According to the Center for Disease Control and prevention, Americans spend $3 trillion on health care each year. That works out to be $9500 for each person. This includes money spent for hospital stays, nursing facilities, physicians, and medicine. Of course, we know staying healthy is critical to our wellbeing. Yet God is also concerned about our spiritual wellbeing. We see in the book of Acts how the early church leaders recognized the need for addressing both spiritual and physical needs of their people. In chapter 2, we read this. “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.” The leaders provided instruction, worship, fellowship, as well as promoted an environment where people could help one another. Later when the problem arose of widows being neglected, the apostles addressed it by choosing able men who would assure fairness prevailed in the distribution of resources. God is concerned about the total needs of his people. And when a church recognizes and voluntarily addresses all the needs of all the people, God honors that practice and adds to their numbers, as Acts 2:47 tells us.
Dr. Melvin E. Banks, Sr. is the founder and chairman of UMI (Urban Ministries, Inc.). Under his direction, UMI has grown to be a leading publisher of Christian education resources for churches in the African American community. Read More
