Pastor Says Mental Health Issues in Today’s Culture can be Traced to the Old Testament Israelites

For Immediate Release (Grand Rapids, MI) — According to Gallup, only 30% of U.S. adults currently attend religious services every week or nearly every week, down from 42% two decades ago. In his newly released book, “Live Life Strong: Unlocking the Power God has for Your Life,” Dr. Stephen Marshall addresses the issues he believes keep most people from living their faith beyond the walls of a church.

“My story has a compelling bearing on this book, says Marshall. “I really am a statistical improbability to instruct on living life strong.  Born to teenage parents, I was raised by a single mom on the poor side of the tracks. I was affected by a family dealing with addiction and poverty. I have dealt with suicidal thoughts and feelings of despair. Our mom was dedicated to pointing us to God’s Word as the source of hope, even when it looked hopeless. I’m a testament to God’s grace and ability to make the weak strong.  I can fully relate to weakness, but I can also testify to the miracle of God’s power.”

“Live Life Strong” tackles pertinent topics such as identity, fear, relationships, original intelligence over AI, dealing with evil, forgiveness and other daily issues that affect people’s faith walk. Marshall says the Bible has the answer for every distraction or temptation that keeps human beings from living abundant lives.

“Depression and mental health issues tend to evolve into perpetual trauma like doom-spending, addiction, divorce, and many other things,” says Marshall. “The principal area I see people struggle in today’s culture is the same thing the people of Israel struggled with nearly 3500 years ago. It’s a heart condition called unbelief. God tells us in the book of Numbers and the book of Hebrews that the children of Israel stayed stuck wandering in the wilderness for 40 years because of an evil heart of unbelief. Religion tells us that it’s our performance and good works that impress God. Even Christians tend to think we can evolve into our true identities by just performing better. It’s an unconscious self-reliance that implies Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is somehow superfluous in the light of our wonderful, good works. The people in the book of Acts 7 were enraged against Stephen when he reminded them that God didn't live in temples made with hands. He convicted them of pride in their works, accomplishments, sacrifice, and architecture, and suddenly it was time to riot and kill him. The same activists and rioters are still burning our cities, killing, and destroying in the name of unbelief. It’s spiritual socialism in pursuit of the fictional island of Utopia.”

In 2019, before the pandemic shuttered many religious services and took a toll on church attendance, Marshall says he felt led by God to leave his pastorship at a brick-and-mortar mega church and start an online community with the goal of establishing 1000 “living room churches” across the globe. With his wife Pam Thum-Marshall, a Dove Award-winning songwriter and artist who topped the contemporary Christian radio charts with five #1 singles and numerous top 10 recordings, they began Living Room Church with a simple premise: people are welcomed online for services each week, several times per week, to join a community that now includes people from over 100 countries.

“I think the uniqueness of what we do now with Living Room Church is that all the measurables have changed,” says Marshall. “Success in a traditional church is measured by people in the seats, hands raised at an altar call, dollars in the offering plate, and attendance at an event. I’ve been part of that for many years. With Living Room Church, the number one priority is simply attendance to God’s Word and presence. Nothing competes with that. Of course, we have many measurables with social media and internet analytics, but the convincing anecdotal evidence is the lives transformed, homes changed, and families worshipping God together. The strange act of restricting faith from the rest of life by ritual and the walls of property attendance is disintegrated when you welcome God’s presence directly into your own living room.”

Marshall says each chapter of “Live Life Strong” offers a QR code to quickly reference bonus teaching, prayers, and relevant worship songs which further expound on each topic. The chapters also conclude with simple prayers guided by scripture.

“We know that the victory of Christ is certain and His championship at the cross is complete. So, the deception of buying into a doctrine or theology that has your own internal belief system at war with your true identity in Christ is nothing more than what I call ‘barnyard doctrine.’ God has called you to live like an eagle in Christ Jesus, but if you believe the lie that God has summoned you to a doormat life, your false beliefs short-circuit your true calling, and God can’t interfere with that choice. Your power of choice and autonomy is part of free will. That’s why ‘Live Life Strong’ promotes the straight edge of God’s Word and at the same time, warns of the extreme deception of having a ‘barnyard doctrine.’ God has called you to soar like an eagle, but you get to receive or reject that call.” 
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About Dr. Stephen Marshall:

​Dr. Stephen Marshall is the pastor of Living Room Church which reaches a wide audience on platforms such as Fox Business, New Nation, ABC, A&E, CNBC, BET, HGTV, CMT, TBN, TCT, and CTN, among others. He holds a Doctor of Theology from Logos University, and has written two other books, “31 Ways to Your Best Days,” and “A Little Boy’s Prayer.” For more information visit: https://livingroomchurch.org/.