Kenneth Copeland - Your Thoughts Are Connected to Your Physical Body
KENNETH: Hello everybody. I'm Kenneth Copeland. This is the believers voice of victory broadcast. Let's have a word of prayer. We'll get right into today's message.
Father, we thank you and we praise you. We open our hearts and minds for revelation from heaven, words, ideas, and insights and concepts into the Kingdom of God and living the life of faith and we give you praise and Thanksgiving for it in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Glory to God. We have a very, very special guest with us today and Dr. Avery Jackson, chief executive officer, medical director of Michigan Neurosurgical institute. Would you welcome Dr. Avery Jackson, to this broadcast today! Now, all of you, I know all of you and just about everybody. Anybody that knows anything about The Believers Voice of Victory network or been walking and living by faith any length of time at all. Are very acquainted with Bishop Keith Butler. Amen. Well, Dr. Avery and his family and I, I'd like for you to talk about this some today. Yes Sir. And give some of your background. His parents moved into bishop's church when he was eight years old. So you talk about somebody being brought up in a household of faith. He's like my grandson. He said, I thought our house was the household of faith. Praise God.
Dr. Avery, thank you for coming sir. The first time I met you. Well I heard you speak before I got a chance to meet you. And I was speaking there at a bishop's Church and Dr. Avery was right before me. And so I got into and got to listen a little bit and I'll go "hey, I got to know more of this". And so, and I got a chance to listen to him again and then got the DVD's and then got his book, glory to God, which you're going to get a chance to get. And I'm really the spirit of God really impressed me by your combination as a neurosurgeon and a very successful one I might add. And your combination of use of spirit, soul and body in everything you do, using, what you've learned in faith, using what you've learned in the word, depending completely on the Holy Spirit to do what you do and to use the gifts of the spirit and speaking and praying in tongues on a constant continual basis to be successful at one of the most important medical practices on earth which deals with the human brain and the whole neurological system.
And I'm excited about it and I got so excited. I mean particularly when you got to talking about the effect of extra physical exercise on the brain and the way it functions and so forth. I got so amazed. You talk about being dedicated now. The surgeries that he does last sometimes eight hours or better at a time. So his physical movement is very little, but he still does not let that get in the way of his physical exercise. If he has to do some of it in the shower or the bathtub or while he's standing, I'm going to let you, I mean, that got me that just did it. That did it. He walks in the door, Andrea meets him. He starts doing jumping jacks.
When he walks in he says, hello Darlin and he's doing jumping jacks the whole time. Come on Doc, and you gotta be completely physically worn out and then you can come in the house doing jumping jacks. Dedication is the name of that, you know, understand. I want to give you golden text that the Lord spoke to me in First Thessalonians chapter five verse 23. The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, wholly, W,H,O,L,L,Y. Complete, your whole spirit. your spirit is not whole unless you are born again and soul, which is the intellectual part of our being. We are an integrated system, spirit and soul and body be preserved, blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Glory to God. Amen. The floor is yours. Praise God forever.
DR. JACKSON: Well, thank you so much Brother Copeland for having me and my family and we're just so excited to be here. I just can't tell you what a blessing this is and you know, just through just a lot of prayer and favor and you know, everything just happened so quickly. You know, we've been watching you since I was a little boy. You'd come to Detroit with your, you know, your, your meetings and my sister and I would just, we get on the bus, just the two of us and we were preteens and we come down to your meetings and just have a good old time. Just so, a little bit about me and you know, as you had mentioned, you know, in terms of me being a neurosurgeon and how that really started because that really wasn't by choice at all. Like I had no say in that.
My grandmother had a stroke and when I was younger, around the age of seven, and so she had some facial weakness. And I asked the Lord, I said, Lord, how can I help people like her who have these brain problems? And several months later he said I heard my spirit. He said, you're going to be a neurosurgeon. I want you to be a neurosurgeon. Well, I didn't know at the age of, you know, second or first grade, about 1975 or so, I didn't really know what a neurosurgeon was.
So I went and looked it up and it said, neurosurgeon means your brain surgery. And so I said, yes sir, I'll do it. And that was it. So I, there was no choice. There was just an acceptance because He said, you're going to do that. And, and that led to a whole host of events and we go into you know, telling the teachers and the teachers kind of said, okay, that's nice. You know, going to be right. Right. Yeah. You're going to be brain surgeon be a.
KENNETH: Fireman next. Right, right.
DR. JACKSON: Yeah. And then from there, you know, I talked to my grandfather. And at that time too, he was attending word of Faith International Christian Center with Bishop Keith Butler and Pastor Deborah Butler at the time. And we went on over there and I was pretty young. I was about seven or eight or so, and then came to know the Lord under Bishop Keith Butler and Pastor Debra , as a tween.
