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Media Release:

Author Creates Biblical Meditations to help Christians Overcome Worry and Strengthen Relationship with God

Sacramento, CA : Many Christians struggle with worry, anxiety, and fear. Negative thoughts steal their peace of mind and busyness prevents them from spending quality time with God. Author Rhonda Jones, has created a series of faith-based and Christ-centered meditation and affirmation CDs to help Christians realize a more abundant, faith-driven, worry-free, spirit-led, and fulfilling life.

Her most popular meditation CD, “Taking Control of Your Thought Life,” (ISBN 0-9641008-4-3) attests to the growing amount of anxiety and worry even in the Christian community. “I get emails from Christians who battle with depression, uncontrollable thoughts, and hopelessness,” said Jones. “Christians aren’t immune to toxic thinking, and we must be careful to use our thoughts to bring joy and success into our lives. What differentiates our behaviors, attitudes, and motivations from others all boils down to the thoughts we think.”

Jones, winner of the 2008 Black Web Awards for Best Health and Holistic Website, indicates that our incessant thinking also interferes with our relationship with God and hearing his voice. “Practicing biblical- meditation and learning to quiet our minds can increase our intimacy with God, break the cycle of unconscious living and help to eliminate destructive thinking ,” stated Jones.

Although the meditations are targeted primarily to Christians, anyone can benefit from them, expressed Jones. “The spiritual truths on the CD are universal and we all need to mentally-detox from time to time,” she declared. Jones sales 11 CDs that include 23 Christ-centered meditations as well as Christian Affirmations and Scriptures on weight-loss, healing, peace, controlling negative thoughts, relinquishing the past, prosperity, patience, overcoming anger, eliminating stress, successful marriages, faith, protection, and many more.

Jones, a devout Christian, school teacher, and mother of three, created the CD recordings after suffering from years of depression. She contributes meditation integrated with the scriptures with her healing and mental well-being. The CDs can be ordered from Jones’ website www.thechristianmeditator.com <http://www.thechristianmeditator.com> , Amazon, or your local Christian bookstore and retail for $14.95- 19.99. She also offers a yearly membership that gives members access to all her Christian meditation and affirmation recordings.

Rhonda may be contacted at thechristianmeditator@yahoo.com <mailto:thechristianmeditator@yahoo.com> for an interview. Online media kit is available at http://www.thechristianmeditator.com/mediakit.html.

Retailers may order the New and Revised CD, Taking Control of Your Thought Life through STL- Appalachian Distribution. The CD contains 3 Christ-centered meditations: Controlling Negative Thoughts, Quieting a Restless Mind, and Morning Devotion. (ISBN 0-9641008-4-3).

Frequently Asked Questions/ Interview Questions

What is Christian meditation?

Meditation teaches you how to quiet your mind. If believers began to jot down their every thought, they would observe just how active their minds really are. But just like our physically bodies need rest, our minds also need consistent rest if we are to maintain our mental health and peace of mind. With all the information, mental clutter, stimulation, and signals we are bombarded with daily, it’s no wonder so many Christians are overwhelmed. People who take the time to meditate regularly, testify of a reduction of worry and stress in their lives. The advantage of Christian meditation is that not only are you learning to quiet your mind, you are filling it with God’s word and uplifting spiritual messages as well.

What are the benefits of Christian meditation?

Meditation is like a refreshing shower of the mind that releases the mental impurities that are keeping us from living an authentic Christian life. You can literally wipe your mental state clean every morning and then only allow positive and uplifting thoughts entrance into your thinking. In addition to the many physical benefits of meditation, Christian meditation will also help you to: internalize God’s word, release negative energy and toxic emotions, control self-defeating thoughts, fine tune your spiritual listening skills, find more balance in life, live in the moment, and enter into the presence of God.

Why should Christians meditate?

Every individual lives by an internal life or mental script that determines their actions and mindsets. Many of these mindsets, which originated from youth, were embedded in our subconscious minds and we’re often not aware they’re there.   Even though we receive Christ as our Savior, our conditioning, scripts, patterns, and habits don't leave or change automatically. Because of our busy and hectic lives, we don’t take the time to be still be enough so that we can observe our thoughts and challenge, eliminate or alter them in accordance with the God’s Word. Most people live on mental default. Consequently, we continue to struggle just like Paul stated in Romans 7 that we know what to do, but we just can’t seem to do it. We may listen to an inspiring sermon and get excited for the moment, but before long it wears off and we’re often back to our old behaviors. By meditating, we learn to look objectively at our thoughts and learn to take authority over them instead of the other way around. How can you control your thoughts if you don’t even recognize what they are?

What does the Bible say about meditation?

Psalms chapter 46:10 tells us to “be still and know that I am God.” Joshua chapter 1 verse 8, admonishes us to meditate on God’s word day and night. Psalms chapter 4: 4 persuades us, “When you are in your beds, search your hearts and be silent.” David desired in Psalms 104: 34, that his “meditations be pleasing to the Lord.” Isaiah declared in Chapter 50:4, "He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught."   Moses spent 40 days on the mountain abiding and learning from God (Exodus 34-35). Paul received revelation and saw visions from heaven (2 Corinthians 12). John wrote visions that are recorded in the book of Revelations. I believe that is was during times of meditation that the

disciples and prophets of old received many of their visions and revelations from God. The Bible says even Jesus spent hours alone with God (Luke 5:16; Mark 1:35). Our greatest inspirations and truths come during times of quietness, stillness, openness, and reflection- all components of meditation.

