Prayer – Andrea Arthur Owan

5 Steps for Spiritual Health and Renewal

I’ll begin this blog post with the same question I asked last week: Does your spiritual life feel non-existent, bland, or in dire need of a spiritual revival?

Then I went on to discuss how living solely on daily devotionals can cause your spiritual life to degrade to blah.

But what else might be missing in your spiritual life? How can you improve your spiritual health and be renewed?

That’s what we’ll look at today.

Feeling Disenchanted with your Christian Life?

Many Christians find their initial fervor in the faith wanes after a few years, and their hearts feel a little dulled. If you find yourself facing that dilemma, rather than just consider it normal, or trying to brush it aside, or convincing yourself that your spiritual life is really okay, you should ask yourself the following questions:

Are you consistently listening to or watching good, solid Bible preaching? The kind that challenges and stretches you; reinforces your faith. Gets you excited, or even convicted.

Just as daily physical nourishment is required for good health, you need to feed yourself with the solid word of God for your spiritual well being. No offense to the power of positive thinking crowd, but that kind of preaching doesn’t delve deeply enough into the meat of the gospels. The whole Bible. Find a good Christian radio station to listen to, a television or streaming program with strong, biblical preaching to watch.

Do you have a circle of strong Christian friends you fellowship with regularly?

Iron sharpens iron, and this fact can’t be missed, or dismissed. Even Jesus had his twelve and then his inner three, although the joke is that He had Peter, James and John follow Him around because they were the most likely to get in trouble, and He had to keep an eye on them.

Belonging to a solid, Bible-teaching congregation is critical to spiritual health. Find one and become an active participant.

Find a Bible study group and be sensitive to others that you feel connected to. Seek them out. Join them for coffee or lunch. Get your hearts knit together. You don’t need an army of them. Two or three friends that stick together, lift each other up, make you feel safe and blessed are what you need.

I wouldn’t be able to survive without mine.

Have you been baptized?

Getting Holy water dribbled on you as a clueless baby is a lot different than taking the full plunge in front of witnesses as an adult.

You’re making a statement, a formal commitment to Jesus Christ. Proclaiming yourself to be a follower. It’s a serious matter and incredibly joyful and freeing event.

Your church doesn’t submerse? It doesn’t have to be the Jordan River. Ask a pastor to join you and some friends in a backyard pool.

Are you partaking of Communion?

Every time you gather with other believers to profess Christ’s body and blood given in sacrifice for Christians, you are remembering the Lord and what He has done for you, and everyone else gathered there. It is a community event. It means you accept Him as your groom as He proposes to you, His bride.

It is also a time of introspection, since no one should come to the Lord’s Table without a repentant heart.

And let me go out on a limb here and say that I believe it to be perfectly acceptable to pour yourself a small glass of grape juice, (or wine), and snag a small piece of bread or a cracker (as a side note: the bread Jesus used would have been unleavened, not some fluffy loaf we think of), open your Bible to the passages on the Last Supper or verses remembering that event, pray fervently, and partake of Communion on your own.

Or ask a friend to join you. My husband and I and another couple did just that a couple of weeks ago, as we sat in our living room watching a live stream worship service that included Communion. The pastor encouraged it. And it was a particular joy to celebrate it with dear friends in this continued COVID distancing.

I know. I’m going to get some flack on that one, especially from denominations that believe only a priest is allowed to bless the elements, and that they must be properly blessed before consumption. If you are horrified at what I’ve said, please leave a comment and tell me why you believe that to be true. And please back it up by Bible references, not extra-biblical writing.

Finally, do you have an active prayer life?

After reading and studying His word, this is the primary way to connect with the Savior.

There is nothing like reading Scripture, praying it, praying for yourself, others, the body of Christ, your leaders, your neighbors, your friends and your enemies. And seeing those prayers answered, whether yes or no. It’s life changing. Like walking with God in the cool of the day. Pouring your aching heart out to Him. Getting down and dirty and honest about your life.

It’s how life is won—on your knees.

It gives you unexpected revelations, opens your eyes to truth. Helps you recognize and utilize God’s life-giving power.

