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Feelings of frustration, loneliness and hopelessness are not uncommon all throughout the world. These feelings, commonly diagnosed as depression, can in extreme cases lead to suicidal thoughts. If that wasn’t bad enough, some websites actually “guide” readers through a suicide attempt. In the United States alone, there are over 32,000 deaths by suicide each year, the 4^th leading cause of death for adults. Internationally, there are about 1 million suicide deaths each year. These numbers are steadily increasing. Generally, more women than men attempt suicide, but (rather ironically) more men die from suicide.

Why are these numbers so high? What does all this mean? The numbers are not just numbers—they represent valuable lives.

At the lowest point of depression the individual suffers from a distorted view of the self, the world, and life in general. It’s as if they are constantly looking through a dark pair of glasses. Indeed, medical science has shown that the environment, such as the amount of sunlight, diet, exercise, and stress, influences these feelings immensely. Stress can form due to abuse, job loss, broken relationships, and bereavement. However, there are still mysterious causes to depression unknown to medical science. People have reported a sudden urge to end their life, while others claim to have heard voices prompting them even on the specific method of suicide. There are reports of people that swear they felt someone push them to jump. The medical field generalizes these mysterious causes as psychological disorders. However, to diagnose it simply as a mental problem prevents more holistic ways help can be provided for people suffering from depression and in danger of taking their own life.

The Spiritual Aspect of Depression

Religion explains these mysterious causes as the spiritual influence of unseen forces, typically called demons. It is an explanation most quickly rule out, simply because they don’t believe in God. It’s a dangerous assumption because regardless whether you believe in spirituality, its effects are still very real. One might ignore gravity, but one cannot ignore its effect. For the sake of those, spiritual or non-spiritual, suffering through depression, let’s leave the debate of God’s existence to another day, and see what we can learn from spirituality.

The key to surviving depression is you. Yes, you!

The first step is to take responsibility and determine to survive.

Here is a list of further steps you can take to survive depression.

o Count your blessings: Right now, it may not seem like you don’t have much to be thankful for but in actuality, there are so many things we might not have noticed. So go ahead and even the tiniest thing you can find, really, and I mean, really be thankful about it. And I’m sure more will come to mind in due time.

o Exercise: Not only is exercising good for the health but it also circulates blood and delivers oxygen to the brain. This will affect your mood tremendously. Yes, the problems will still be there but how you view the problems will differ. So why not give it a try?

o Watch a movie: Whether it be a funny movie that can help you forget your problems for awhile or a sad movie that will help put your life in perspective, it could prove to be the right thing for you.

o Talk to a friend: Even if your problems or depression is something you want to keep to yourself, just talking to a friend can help you take a load off your chest. And if you can muster up some courage to pour your heart out, all the better!

o Focus on your responsibilities: When we are depressed, we don’t want to do anything and our focus is on how pathetic and hopeless our life is. Try to revert your focus back to your responsibilities…approach life one duty at a time. Not only will this take your mind off yourself, but also it will help you to realize that things are not so bad after all.

o Take a break: Take a short nap, go on a vacation, just take some type of break away from your routine. This will help you think more clearly and start to enjoy life all over again.

o Get out: Just get out of the house. Movies, a nice restaurant, out for a walk, to the park, the gym, a friend’s house, or even a library, wherever you want to go, just get out and have fun. Just don’t put yourself in a situation where you worsen depression. (ex. sad music, dimly lit room, turning down all invites, etc.) Go ahead and indulge yourself with some fun time!

o Make lists: Make a list of the people you love. Make a list of things you achieved. Make a list of things you can improve. Make a list of things you are thankful for. Make a list of things you want to accomplish in life.

o Cry: Yes, just give it a good cry. Depression can also be an accumulation of stress and pressure you may have received from people around you, circumstances, or even your skewed view of yourself.

o Pray: Who else can you talk to but God who knows everything? Just let it all out and you’ll find that you are not alone and that there’s someone who understands not only what you are going through but what you are feeling inside.

For more help, please contact admin@gospelofprovidence.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Why? Because we care!