Is it ungodly for Christians to meditate?

Almost any activity can be abused and used for evil. Sometimes it’s not what we do but our motivation for doing it. The love of money is the root of all evil, but money used correctly can be a blessing to the kingdom of God. We can listen to music that uplifts our spirits and exalts God or that promotes sin and depravity. In the same light, the practice of meditation can be used to honor God or dishonor Him. Some forms of meditation encourage participants to empty themselves in an effort to connect with the supernatural world. That can be dangerous. However, Christian meditation encourages believers to be still before God so we can dwell in his presence, focus entirely on Him, and clear our minds so we can fully embrace His Word.

Why are So Many Christians Plagued with Depression and Worry?

Each year more than 21 million Americans, many of them Christians, are diagnosed with depression.   If depression runs in your family tree, you have a greater tendency to experience depression at some time in your life. Depression is generally triggered by a crisis or loss in our lives. Everyone gets down sometimes, but prolonged sadden begins to alter the functioning of our minds and may also create a chemical unbalance in our brains. Healthy thoughts are replaced by negative and debilitating thoughts which start to affect our moods. These destructive thoughts become so embedded in our thinking that they cripple us. The longer depression goes untreated the more debilitating our lives become. One key to overcoming depression is reprogramming your thinking (renewing your mind), but that can be difficult to do when you can hardly get yourself out of the bed. Christian meditation is like the wheel chair that picks you up off the floor and gets you moving in the direction of recovery. Consistent Christian meditation will help you to control your thoughts and renew your mind with God’s word. Worry is fear and comes from not trusting God to meet your needs.

Do the CDs eliminate the need for counseling or anti-depressants?

Most therapists agree that a combination of counseling and medication is needed to treat depression. The medication plays the same role as the wheel chair. It picks you up off the ground and assists you in moving in the direction of recovery. Without the medication, patients often aren’t able to elevate their moods enough to start the healing process. The counseling aspect of treatment helps patients to alter or reprogramming their thinking.   Christian meditation can assist in the healing process and reinforce your therapist’s treatment plan or it may replace the need for anti-depressants, counseling or both. It’s a natural way to recovery and worth a try.

What Should Listeners Do At the Conclusion of Each Meditation?

At the conclusion of each meditation, turn off the CD player and spend some time in silence just abiding in God’s presence. For most people, you will want to linger with God indefinitely because it's a simply wonderful feeling. On many occasions God may impress upon you a word, phrase, scripture, unction, or even a vision. At that time, I will either open the Bible and try to locate a chapter or passage that relates to that particular word or phrase and read it intently

looking for any meaning currently relevant to my life or circumstances. You can write any words, messages, or inspirations in a journal. Following journaling spend some time in prayer.

Keeping your mind “still” is difficult. What if listeners minds start to wander?

During the meditation, refrain from trying to memorize everything you hear. Just relax and bring your mind and body to a state of stillness and oneness with God's spirit by focusing on your breathing and keeping your mind free from distractions. Whenever your mind begins to wander, repeat the scripture, "peace be still,” “I surrender all,” or “Jesus take control.” Your spirit will absorb God’s Word being spoken, so you don't have to focus too heavily on it. If you make the meditation a mental exercise, you are trying to control the outcome and may feel frustrated and stressed in the end. During and at the end of the meditation you should experience a sense of peace, well-being, and the serenity with God.

Why do you encourage deep breathing exercises?

Deep breathing exercises provide an excellent method to relieve stress and rid yourself of toxic emotions that inhabit your body. Emotions become toxic when they create prolonged depression, anxiety, oppression, or worry in our lives. The most common toxic emotions include fear, pain, anxiety, and guilt. You can literally release these emotions from your body by identifying them and consciously eliminating them through deep breathing exercises. To target specific emotions, sit quietly and ask yourself, what am I feeling. As you reflect on the emotion, reflect on what thought or action led to your uneasiness or pain. For example, you may feel sad or anxious. Now reflect back on when it started and what may have caused it. Perhaps someone in the grocery store made a rude comment to you. Almost every negative emotion can be traced back to a specific incident.. If you can identify the thought, you can work through it and the destructive emotions associated with it. During deep breathing, each time you exhale, mentally say…I release and then insert the emotion you want to release. For example, I release anxiety. Continue to repeat the exercise until all vestiges of the toxic emotion are gone and your peace of mind is restored.

How often should I listen to the meditations?

Instructions for scheduling the meditations are in the CD introduction where I encourage listeners to try and meditate at least once per day. Meditation works progressively, so the longer and more often you do it, the greater benefits you’ll receive. Consistent meditation promotes peace of mind and mental clarity. It will help you to recognize mental clutter and negative thoughts or emotions that are trying to invade your mind. Just like taking your daily vitamins, you can’t see them working but you feel the positive effects in better health. Meditation works the same. Over time you’ll feel more at peace and your intimacy with God will increase.