Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit is a book meant to stir us into higher leadership in our lives. I really liked it but must confess I got a little swamped in the last chapter. While it made for interesting reading, it was mostly about Ben Franklin and I lost the thread of Titus somewhere in there. However, is this a great book? Yes. Worthy of the read? Absolutely. Recommend it to others. For sure.

Brenda J Wood

http://heartfeltdevotionals.com

p.s. from Ed Hird: The Benjamin Franklin story was intended to express the truth of Titus 3:14 “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good in order that they may provide
for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.”
Excerpt: “Even in the midst of sending personal greetings and asking for hospitality for fellow workers, Paul returns to the heart of his message. The Cretan ex-pirates need to turn from selfishness to goodness. They were to do their best and do everything they can to make a lasting difference. Instead of being plundering pirates, they are to be producing and providing for themselves and their families. Only by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit could an entire society shift to become a Kingdom- based culture. If this could happen to Cretan pirates, this can happen in North America.
Because our hearts are deceitful, it is very difficult to see and acknowledge one’s own pirate tendencies. We North Americans would rather point the finger at other people’s piracies. Only those pirates who admit the toxic truth about themselves can move towards good health. Who were the real pirates in the American Revolution: the British, the Americans, or even both?
Whether one was a pirate or a legal privateer was often in the eye of the beholder. The British had a long history of employing government-licensed privateers like Sir Francis Drake who rescued England from the 1588 Spanish Armada. Sir Francis Drake is remembered by the Spanish as the pirate dragon, El Drako. Such pirate tendencies re-emerged during the American Revolution. Benjamin Franklin protested to the British Lord Admiral Howe about the pirate behaviour of his British military:
…the most wanton barbarity and cruelty burnt our defenseless towns in the midst of winter, excited the savages to massacre our peaceful farmers, and our slaves to murder their masters, and is even now bringing foreign mercenaries to deluge our settlements with blood.

