Charlotte  (00:00):

This is the XBHS Radio Network.

Skip Orem: (00:05)

From Nashville, this is Anchor Pointe.

Hey everybody, I’m Skip Orem, and welcome to this first episode of the Anchor Pointe Podcast. That’s right, two years and 47 episodes ago, I started the Web Radio Today Podcast. And today, September 23rd, 2022,

Web Radio Today becomes the Anchor Pointe.

Skip Orem: (00:41)

So this episode today is both the introductory episode of the Anchor Pointe and the continuation of the Web Radio Today Podcast. And what a day it is for the introductory episode of the Anchor Pointe Podcast. It’s late September, the Autumn Equinox was yesterday, and we’re now fully into the autumn season, 2022. So one more time, everybody, I’m Skip Orem, and welcome to the Anchor Pointe.

Skip Orem: (01:20)

The Anchor Pointe Podcast is being recorded on this beautiful September day at the Printer’s Alley Studios of the XBHS Radio Network, just off Broadway here in Nashville, Tennessee. Long time and new listeners joining us today on the Anchor Pointe, and for those of you wondering why you may have pushed that play button today, let me introduce you to Anchor Pointe.

Skip Orem: (01:51)

The Anchor Pointe is a Christian, faith-based health and fitness podcast.

And the Anchor Pointe is focused on us Baby Boomers. We’re trying to overcome or prevent those diseases that are just gunning for us older folks. And if you fit our listener profile or care for someone who does, I encourage you to take a few minutes each week and join me on the Anchor Pointe Podcast. We are Baby Boomers staying faithful, staying healthy, staying mobile, doing our best to live long, healthy, happy, and disease-free lives.

Skip Orem: (02:36)

The Anchor Pointe new podcast episodes will drop every Friday, and you can get those episodes at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, literally wherever you get your podcasts from. We’re on all of the major podcast platforms. And you can also play the Anchor Pointe directly from our website, theanchorpoint.com.

Remember, that’s theanchorpoint.com. And we spell Anchor Pointe with an E, P-O-I-N-T-E.

Skip Orem: (03:12)
The Anchor point of Anchor Pointe, wait a minute, the anchor point of Anchor Pointe, that sounds like I’m just repeating the same thing twice, but not really, because with this podcast, I want to help you anchor your faith and fitness journey to the seven elements of the Anchor Pointe Disease-Fighting and Fitness Model. Those seven elements are faith, diet, exercise, attitude, positive imagery, music, and research. And those seven elements are the focus of this podcast, helping you to strengthen your faith and fitness by using each of those seven elements. And each week, I’ll try to give you some information and motivation to keep you going on your personal faith and fitness journey, because everybody, practicing those seven elements, each of them working together is so important in living that long, healthy, and happy life that we all want.

Skip Orem: (04:25)

Okay. Let’s get started right now, everybody, with medical news for seniors.

Research continues to show that religion is extremely important to good health.

It can reduce your blood pressure, strengthen your immune system, and put you in an overall positive state of mind, which helps to reduce stress. Your faith, it can help you lessen the effects of depression. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have concluded that most studies have shown that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes including greater longevity. And hey, that’s what the Anchor Pointe is all about. And a strong faith can increase your coping skills and quality of life. Several clinical studies have shown that addressing the spiritual needs of patients enhances their recovery from illness. So the bottom line, everybody, if you want that long, happy and healthy life that we’re all striving for, you must have faith.

Skip Orem: (05:48)

Faith, it’s the number one element in the Anchor Point Disease-Fighting and Fitness Model.

A couple of years ago, I was in the surgery prep room waiting to be taken into surgery to have my cancerous prostate removed. And I was experiencing well, this weird combination of anxiety and excitement that was going on. Needless to say, all that had my blood pressure climbing.

Skip Orem: (06:17)

This young gentleman, he walked into that room, and he had this awesome surgical uniform on. And the embroidery on his uniform said, “Vanderbilt Heart Transplant Team.” And of course, I immediately thought, “Oh, great. This is all I need right now. There must have been some kind of a screw up, because there was not any way I was going in for a heart transplant.”

Skip Orem: (06:45)

Well, he introduced himself, and come to find out he was a deacon at my church. He worked there. He was a heart transplant surgical nurse, and he worked there at Vanderbilt Hospital. I had never met him before. He came in there to my pre-surgery room to pray for me. What a gift he gave me that day. He held my hand and we prayed. Immediately, I was calmed by the presence of God in that room. My blood pressure went down to safe levels, and I knew right there and then that operation was going to be a success. And I was, and I remain cancer-free to this day. Thanks be to God.