It helps you understand just how deeply and profoundly and unconditionally you are loved by the Creator and Savior.

Invitation—

If you’re not using any of these steps to strengthen your spiritual life, I invite—and encourage—you to start now. You can jump into all five of them with both feet, or tread more slowly, selecting one or two to incorporate and pursue. But do pursue them!

And if you have another discipline that helps you strengthen your spiritual life, please share it with us in the Comments box.

And if you don’t yet have a relationship with the Savior and would like to know how to have one, text me at 520-975-6109 and leave a brief message. I’ll be in touch. Or email me at:

andreaarthurowan@gmail.com

Easter is a marvelous time to commit your life to Christ!

NEXT WEEK: As we approach Easter, we’ll look at the importance of the Cross. Without it, there is no Christianity.

Until then, take the next steps to deepen and solidify your spiritual life.

Blessings,

Andrea

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, jut as your soul prospers.”


Andrea Arthur Owan, M.S., A.T., R., is a health and fitness pro, speaker, award-winning inspirational writer, memoirist, and senior-ordained chaplain (IFOC). She helps people thrive physically, emotionally and spiritually and recover from grief, loss and trauma.

COVID-19 Virus Battle Emotions: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

The world has fought a lot of wars throughout history, and it feels as though we’re fighting a war now. A battle against a tiny microbe—officially named COronaVIrusDisease-19 (COVID-19)—invisible to the naked eye. That’s one of the problems with this particular battle. We like to see our enemy, be able to predict what he’s going to do next, calculate how to handle him and thwart his plans.

But with this little halo-surrounded enemy, it seems we can only develop hypothetical models that keep changing, shut everyone behind closed doors, and hope for the best.

It’s obviously a little more complicated and sophisticated than that, but to the average person on the street—who has now been told in some places to continue staying off the street (or beach) or get arrested—it all seems about that simple.

A time of stark contrasts—

The times we’re living in, the battle we’re fighting, brings to mind the opening line from one of my favorite books, one of the best books ever written: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. A lot of you could probably recite it without looking it up—

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

This beginning of the very l-o-n-g first line pretty much says it all for us. We can relate.

Dickens tells the story about life in another war, the French Revolution, and he continues with a string of contrasts.

…it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,

it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,

it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,

it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,

we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,

we were all going to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

A far-flung range of emotions—

How many of us have gone through, or are still going through, these wildly contrasting emotions?

For those of us who cherish our families and time spent with them, we feel doubly blessed to be around them so much.

But domestic violence is on the rise, and tensions are developing in families suffering from too little personal space, or outdoor space. And upended orderly, hyper-scheduled lives.

Drunk driving accidents and arrests are way down; but drinking and drug use have increased dramatically.

We’re looking to trained professionals to give us answers, and we get a multitude of opinions.

A possible breakthrough medication is mentioned, and a couple thinks their fish tank cleaner containing some of the same chemical will work for a homeopathic treatment. After all, they don’t want to get the virus, so—without doctor recommendation or consultation—they ingest their fish tank cleaner. (Who does this!?) The husband dies, and his wife blames our country’s president for her stupidity.

It’s a time of people being terrified and too self-protective, and a time of people throwing caution to the wind, inviting trouble, and putting God to the test.

It’s a time marked by notable events, when we desperately want to believe someone, and a time when we’re so shocked by the unfolding circumstances we doubt everything.

For believers in God, it’s a time when they see Him moving, showing His power, fulfilling prophecy; for the unbeliever, it’s a time of sadness, anxiety, and paralyzing fear.

For those able to maintain their jobs and support their families, it’s a blip on the inconvenience scale. (For some, like my husband, it’s a blessing to not have to rush to and from work every day.) For those watching their lives and livelihoods unravel, they feel stunned, betrayed and helpless. Their futures look dark and impossible. Hopeless.

For them, there is nothing before them.

For others, their greatest fear is whether or not they’ll have enough toilet paper to last through the lockdown. For so many around the world, they don’t know if they’ll have food to feed their children their next meal.

For all of us, we only know what we have right now—before us—and see only a question mark for our and our countries’ futures.

What next?