In 1778, while ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin raised up a privateer fleet to capture British sailors and use them to exchange for the Americans held by the British in very difficult conditions. Around 800 American privateer ships were commissioned, resulting in the loss of around 600 British ships. Between ten to thirty thousand American privateers were imprisoned by the British and treated as common pirates treasonously rebelling against King George III. At the end of the American Revolution, Franklin unsuccessfully attempted to include in the Peace Treaty a ban on future privateering.
Like Titus, Benjamin Franklin taught the American people to devote themselves to doing what is good, to live productive lives. I remember as a young child being taught Benjamin Franklin’s proverb: ‘Early to bed, early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise. As a brilliant philosopher, he shared wisdom through short pithy sayings like ‘He that lies down with dogs shall rise up with fleas.’ Many of Franklin’s sayings are so well known that people confuse them as coming from the Bible. ‘God helps those who help themselves’ is from Franklin, not from Jesus.
Many of his sayings were published in Poor Richard’s Almanack, a book series that has had a profound impact on North American culture and identity. Some would say that the middle class dreams and ideals can be traced back directly to Benjamin Franklin’s homespun philosophy. Many of us unknowingly quote Benjamin Franklin on a regular basis: haste makes waste; no pain, no gain; and nothing is certain but death and taxes. Most of Franklin’s sayings were about encouraging diligence, honesty, industry and temperance. Franklin saw the Judeo-Christian ethic as “the best the world ever saw or is likely to see.” Not everyone liked Benjamin Franklin. DH
Lawrence said: “I do not like him….that barbed wire moral enclosure that Poor Richard rigged up….Benjamin Franklin tried to take away my wholeness and my dark forest, my freedom.”
Benjamin Franklin’s father had intended that his son Benjamin train to be a clergyman, but lacked the resources to do so. Instead Benjamin became a printer and an inventor. Benjamin Franklin is world-famous for his kite experiments with lightning, proving that lightning was made up of electricity. Some see him as the world’s first electrician. While visiting England, he attached his latest invention, the lightning rod, to St Paul’s Cathedral. He also created hot-water pipes to warm up the chilly British House of Commons. Other significant Franklin inventions were bifocals and the Franklin stove.
Benjamin Franklin was far ahead of his time in terms of understanding workplace toxicity. As a printer, he discovered that newspaper workers were being poisoned through handling hot lead type, causing stiffness and paralysis. Franklin found out that this lead poisoning was also affecting glazers, type-founders, plumbers, potters, white-lead makers and painters.
Benjamin Franklin was so successful in business that he retired at age 42 and devoted the rest of his life to public service. He moved to England twice in order to help the relationship between England and its American colonies. While in England, Franklin wrote most of his autobiography at
the home of the Bishop of St. Asaph, Jonathan Shipley. His book became the world’s most popular autobiography, and has been translated into most major languages. Franklin’s autobiography was the one book which Davy Crockett had when slaughtered at the Alamo.
Despite his being a strong Royalist, Benjamin Franklin ended up being resented by the British House of Lords who publicly humiliated him for his efforts to bring reconciliation between England and its American colonies. This was Franklin’s tipping point where he became a strong advocate for Independence. As America’s first postmaster general, Franklin was also put in charge of establishing the first US currency. In the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party, Franklin recommended that Americans give up tea drinking as a way to fund their new government. The constitution’s phrase ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident’ was the direct result of Franklin’s editing.
Franklin was the only one to sign all four of the USA’s founding papers: the Declaration of Independence, the treaty with France, the peace accord with Britain, and the Constitution. His unsuccessful proposal for the American Great Seal was to have Pharaoh being swallowed by the Red Sea, along with the words ‘Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.’
Franklin’s greatest popularity was among the French who lined the streets when he entered Paris as the USA’s first foreign diplomat. The French saw him as a simple frontier sage, and promptly put his likeness everywhere, causing the French King to become very jealous. Without Franklin’s winning the moral and financial support of the French, it is doubtful that the United States would have survived.
Franklin was a very complicated, even tragic individual with strong approach/ avoidance tendencies. He loved the United States but spent most of his last years in England and then France. His relations with the opposite sex were muddled and confused. He loved his wife and family but was away more than at home and suffered a painful split with his son William over
politics.
Despite Franklin’s reputation as a religious skeptic, he went out of his way in his newspaper to promote the Rev George Whitfield who led North America’s first Great Awakening in 1739-1741. As a scientist, he was amazed that Whitfield’s voice could be heard without amplification by over 30,000 people at one time. Franklin published all of Whitfield’s books and posted his sermons on the front page of his Philadelphia Gazette. This renewal of the Holy Spirit clearly impacted Franklin. Whitfield wrote to Franklin, saying: “As you have made a pretty considerable progress in the mysteries of electricity, I would now humbly recommend to your diligent unprejudiced
pursuit and study the mystery of the new-birth. It is a most important, interesting study, and when mastered, will richly answer and repay you for all your pains.” His friend Whitfield knew that the washing of regeneration could change any North American’s heart.
After jealous clergy closed their pulpits to Whitfield, Franklin and other trustees built a large hall where Whitfield could preach. Franklin commented: “It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants.” After the revival ended, Franklin converted the hall
into the Academy of Philadelphia which later became the University of Pennsylvania.
As Governor of Pennsylvania, Franklin in 1748 proposed a day of fasting and prayer. In 1778, Franklin wrote to the French Government, saying: “Whoever shall introduce into public affairs the principals of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world.”, recommending that every French home have a Bible and newspaper, and a good school in every
district.
At the 1787 American Constitutional Convention, Franklin commented: “the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”
On that basis, Franklin arranged that prayers led by local clergy would be held each morning before Assembly business. Franklin said: “If I had ever before been an atheist, I should now have been convinced of the Being and government of a Deity!”
Franklin was passionate about finishing well and making amends. To that end, he died viewing a picture of the Day of Judgement by his bedside. Three years before his death, Franklin became the President of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. As a young man, he was a slaveowner and sold slavery ads in his Pennyslvania Gazette newspaper. Shortly before his death in 1790, Franklin’s last public act was to unsuccessfully petition the US Congress to abolish slavery. In particular, the petition implored that the US Congress “devise means for removing the Inconsistency from the Character of the American People…promote mercy and justice toward this distressed Race…for discouraging every species of Traffick in the Persons of our fellow men.” Franklin stated in the petition that: mankind are all formed by the same Almighty being, alike objects of his Care, and equally designed for the Enjoyment of Happiness the Christian religion teaches us to believe, and the Political Creed of America fully
coincides with the Position.
Ten percent of Philadelphians and over seventeen percent of all the four million Americans were trapped in slavery.  After a fiery debate, Franklin’s anti-slavery petition was referred to a select committee and then tragically tabled. Imagine how the USA’s history might have been different if this act of piracy had been abolished in 1790, rather than seventy-three years later by Abraham Lincoln during a bloody civil war. Imagine what might happen if a modern day Benjamin Franklin would speak out for the rights of our youngest and oldest North Americans in this age of dehumanizing abortion and euthanasia. I have to believe that justice and human rights will eventually come for our unborn and elderly North American neighbours. There must be a more humane solution than the current North American status quo.
Franklin memorably commented: “Think of three things: Whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must give account.”  May each of us, like Benjamin Franklin, be willing to be accountable to God in choosing the way of health, the way of life, the way of godliness.”

