believe in a god."
00:11:20.84\00:11:23.01
Then I say, "Well,
would you be open to the
00:11:23.04\00:11:25.41
discussion of learning about it,
00:11:25.45\00:11:26.78
as it might
improve your health?"
00:11:26.82\00:11:28.75
Some say "yes," some say "no."
00:11:28.78\00:11:31.39
So I try to plant seeds
and I pray that the Holy Spirit
00:11:31.42\00:11:35.06
will help those seeds to grow.
00:11:35.09\00:11:36.62
Some of those seeds will
grow; some of them won't grow.
00:11:36.66\00:11:39.79
So I just need extra help
every day and I don't think
00:11:39.83\00:11:43.73
there's one exact formula,
but the formula that I use is...
00:11:43.77\00:11:47.40
I pray to God and ask God
to show me areas where I can.
00:11:47.44\00:11:51.54
Do I miss? Yes, I miss
sometimes and I feel bad.
00:11:51.57\00:11:55.38
I say, "God, I had an
opportunity, I missed this
00:11:55.41\00:11:58.18
chance to share the
gospel, I'm so sorry.
00:11:58.21\00:12:00.82
Please help me to find
ways to do it again and not be
00:12:00.85\00:12:04.02
such a - how do you say,
"a wimp, coward," you know,
00:12:04.05\00:12:07.39
not to at least say
something on Your behalf...
00:12:07.42\00:12:10.19
because You're the One
that I worship, that I love;
00:12:10.23\00:12:12.66
I've asked You to
be part of my life;
00:12:12.69\00:12:14.30
You're leading me -
give me opportunities."
00:12:14.33\00:12:16.80
And sometimes it
just might be by example.
00:12:16.83\00:12:19.03
You know, that might
be the way you show people
00:12:19.07\00:12:21.20
God's love - it's just
showing the way you live.
00:12:21.24\00:12:23.44
They might see something
and the Holy Spirit might
00:12:23.47\00:12:25.77
touch that person's
life, so there are many other
00:12:25.81\00:12:28.48
ways that we can
spread worship without
00:12:28.51\00:12:31.91
getting into someone's face.
00:12:31.95\00:12:33.28
We can just show them how,
00:12:33.31\00:12:34.65
and we can let the
Holy Spirit do things.
00:12:34.68\00:12:36.42
I was thinking about, you
know, we're called to spread
00:12:36.45\00:12:39.69
the gospel - the good news.
00:12:39.72\00:12:41.79
And, you know, God
doesn't need me to do this.
00:12:41.82\00:12:45.53
He could put a dream in
everyone's mind simultaneously,
00:12:45.56\00:12:48.70
and do all that, and
everyone could make a decision
00:12:48.73\00:12:51.03
right now regarding what
they wanted to do with Jesus,
00:12:51.07\00:12:53.57
but He allows me to participate
00:12:53.60\00:12:56.20
in His work and I'm
so grateful for that.
00:12:56.24\00:12:58.64
And as we do this, it
helps us grow and us to help out
00:12:58.67\00:13:02.81
and it just does things
that I don't even understand
00:13:02.84\00:13:06.18
both chemically, physically
and, for me, eternally.
00:13:06.21\00:13:09.65
So I like to really throw
that out to people and all those
00:13:09.68\00:13:13.59
that are watching - some
people are already worshipping,
00:13:13.62\00:13:16.29
and some might have loved ones
and there are different ways,
00:13:16.32\00:13:19.79
there's no exact formula
but there are many things
00:13:19.83\00:13:23.20
that we can do and I think
the point is that we're praying
00:13:23.23\00:13:25.90
about it - looking for ways
that we can spread the gospel
00:13:25.93\00:13:28.94
and spread the
physiology of worship.
00:13:28.97\00:13:31.37
And I found it very interesting
because everyone wants to
00:13:31.41\00:13:33.94
feel better and have
better health. You bet, yeah.
00:13:33.98\00:13:36.24
This is one that I use
sometimes - "Would you like
00:13:36.28\00:13:38.01
to slow down
the ageing process?"
00:13:38.05\00:13:40.22
"Oh yeah, "I'd like to do that."
00:13:40.25\00:13:41.58
"Well, consider
Biblical worship."
00:13:41.62\00:13:44.05
Ah! You know,
"would you consider that?"
00:13:44.09\00:13:46.72
And most people say,
"Yeah, I would consider it.
00:13:46.76\00:13:48.59
Tell me how it
works." And we go from there.
00:13:48.62\00:13:51.59
It's a very low risk treatment,
why not give it a shot?
00:13:51.63\00:13:55.00
Now one of the ways that I
like to worship, personally,
00:13:55.03\00:13:58.40
is in nature - that's
some of the greatest times
00:13:58.43\00:14:01.87
when I'm walking on a beach
or seeing something awesome.
00:14:01.90\00:14:04.64
And I'll tell people,
there are some studies done
00:14:04.67\00:14:07.71
that show when we see awesome
sights, that that changes
00:14:07.74\00:14:11.61
our physiology.
00:14:11.65\00:14:12.98
That state of worship
lowers stress chemicals;
00:14:13.01\00:14:15.45
lowers
cytokines, helps our body.
00:14:15.48\00:14:17.52
There's actually
science that has been done,
00:14:17.55\00:14:19.35
out West that have proven
00:14:19.39\00:14:21.56
that awesome sights
are a way to worship. Yeah.
00:14:21.59\00:14:24.49
I tell you what, we're
going to take a quick break
00:14:24.53\00:14:25.99
and we're going
to talk more about
00:14:26.03\00:14:27.36
awesome sights when we return.
00:14:27.40\00:14:28.73
So stay with us,
there's more to come on the
00:14:28.76\00:14:30.40
"Ultimate Prescription"
00:14:30.43\00:14:31.77