So it was about maybe 11 or so, somewhere around there and then, and just kept going through. And there was all these challenges along the way in terms of the training and what have you, but I knew the Lord said, you're going to be a neurosurgeon. So I just kept going and he found a way every, every time. Every time there was a door that closed he would opened the door and we kept going. And it's, it's been an amazing journey. He took me through a lot of different training. And then from there he you know, some interesting opportunities when there was a lot of discouragement.
So just to encourage everybody, you know, when the Lord tells you, that he's going to have you do something, he's going to back you up and, and allow you to do that thing because there some discouragement along the way where, uh, it was a time where I had to go through some testing at a certain time and just before that testing, you know, there's certain requirements in neurosurgery that you have to fulfill and they said, well, we need for you to come over here and help us in this one area and it's going to take away from your training in another area. But that's okay. You know, you'll get through it. But the Lord said, I want you to make sure you keep doing this other area on the side. So it was a research.
So all I'm going through my training and residency and filling my requirements at night. When I was done, I kept doing that research and I was able to get a peer reviewed grant accepted during that time. So there was proof that I did the research and it took about a year's worth of research. Well, by the end of the time period, it turns out that I went in and I had the chance to go on to the next level of training, which was after the residency in a fellowship, which ultimately led me to where I am today. And I went and I talked to someone about it and they said, well, you didn't, you didn't finish all your training. You know, you have so many years and you have to have your research.
So I, you know, but the Lord was faithful and he told me do this. So I went and reached in and got all my research, all my proof, and I had done a year's worth of research. So I graduated actually a year early and they allowed me to go to the next step and again, and the Lord was just gracious. And then ultimately that took me to being in practice in Michigan in 2002. In my practice, I was employed for a years in neurosurgeon and with a group and different things change.
And after about a year and a half, I bought the practice and became independent and the Lord has just done great things. You know, we've seen a lot, helped a lot of people and just loved people and patients. And then that took us here to, to now having an opportunity to have a discussion about the tri-part man, you know, and one of the things that he said, and I just have my, my notes here. One of the things that He had mentioned about the practices, he says, I want you to make this division of the practice. This is really what this is about. And it's so ironic that now here we are having a discussion about that very thing. All these years later, I've been in practice now for 17 years. And it was that your mission statement is compassion, be compassionate for people.
And for me, surgical excellence, everything you do in surgery, I want to be with excellence. And education was the last one. And it's kind of interesting because now we're talking about, you know, education and research and we're going to have a good time having that discussion. That was kind of the third piece and I thought education was, we'll get into grants and we'll do research and we've done some of that over the years. But now to have this dialogue and to be educated by the Holy Spirit and to be able to fold in his word with science and to compare His word in science and show that this is God's language, is science, and he created the science to give us something to look at in terms of what he's already done. Has just been just blowing my mind. Just been fascinating.
So one of the things is we talk about the tri-part man and that's what he put on my heart was he says, okay, here's my perspective about health and my perspective, which is a little bit different than the general perspective of medical doctor. And he said, I see you as a tri-part man, you are a spirit being, You possess or have a mind will and emotion and you live in a physical body. And Up to this point you've been learning about the physical body side, the brain, and how all the interactions complex interactions occur. But what we need to do is to make sure that you cover that.
You look at the other two thirds, because I'm in, my perspective is I look at all three parts of you when I'm working on the healing and when I'm advising you about your health, your mental health, your physical health, and this is where I'm at. So don't be discouraged and remember to tell people, don't be discouraged when you get a bad report because they're talking about the one third and there is still two thirds out there that I'm working on.
KENNETH: Praise God thats good!
DR. JACKSON: I'm working on. And so you just rely on me and trust me and we'll deal with the one third because the two thirds are taken care of,
KENNETH: Man, thats good! And he will do it. Yeah. To bring that to completion where it at it's whole. That all three parts are working together for wellness, not healing wellness to be well. A well man doesn't get sick in the first place. But you have to deal with, you have to deal with the whole system.
DR. JACKSON: Yes sir. Yes sir.
KENNETH: Let's get this. Just take us, run on, into it.
DR. JACKSON: So in terms of, as a neurosurgeon and brain surgery, you know, we look at he brain itself and so the brain doesn't shut off. It's, it's just, it's constantly going, just like the heart doesn't shut off. And so when you're sleeping at night you're crunching through what you thought about from the day before and so forth and just constantly going. So it's important to have the peace of God and get that rest. Cause there's a difference between sleep and rest and you can sleep and still have these thoughts turning and then that can have a physical impact on your body.
And so in terms of brain anatomy, and just a couple of points, here is, I mean there are lots of parts, but the ones that are key for right now would be you have this circuit in your brain and it's called a circuit of papez, even though it's spelled like papez, Papez and that's a memory circuit. And all of the signals and interactions that we have through our five senses go to our frontal lobe.