P. S. Click this Amazon link to view for free the first two chapters of our new novel Blue Sky.

“I’m afraid there’s been an accident…”

Sandy Brown and her family have just moved to Spokane, Washington where her husband, Scott, is pastoring a new church. With a fresh start, Sandy is determined to devote more time to her four children. But, within weeks of settling in their new life, the Brown family is plunged into turmoil.

Sandy receives shocking news that her children aren’t safe, which brings back haunting memories of the trauma she experienced as a girl. Then, the unthinkable happens…

A brutal attack puts Sandy on the brink of losing everything she’s loved. Her faith in God and the family she cherishes are pushed to the ultimate limit.

Is healing possible when so many loved ones are hurt? Are miracles really possible through the power of prayer? Can life return to the way it was before?

Blue Sky reveals how a mother’s most basic instinct isn’t for survival… but for family.

If you’re a fan of Karen Kingsbury, then you’ll love Blue Sky. Get your copy today on paperback or  kindle.

-Click to check out our marriage book For Better For Worse: discovering the keys to a lasting relationship on Amazon. You can even read the first two chapters for free to see if the book speaks to you. 

-The sequel book Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit is available online with Amazon.com in both paperback and ebook form.  Dr. JI Packer wrote the foreword, saying “I heartily commend what he has written.” The book focuses on strengthening a new generation of healthy leaders. Drawing on examples from Titus’ healthy leadership in the pirate island of Crete, it shows how we can embrace a holistically healthy life.

In Canada, Amazon.ca has the book available in paperback and ebook. It is also posted on Amazon UK (paperback and ebook), Amazon France (paperback and ebook), and Amazon Germany (paperback and ebook).

Restoring Health is also available online on Barnes and Noble in both paperback and Nook/ebook form.  Nook gives a sample of the book to read online.

Indigo also offers the paperback and the Kobo ebook version.  You can also obtain it through ITunes as an IBook.

To receive a signed copy within North America, just send a $20 cheque (USD/CAN) to ED HIRD, 102 – 15168 19th Avenue, Surrey, BC, V4A 0A5, Canada.

-Click to purchase the Companion Bible Study by Jan Cox (for the Battle of the Soul of Canada) in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca 

Indigo also offers the paperback and the Kobo ebook version.  You can also obtain it through ITunes as an IBook.

To receive a signed copy within North America, just send a $20 cheque (USD/CAN) to ED HIRD, 102 – 15168 19th Avenue, Surrey, BC, V4A 0A5, Canada.

– In order to obtain a signed copy of the prequel book Battle for the Soul of Canada, please send a $18.50 cheque to ED HIRD, 102 – 15168 19th Avenue, Surrey, BC, V4A 0A5. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD.  This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $4.99 CDN/USD.

-Click to purchase the Companion Bible Study by Jan Cox (for the Battle of the Soul of Canada) in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca