Have we considered what Jesus’ response would be to health care reform? And as Christians called to be influencers of culture, shouldn’t we be informed and knowledgeable enough to dialogue intelligently about the subject? Medical doctor and ordained Methodist minister G. Scott Morris tackles the thorny issues surrounding health care and answers the ultimate question of what is true health in his upcoming release, HEALTH CARE YOU CAN LIVE WITH: Discover Wholeness in Body and Spirit.

HEALTH CARE YOU CAN LIVE WITH is an astute and biblical perspective of total wellness that empowers the individual to ultimately see from Jesus’ example what it means to be human and to be intimately connected to God in that humanity. “Jesus asks us to care about what he cared about --- wellness and wholeness. Healing that flows through personal care, preventive activities, medical methods, and technology announces that the kingdom of God is here,” says Morris. “We cannot separate healing from the gospel message. If we’re going to do what Jesus did, and as his first century followers did, we must find some way to be involved in a ministry of healing.”

An ordained minister with twenty years as a family practice physician serving a diverse population in Memphis, the nation’s poorest major city, Morris is uniquely experienced in the challenges of our health care system today. HEALTH CARE YOU CAN LIVE WITH offers a surprising behind-the-scenes visit into the troubles we are currently facing around the issues of health care and health care reform. With a thoughtful yet candid approach, Morris invites the reader to question what we really know about health care. Who does our health care system serve and what does it do or not do for others? And, most importantly, what should be the response of the Church --- and the individual Christian?

Morris offers an insightful and biblical approach to health care, its history, and the Church’s role, as well as a multi-dimensional examination of health care today and what health care reform will and will not do. How many Christians today know that respected leaders of the Faith like John Wesley and Cotton Mather were instrumental in the early development of health care as they lived Jesus’ example of treating the whole person, body and spirit, in their own ministries? With chapters such as “Cherish Being Human,” “The Body Brings Us Together,” “Nutrition: Food Is a Gift from God,” and “Faith Life: Don’t Wait for a Crisis,” Morris calls the Church and individual Christians into true life change according to the life lived by Jesus. What makes Morris a unique Christian voice is not only how he intelligently puts politics aside and tackles the facts of this issue, but also how he strips away the layers to get to the book’s ultimate purpose --- true and total wellness. Morris’ desire is that the reader be transformed by what he or she reads and to experience lasting change.

Living what he preaches, Morris is founder of Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee, a community health center that today provides 36,000 patient visits a year and handles 120,000 visits to the wellness facility. A staff of 250 people shares a ministry of healing and wellness while hundreds more volunteer time and services. A network of medical specialists makes certain the uninsured working poor get the same quality of health care as anyone with a Cadillac insurance plan. Fees slide on a scale based on income, and no one is turned away. The center has grown to become the largest faith-based clinic of its type in the country and has become a model for others to follow.

Morris is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Peacemaker Award for Innovative Health Care awarded by the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, The Award for Excellence in Community Service from Yale Divinity School, and The Distinguished Physician Award for the state of Tennessee by the Tennessee Medical Association. Morris is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Memphis/Shelby County Medical Society, and the Tennessee Medical Association. He is ordained in the United Methodist Church and remains a board certified physician who continues to do rounds and see patients at Church Health Center.

HEALTH CARE YOU CAN LIVE WITH: Discover Wholeness for Body and Spirit © Copyright 2011 by Dr. Scott Morris. Reprinted with permission by Barbour Books. All rights reserved.