So that's an area that says, well, this is right, this is wrong, this is what, why you've got information coming from this way. Then it goes into the papez circuit of Papez, that memory loop and see you have the sloop. And then from there it goes into two other structures. One called the Amygdala, and that's an area where it deals with emotions, and you get riled up for good or sometimes not for good, but you get riled up about something. And then there's a structure called the hypothalamus. And that structure is really important. It's really a master control center and it controls the master gland, which is the pituitary gland, but is a master control center.
Some people call it the master gland. And that's a really important piece because information comes into the frontal lobe and then you analyze it and say, well, based on this information in my past history, I'm going to do x, y, and Z. Based on that. And as you're making those decisions about what you see, that hypothalamus then directs the entire rest of the body to do what it needs to do. So there's a fight or flight combination there. And what that is that if you're nervous about something, you know, and you have to be on the ready to protect yourself, then that hypothalamus says, let's send these signals down to the rest of the body.
You know, the 30 to 50 trillion cells and then you'll have that a response. So your muscles ready to go and you can run if you need to run or fight if you need to fight. The problem though is that you can unfilter that process and uncouple it from God's word. And so what happens then is, is that you're getting nervous and overworked or anxious for things you shouldn't be anxious for. And then as a result, hypothalamus works, kicks in and then you develop a lot factors and substances in the body that can be ultimately destructive if you don't shut that down and have some peace about things. And so those are some relevance.
KENNETH: So you point out; worry, care, anxiety, unforgiveness, lack of the love of God in your life.
DR. JACKSON: Yes sir.
KENNETH: All of those things while you're sleeping or affecting your health in a negative way.
DR. JACKSON: Yes sir.
KENNETH: My, my, my. Now that takes me. Let's look in the book of Philippians here and we can see easily in Philippians four verse 6. Be careful for nothing or be anxious or fretful about nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, with thanksgivings. Let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus. If whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are good. Report if there be any virtue or moral excellence, if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things which you've both learned, received and heard and seen in me doing and the God of peace will be with you. Glory to God. You need to do that every night.
DR. JACKSON: Yes sir.
DR. JACKSON: Every night.
KENNETH: Every night.
DR. JACKSON: Every night. You know, we're being bombarded with a lot of stressors and even at a young age, I believe that one of the wiles of the enemy, in my opinion, is how the children are affected. And we were all children at one point. And so it can have an effect on us adults if we don't get ahold of this thing is as the Lord says, and that you pointed out here in. Children, there was an article that came out in one of the journals not very long ago and it looked at, one in five children have some form of emotional stress, that's diagnosable. Emotional stress or other issues.
KENNETH: 20%?
DR. JACKSON: Yeah, yeah. One in five children. And so what happens is only 20% of those children get any kind of treatment. And so you have a lot of unanswered issues up there in the hearts and minds of the children. And I believe that the enemy would just sneak that information and sneak those stressors right in there into their, into their hearts that increases those chemicals. One of which is dopamine and dopamine is a neurotransmitter or it's a communicator, cells in different parts of the body. It's, it is a feel good, transmitter.
And what's interesting is, is that this feel good transmitter. The dopamine is what we use to do a lot Parkinson's we talk about is a degenerative disorder where you have low dopamine levels and that affects your movement, that affects your mood or likewise, you can have low dopamine levels even in drug addiction. The same even though they're completely different origins, they both end up affecting your brain and those neurochemicals in the same way. And so, you know, when you see that and you go, wow, so you know, outside forces, internal forces can affect the dopamine in the brain and can have an impact on your emotion and your mood. And then you put that in to children and the children can't tell you oftentimes what's wrong, you know?
And, and so when that happens, especially in that age of three years old to 17 years is when there is this these, this particular study talked about that there they have these issues and then that that can take us right on to what happens with them. They have the early adversity, all the struggles that they have internally that they're, they go to bed on, they wake up on in their minds, if not dealt with, with God's word. And with that peace and love and relationship, it'll just keep looping.
Brother Keith Moore mentioned a while back that there are these memory loops that we have. He in a series careful for nothing. And that was right spot on because I'm looking at it as a neurosurgeon from the, from the Anatomic standpoint, as we process information and in these kids it loops. And while those loops get put into the subconscious, and when they get into that subconscious mind, the kids forget about them, but they're still going and they're causing destruction. And without the word of God, and without that relationship and the friendship, and to let them know how valuable they are from God's perspective that informs, their kind of, what they see and how they filter the world and all the interactions they have with people and situations from the time they were little all the way up until the time they're an adult.
KENNETH: This last 30 seconds or so, I can see, The value of how the Lord trained me and last thoughts and first thoughts. And when I go to bed at, I hadn't always done this and, and but the very last thing before, I'll just turn it all off. I love the Lord My, with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength. I love my neighbor as myself, fulfilling all the law and the prophets. And I love the brethren even as you love the brethren of my father, very last thing. And I can see now what kind of effect that has on my brain.
DR. JACKSON: Yes sir. Yes sir.