Team Town – A Doctor, Community And The Substance Of Things Hoped For

Photos are from the Foundations Family Medicine Facebook page.

Towns all across America and the world are facing daunting obstacles. Regardless of whether you consider health and wellness to be a right or a privilege, for many it doesn’t exist. Perhaps they don’t try hard enough for it. Maybe they don’t value It? If you’re faithfully fit they may not even be on your radar. But they could be a co-worker, classmate or neighbor. Are they working out at your gym or worshiping at your church? Hopefully – they could be – as a result of YOU!

Doctor William Cooke’s book Canary In The Coal Mine, invites you to take a closeup look at the opposite end of the health and wellness spectrum. There you’ll find everyday people, a lot of them, struggling with sickness, disease and despair.

Many are battling substance abuse and it begs you to think a lot more about what role faith in God- that “substance of things hoped for”, can truly have in your life and their life too.

At first glance you may wonder how this story is relevant at all to “faith and fitness”. Listen to it all, using the highlight notes below and discover some profound insights that you can prayerfully apply and take your faith and fitness to a level that can bring health and wellness to the bigger team where you live – your town.

HIGHLIGHT NOTES

1:08 TRUST AND OBEY Dr. Cooke begins this conversation by saying, “I quickly settled on medicine. I know that is an odd ministry but I felt God could use me in an area that didn’t have medical access to bring hope, opportunity and wellness”. As you listen to him share, start to think about how you view your physical fitness, the activities of your daily lifestyle and your vocation. You too may feel that the things you do and the passions you have are unlikely tools that God can use. BUT, open yourself up to prayerfully exploring how God could use you to bring hope opportunity and wellness.

3:20 HOW TO BRING FITNESS AS ONLY GOD CAN In the fitness culture we see a huge emphasis on continually trying harder to achieve new levels in self-improvement. Cooke reveals in this portion of the conversation how his worldview was challenged. What he discovered by listening to his patients made him change how he thought about others and their outcomes. Can you, by showing the love of Christ to those around you, help them to feel safe? He candidly shares the sobering truth that despite our positive intentions and even our calling from God, we can never be the Savior that others need.

7:00 YOU CAN’T ESCAPE IT – YOUR TOWN NEEDS YOU Feel like everything you’re trying to do isn’t getting any real results? He did too. Feeling like you want to give up or just escape? See where he went to get away, how he ran out of words to pray and what it was like when he didn’t know what the next steps were. Listen to how he then found himself in the presence of God – and listened. Get ready to grab hold of a powerful perspective on what it means to be part of a team.

14:10 THE BIGGER PURPOSE OF FITNESS Embrace a divine but demanding approach to the “purpose driven life” where you choose to be obedient to God and go out of your way to be life to others. What if your training only helps you see in part? Often you simply need to be a resource for others agenda. As Cooke says, “The purpose to become more fit is to be able to live our lives better.”

25:00 THE ART OF LISTENING Can you intentionally represent Christ strongly among others? Yes! The good news is when people share with you about the real problems they have, you don’t have to have the answers but you can help them work through their challenges.

29:00 MORE THAN SNAPSHOTS – IMAGES OF STRONG TEAMS Dr. Cooke shares his #TeamProgressPic that he has with his wife, his office staff, and his community network.

39:00 START WITH YOU THEN GROW WITH THEM God’s model that we are to follow is to disciple others. In our conversation Dr. Cooke draws a bulls eye model and talks about how he helps people to first start with getting “self” in order, then a healthy home and finally a healthy community.

43:25 BEYOND PREACHERS AND PROFESSIONALS THE WHOLE TOWN CAN BE THE TEAM What can gyms and churches do that he has found successful in his healthcare business? Cooke talks about nurturing clients/members to become peer-workers with lived experiences. How is that done? See the gym and church not as “ours” but as “theirs”. Find champions who want to help and then connect them with help and resources to do it.

49:00 STEPS TO START SHARING HOPE Want your gym, recreational group or church to reach new populations? Have conversations without agendas. God’s kingdom is upside down.

54:00 Listen to ideas that you can apply to nurture your community to have passion and be Team Town. After you’ve finished listening to this conversation CONTACT US for help in moving forward in your community and sharing what is happening in your town.