Prayer of Someone Hanging by Her Last Thread

Dear God,

I don’t see the point of living anymore. This is the last straw. Just yesterday, I found out that my friends went to the movies without me, planned! And when I came home from school, I just wanted to see my mom and seek her warmth. I longed for her encouragement and even a little comforting. But to my disappointment, she yelled at me for not washing the dishes and made a comment that I was hopeless and that I wouldn’t amount to anything with these bad habits. Maybe she’s right. I can’t even have friends who like me. And even at home, where we all should be accepted and loved, I can’t do anything right. I’m not even wanted in my own home.

God, I really don’t want to live anymore. Another day like this and I feel like it is worse than hell. I learned in Sunday School that committing suicide is one of the worst sins but can receiving punishment be worse than what I’m going through right now? In fact, I think killing myself would benefit everyone else. No one would miss me. And I can’t help but wonder if death is just eternal sleep with no dreams. How beautiful it would be to not feel anything at all. I’m sure it would be better than feeling this misery.

As I’m praying, I can feel that you would be sad if I killed myself. Would you, really? Yeah, I guess you would. I would be sad if my dog, Teddy, died before his time. But God, why am I so pitiful? Why are all these bad things happening to me? You said that if we seek you first, all things will be given to us. When? How?

Okay, okay, I do remember some…no, a lot of the things you gave me. You helped during that one near car accident. My mother did cry by my side when I was sick at the hospital. My friends did throw that one surprise birthday party. And I can’t be all bad. I guess I can just try to be better. What’s just one more day of misery? Who knows? Maybe things will take a brighter turn. Oh, but it is so painful to hope and be disappointed again. Can I be strong enough to handle another disappointment? God, can you really help me?

And how will you help me? Through a friend, my parents, through a wind in the breeze, or a dream? I don’t know what to expect. I just want to give up but praying like this makes me feel I’ll only regret later if I give up. And I surely don’t want people I love to be sad. God, I’ll hold on one more day but please let me feel hope and please make things better. If it’s something I must do, please give me wisdom to know how to make things better. God, I’ll hope in you. Please take care of me.

And God, thank you for loving me and listening to my prayers.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen.

Did you know that there are 66 books in the bible?
4 of those books are gospels.

Did you know that the word “trinity” is not in the bible?

Did you know that Garden of Eden is an actual place in the Mesopotamia region?

Did you know that Jesus and John the Baptist were related?

Did you know that the last names of the biblical figures were based on their occupation or where they were from?

Did you know that the shortest verse in the bible is, “He wept?”

Did you know that there was a huge age difference between Joseph and Mary?

Did you know that Joseph was around 40 when he married Mary?

Did you know that the shortest book in the Bible is Jude?

Did you know that the story of the flood at Noah’s time is actually recorded in history?

Did you know that John the Baptist had his own disciples?

I was raised in a Buddhist family, but fortunately, my parents registered me to study at a Catholic school. I fell in love with Jesus there in elementary school, and whenever I looked at the cross I couldn’t help but wonder why people would have persecuted Him. Jesus lived such a righteous life; He taught people the truth.

Before meeting Him I never imagined that there could be a person with such a heart to love and forgive others even to the point of death. Because of that sacrifice I wanted to follow and obey Jesus, and so I kept asking my parents to allow me to be baptized all throughout junior high school. It wasn’t until high school that I finally received permission. So, I studied the catechism when I was 16 years old and was baptized at 17. I was happy in my faith until I came to the United States in 1998.

Everything was so different in the U.S. I not only experienced culture shock but also confusion with the freedoms that people exercised regarding relationships and morality. I had been raised in a protective environment, so whether I was going to school, visiting family, or working in my family’s store I was never really exposed to harsh the realities of life until the Los Angeles riot of 1998. I also started to make new friends who I discovered would often sleep around with each other. That sort of behavior made me feel uncomfortable, but I also felt lonely being away from my parents and the people whom I loved.

In 1999 my family ran into financial problems and I felt that Satan truly exploited the stress of that situation by attacking me at that time. My atheist roommates began challenging me with questions about the Bible. My faith was strong, but my knowledge of the Bible was not, so I had very few answers for them.

