Tom Hafer
is the author of “Faith and Fitness” an Augsburg Books bestseller in 2007. Hafer is a Physical Therapist, a certified Athletic Trainer, and holds a Master’s degree in Religion. He serves as a minister in Florida. He is a national presenter on the issues of Faith and Fitness, and is the founder of the popular Wellplanet.org website, which teaches us to live green and lean through Christ. He lives in Florida with his wife Eileen and his three children Abbey, Dan, and Rachel.
About faith and Fitness
When we think of our faith and fitness, we have to examine counter-culturally today's diet and exercise industries that spends billions on devices, pills, and powders to battle excess; all the while, our neighbor has nothing to eat. When we care for ourselves to better care for others, we become conscious to the greater cause of wellness, we become mindful of the greater community. We can see that our national obsession for wellness has not made us well. What is missing? Have we forgotten some critical secret to a simpler healthier life? Could the way we grow, eat, and share food be a miracle cure for obesity, world hunger, curbing greenhouse gases, and even reducing oil dependency? Can exercise be reclaimed as the beautiful healing gift it is, over the chore we have made it to be? There is a deeper Spiritual Discipline to faithfully restoring our health. God orchestrated the integration of the physical, environmental, and the spiritual aspects of our lives, we simply need to have eyes to see. We usher in sustainable health that supports all creation, through Christ who strengthens us.
Tom Hafer
Excerpt from an interview with Tom Hafer by Christina Zibers regarding Faith and Fitness
Christina Zibers: “…There was a recent article in USA Today that mentioned you were a hippie preacher and that you resembled Bono more than Billy Graham, would you like to explain this a little deeper?”
Tom Hafer: “(Chuckling) Surrrrrre…There is so many things backwards with that statement; I don’t know where to begin. Well, first thing is, as you can see, I am completely bald, no hair, for many years now, I am far off being a hippie. Also, out of respect of both of those men, icons really, I believe they both might be a bit insulted if the likes of them are compared to the likes of me….honestly though, I am sure this statement probably came from the simple premise of the Book Faith and Fitness, that the gospel, as best I can tell, empowers us-we who are simple and broken, and full of ourselves on occasion, yet, we get glimpses of God’s grace daily in our lives…. I believe Bono’s Theology probably follows this line of thinking somehow. He tends to see God in and out of churches, probably more so out of churches…God more in the ordinary, especially the action of individuals who are empowered to their feet by the Spirit. It has been my experience that service, caring for others, not just for the sake of others, but for the giver as well. God gives us deep meaningful lives, when we serve, instead of a fumbiling life that is focusing on the self? Does that make sense?
Christina Zibers: Are you saying, you feel God is not necessarily concerned about our behaviors as much as our commitment to care for others.
Tom Hafer: “Better than I can say it, thanks. Maybe I should be asking you the questions (laughing)… I don’t think that that statement (about Bono and Billy Graham) was meant to say anything negative or positive about either of those giants, in which, for the record, I dually admire both men. I got the Boy album that was U2’s first album, in…in 1981, I was 14. I have been hooked ever since.
Christina Zibers: So, you are a fan?
Tom Hafer: of course, who isn’t? But what I think might be the deeper message is this…The Christian faith really plays out in America in two ways: I think Billy Graham was the perfect example who was able to bring us (America) to behave ourselves by saying yes to God, or yes to Jesus. I remember reading about the Youth for Christ Rallies in Seminary and hearing the impact that made on that generation… unbelievable…but I also think that faith in Jesus empowers us to do things, good things, for no other reason than the pure joy of living with a loving purpose. Living-free, and out of that freedom, even an imperfect person like myself, can still feel loved by my creator. As you can too!
Christina Zibers: How does Faith and Fitness reflect this?
Tom Hafer: Glimpses of God’s Grace from the rubble. That is what Faith and Fitness does. We have for too long looked at our food abundance as a curse, and that is why we spend multi-multi billions on weight-loss gimmicks, but if we were to look at the provisions our creator gave us, we would see that the healthiest foods are the simplest…how He gave them, unhampered, from the vine, the branches, the gardens. He did this for us for millenniums, long before processing and fortifying. Same with exercise…we have reduced exercise to a chore, a tool- simply to lose weight. But, when we look at what blessings are received from exercise, we see in addition to weight-loss, we also increase strength, endurance, muscle mass, bone density, we reduce the risk of heart disease, of type II diabetes, of stroke, of Alzheimer’s disease, of hypertension…exercise even helps us think better…exercise, and real foods are blessings. Faith and Fitness points that out and also our response to these blessings is best when we care for others….that is what Faith and Fitness teaches you…to care for yourself to better care for others. He takes imperfects like us, feeds us, keeps us healthy with exercise or with movement, and fulfills our lives when we use this new found freedom to serve others…that is it.
Christina Zibers: Is this what Bono thinks?
Tom Hafer: (Chuckling) I don’t know, maybe? I know I see God’s Grace in the most crazy places. One of my favorite examples is when you take cow manure…that is gotta be as undignified a substance on the planet, yet from this, we can grow the most beautiful of healthy fruits and vegetables…now tell me that is not a sign of God’s Grace in the simple…maybe Bono would agree….I know I am the last one you would ever picture as a preacher, but I am legitimate, I have my master’s degree in religion, really. I am far from perfect, I don’t think I have anything pure about me, I have tried that route, yet through me, I can talk of God’s Grace and health that He wishes for His people through His provisions. In my case and other undignified preachers like me, it is alot like the manure, when you think of it. Words of Grace, love, compassion and mercy from a simple sinner. Beauty from crap…(2007).