If My Body is a Temple, Then I Was a Megachurch

“For Him to increase in my ministry, I had to decrease in my waistline.”

That, in a nutshell, describes comedian Scott Davis’ motivation for losing 132 pounds. In If My Body is a Temple, Then I Was a Megachurch: My journey of losing 132 pounds with no exercise!, Davis describes his journey to a healthy weight using a good-sized helping of humor. The author uses scripture to show that losing weight is about more than just one’s physical condition – it is about the spiritual condition as well. The humor keeps it light-hearted while the scripture and personal stories of his struggles add weight to the book.

This is a great memoir, but it is much more than that: while not a diet book, it is an encouraging look at why and how Christians who struggle with obesity can and should take control and reach a state of health. Davis makes it clear that this is not easy, but he shows that it is doable if we rely on God and the people He has put in place to help us.

My only negative comment about the book is this: at times, the book feels like an infomercial for Quick Weight Loss Centers of Atlanta. It’s easy to get annoyed by the references to one weight-loss facility and lose the greater message of the book. However, it sounds like they have an innovative program and I can see why he would spend so much time talking about it.

Despite this, the book is well worth your time if you struggle with obesity or even have just a little extra weight that you can’t seem to lose. In fact, I think that pretty much anyone could benefit from the book because so much of it has as much to do with spiritual health as physical health.

The audiobook is read by the author and is very well-read and well-produced. I highly recommend it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this audiobook free from the christianaudio Reviewers Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Loose weight without exercise? Laugh my way to weight loss? This sounds like my kind of plan! Maybe my story is like yours. I have struggled with my weight since my car accident in 1994. Before that I was actively involved with martials arts (7x a week) and I could eat whatever I wanted. When the accident fused L4-L5, I no longer could do the things I could do physically any longer, and had to say goodbye to a military career and my dreams of becoming a martial artist. Things continued to grow however, and my weight was one of them.

This audiobook was quite interesting in that Scott Davis has a FANTASTIC sense of humor, and uncomfortably, much of his transparency was/is many of the things I think about myself, others, and my weight. This audio challenged me to revisit my weight issue even though I have become frustrated with my weight issue. I was convicted with his sober challenge to men regarding setting the tone for good eating and health in the home. I was so convicted of this, that my wife is not listening to the audios as well. We both are going to laugh our way to health as well. The author inspired, challenged, and enlightened me that there was hope to conquer this struggle I have been having. Scott Davis had NO PROBLEM holding my attention and I know he will enthrall you as well. His steps were presented in a cohesive and appealing manner so that I was so intrigued, that I looked up ‘QLWC’ and discovered there are NONE in my area and the online form for the home program is only for the Atlanta area. I am hoping that after my wife listens to the audio (and a billion other people listen to the audio) that there will be more locations or they will remove the Atlanta location stipulation and make the resources available to those who are interested but don’t live in Atlanta! Scott does a great job of successfully conveying Biblical truth, and I would highly recommend this book to others. I am looking forward to hearing Connie’s thoughts on her listen too.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the christianaudio.com reviewers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license.

http://diakrinomusings.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/if-my-body-is-a-temple-then-i-was-a-megachurch-by-scott-davis/

I can't remember a time in my life that I wasn't desperately hungering for this book! When as a child even my sisters would call me fatso. When as a teenager the boys would pick me first for the football game, but never ask me out on a date. When between the ages of 18 & 20, my ideal of being wanted by a man, was being raped. When at the age of 21, I lost my father, the only person who ever told me I was beautiful. When I spent the last 30 years hating myself for how ugly I had become, knowing that no man would ever want me or find me attractive, and even believing for most of those 30 years that God hated me and had abandoned me. Oh, how I longed for a this book!

In "If My Body is a Temple, Then I Was a Megachurch", Scott Davis shares through laughter and tears his struggles with his weight, his life on the road, the embarrassing times, the funny times, and the sad and hurtful moments that came from being overweight. Davis shares intimate moments druing his journey, before and after his decision to make changes in his life. How our strengths can also be our weaknesses. Davis shares about the love of his family and friends, who were his biggest support system, even as they in many cases had to use "tough love" to show that support.

Davis shares the plan that he used to lose over 100 pounds in six months (with no exercise), but more than that he shares how the love of God encouraged him moment to moment, day to day, month to month. How his passion and love for God, and the desire to always be obedient to God's Word, kept him on the path to transforming his body into a "Temple of God". Using scripture after scripture, Davis shows how losing weight is just as much about our relationship with God as it is physical, and how prayer can transform not only our bodies, but all areas of our lives.

In "If My Body is a Temple, Then I Was a Megachurch", Davis shares that giving God all of ourselves is the only way we can truly make the changes in our lives that glorify God.

For me this is not just a book about how to lose weight....it's a funny and at times sad look at life. A look at how our actions and words can affect others lives. How we can be encouragers instead of enablers. How an ill-timed joke can cause others pain. It's a book about taking responsibility for our own actions at the dinner table. About taking ownership of what we are and not blaming others. It's a book about the love of family and friends, but mostly about the love of God, and the tranformations we can all make in all areas of our lives when we give back to God everything that He has given us, and let Him be the pilot of our journey.

It's a book of hope!!!!!!!!