Meanwhile, some protestant friends asked me to visit their church. The contradictions of the two faiths caused me to wonder, ‘in which place is Jesus actually at work?’ Nothing prepared me for all the many denominations within Christianity. At one point, I went to two different churches every week for 6 months trying to understand the difference. I also started reading various theology books which lead me to analyze my faith in God and Jesus. I constantly asked tough questions to each pastor I met. I wanted so badly to understand why there are so many different doctrines for one God.

In the midst of my search for the truth I experienced the most passionate prayer sessions. I often cried out to Jesus in agony asking, “Jesus, just let me be like Thomas and please show Yourself to me! I want to know where You are—I want know who You are!” It was in 2000 that a friend of mine invited me to a Providence church. At first I was still skeptical whether there was anything left in the Bible to study. I had read so much already and heard it all before. Could this Bible study really answer my questions about life and faith? I soon realized that God himself had lead me to the Bible study on the Berkeley campus.

I look back at studying the 30 Lessons Bible study by Teacher Joshua as the best time of my life; I have never felt so close to God. I remember having a vivid dream in which Jesus approached me and gave me a hug, yet He was wearing modern clothing. I felt overjoyed that God chose me to understand Jesus and the Bible on a deeper level than I ever thought possible.

For a while I only knew about Teacher Joshua from other people’s stories about him. The moment finally came when I met him in London in late 2000. It’s hard to describe the moment; for me it was intensely spiritual, and I’ll never forget it. Everyone was trying to get a moment to be near Teacher Joshua. Because I was new I was given the chance to greet him during a song. I felt a bit overwhelmed, but I’m not ashamed to say that I started to cry. I prayed in that moment, asking God to open my spiritual eyes. Its difficult for me to describe what I saw next, because it happened spiritually. What I saw was the same spirit of Jesus right there next to Teacher Joshua. I’ll never ever forget it. To this day I am infinitely grateful to God for showing me that sight. As a skeptical person by nature, I would never have believe it if I did not experience it myself.

This year will be my 7th in Providence. Having spent a good part of my life searching for truth I can easily say that there is no other faith that is so pure, so clean, and so beautiful as the faith I discovered in Providence. Providence people are those who have been transformed into lovers of God, and sweetened by the fragrance of affection, passion, and determination towards God. There is a added maturity and degree of intimacy in their union with God that perplexes Christians in much the same way Christians once provoked the Jewish faith. I can truly testify that I am a changed person.  I once was out of step with God’s will, ignorant of the spiritual world, and sorry for my distant relationship with Jesus Christ. But, Teacher Joshua opened up the Bible to me in a way that wiped away the generations of preconceived ideas, misinterpreted doctrine, and restrictive dogma that shrouded my faith.

I remember myself as a child when one day I made a promise to Jesus that I would be just like that disciple at the cross promising to defend Him and his church. I will keep that promise, though I fail to comprehend how people can judge evil a righteous man like Teacher Joshua. I pray for people like you who read my testimony: think deeply about Jesus’ time period! Put yourself into the gospel and imagine your response. How would you judge Jesus when He let Mary Magdalene—a woman thought to be a worthless whore—come so close to Jesus as to touch Him and clean His feet? How would you react to the obvious rumors that would be certain to circulate?

Non-religious types attempt to destroy Teacher Joshua’s reputation because his teaching is beyond reproach. Religious types attack Teacher Joshua’s theology because they are close-minded and judgmental people, fearful of losing their influence and happy to finally have an enemy in the flesh. Do wicked cults flourish? No, they are flashes in the pan before dying out. Providence is stronger every year—for over 30 years now. It started with one person and now spans the entire globe. If Teacher Joshua is guilty God will judge him and leave him to the consequences of sin. Yet, Providence grows strong, produces Godly men and women who prosper in life. I tell you plainly that Teacher Joshua is a man directed by the hand of God. Would you be so foolish to risk striking at him when it could mean striking God’s hand too? Has this world learned nothing from studying history? The righteous people sent by God are always labeled heretics and persecuted viciously—it happened throughout history and it is happening again now. Read the Bible deeply and recognize the pattern. Before you make comments about Teacher Joshua listen to him speak and pray deeply about what you hear.

May all the glory of this testimony be for God and the Heaven on earth that surrounds those who love Him with all their heart, soul and life.

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:27-28 (New International Version)

Written by: Anonymous

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