Skip Orem: (07:42)

Yes, indeed, everybody. Faith, the number one most important element of the Anchor Pointe Disease-Fighting and Fitness Model.

Faith, it’s important not only so that we can live this long, happy, and healthy life here on earth, but it’s also important in determining where you’ll spend eternity. And yes, we will be talking about that on the Anchor Point Podcast.

Skip Orem: (08:17)

We are, after all, the faith and fitness podcast. And for me, it’s personal. My faith, my Christian faith, gave me so much comfort when I was battling cancer. That cancer, the thing that, well, it came to destroy me. What it actually did though, was it brought me back to my Christian faith, back to Jesus, back to God.

Skip Orem: (08:48)

During the time that I was first diagnosed and dealing with that prostate cancer, I thought a lot about, well, how I would live my life if I were able to survive the cancer. I knew for sure that I was going to spend more time with my family, more time serving God. And I know, everybody, that all of that sounds like I was bargaining with God. Well, in some ways I probably was, but it was more than that.

Skip Orem: (09:23)

I kept thinking that before this happened, before that cancer attacked me, I had all this time. But you know what? You really have no idea how much time you have left. And in fact, there really is no time. So I was thinking if I could get through this, if I could beat this cancer, I could live my life with so much more meaning and purpose. So I decided right then and there that I was going forward, win this battle or lose, with a new plan for my life.

Skip Orem: (10:02)

And that’s what started me really thinking, thinking about God and thinking about God’s plan for my life, and understanding how short life really is. And starting to think that way, it helped me so much in my fight with cancer. It gave me so much peace, so much comfort. It kept me free from stress, because I knew beating cancer or not, I was a short-timer here. We all are, everybody, short-timers here on earth. That terrible cancer, it awakened me to my faith, and my faith cured me.

God saved me. And that is why the Anchor Pointe Podcast was born.

Skip Orem: (11:19)
If you want to know more detail about my personal battle, go back and listen to those early, very early Web Radio Today introductory episodes. And you’ll also find how my physical fitness at the time that that cancer came, how it was also instrumental in me winning that battle. And everybody, most of all, I want you to know that my Christian faith will always be an important part of the Anchor Pointe Podcast, because if you’re fighting disease or if you’re just trying to live a more healthy lifestyle, trying to avoid those diseases that are gunning for us seniors, well, you cannot do that without a strong faith. Faith, diet, exercise, attitude, positive imagery, music, and research, those are the Anchor Pointe’s seven elements of the Anchor Pointe Disease-Fighting and Fitness Model. And those seven elements will be the focus of the Anchor Pointe Podcast.

Skip Orem: (12:34)

And starting next week, we begin to put your personal faith and fitness plan together.

On that podcast next week, I’m going to talk in some detail about each one of those seven elements and why they’re so important, and why you need each one of them working together to help you give you the information you need and inspire you on your personal faith and fitness journey.

Skip Orem: (13:20)

The anchorpointe.com., the website, our website, is the textbook for everything we discuss on the podcast.

And I suggest that you visit theanchorpointe.com every week. And don’t forget that precious E on Anchor Pointe. The website is theanchorpointe, with an E, .com.

Skip Orem: (13:45)

And just like this podcast, there are no advertisements on the Anchor Pointe website. I’m starting to redo and reformat some of the old Web Radio Today workouts and guided imagery sessions. I’m updating them and making them more compatible with the Anchor Pointe. As I complete each one of those episodes, I’ll release them as separate episodes of the Anchor Pointe Podcast. Now those workouts or positive imagery session re-dos will probably drop into your podcast feed at some time during the middle of each week that I finish one. Regular weekly episodes like this one will be released every Friday. And remember, Anchor Pointe is available on all the major podcast platforms, or if you prefer, you can listen to the Anchor Pointe at the website, theanchorpointe.com.

Skip Orem: (14:47)

By the way, if you don’t want to wait for any of those workouts or guided imagery sessions to be reformatted, and if you want to use them right now, the Web Radio Today versions of those workouts and positive imagery sessions are all right there on the front page of theanchorpointe.com.

Skip Orem: (15:11)

So for now, everybody, first of all, thank you for joining me on this first episode of Anchor Pointe, transitioning away from Web Radio Today. Thank you so much. And from Nashville, for the Anchor Pointe Podcast, I’m Skip Orem. Bye, everybody.

Speaker 1: (15:39)
This is the XBHS Radio Network.