When will this end, or will it? Will we have to permanently adjust to a “new normal?’

Will staying quarantined, hunkered down, and apprehensive change our brain chemistry so much that we wouldn’t be able to return to normal even if we wanted to?

Rarely in history have we felt the collective “we” we’re now experiencing. The global “we” that for a brief blink in time puts us squarely in the human fragility boat.

As a young man said during an international prayer call I joined in on a week ago: “Thank you, Lord, for bringing us to our knees and showing us just how small, helpless and vulnerable we are.”

It was an admission of humility, of God’s omnipotence. And it was also a plea for mercy to a God that listens when His people cry out to Him. He’s not the detached, aloof God of the Deist; He’s a God of His creation, His people, His children, who listens when they say, “Abba (Daddy), help!”

It may not seem as though He’s listening or moving, but He is. He always is.

What’s in a name—war or not?

Some people don’t like referring to this pandemic as a war. While it may not be in the strictest sense, for many people it certainly is a battle—emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially.

As during Dickens’ story, we are living in a time of stark contrasts:

hope and fear
knowledge and ignorance
trust and suspicion
resignation and obedience and blaming and rebellion
hope and hopeless
Light and Darkness
hope and despair
joyful solitude and despairing isolation
resolution and waffling
meditation and anxiety
acceptance and rejection
prayer and self-focus
gain and loss

Good emotions versus bad emotions—

I could fill pages with these contrasts. And strike up a passionate discussion.

Are these negative emotions bad?

No. They’re honest emotions, reasonable and human reactions to upended lives, unknown futures, unanswered questions, and death.

The negative emotions aren’t bad, unless we allow them to swallow up or control our thoughts, kill the positive emotions, and rule our lives.

But the ultimate question is: which contrast do you want to cling to, to practice, to emulate? To grow in. To emerge from this pandemic a better person than you were when you entered it.

Because it is a time of change and growth. A time when we’re confronted with difficult decisions. And we need to look to Someone who can shine a Light on the best ones and guide us down the best paths.

Ultimately, we do have a choice to make it our worst of times or our best of times. Or the opposite.

I don’t mean to imply that this is easy. It’s not. It may take every last ounce of energy we have to successfully emerge and resume a more “normal” life. One that’s hopeful and purposeful. God’s been known to do that to people throughout history to make alterations permanent.

It helps us remember.

A little encouragement—

Before I sign off with the invitation for today, I want to leave you with a couple of encouraging truths:

“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.” —Thomas Merton

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” —Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)

Invitation

Write down all of the emotions this pandemic and chaos has caused you to experience. Don’t judge them, or yourself. Just jot them down.

Then write down why you think you’ve felt these emotions—like fearfulness, anxiety, weepiness, peace.

Draw pictures to accompany your feelings.

Continue to do this as your lockdown progresses or restrictions are eased.

Do you see changes in your emotions and their ability to control you?

Write the steps you can take to make sure your emotions and physical and spiritual life end up on the positive side of the contrasts.

Or turn it into a prayer, asking God to help and guide you to accomplishing those attitudes and behaviors.

Better yet, turn it into worship. It’s hard to feel negative emotions when you’re singing praise and worship songs!

Here’s one of my favorites to get you started.

And I’ll see you back here next week (or sooner)!

Blessings,

Andrea


Andrea Arthur Owan, M.S., A.T., R., is a fitness pro, chaplain, and award-winning inspirational writer. She works and writes to help people recover from grief and loss and to live their best lives — physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

How to Have a Living Hope (and Not Waste Your Journey)

The prayer chain email I received last Thursday rattled me. Not for the tremendous burden and need the requester noted—which was, indeed, grievous—but for the depth and spiritual maturity of its perspective.

The Christian sister requesting prayer said she had just been diagnosed with a rare and particularly aggressive ovarian cancer. Just being diagnosed with any kind of ovarian cancer is enough to strike terror in the sufferer because ovarian cancer is usually not diagnosed until Stage 4; and the 5-survival rate is around 17%. My own precious cousin, Jan, died of the dreaded disease (after a valiant, grace-filled battle) ten years ago this month while only in her forties.

She’s recovering from surgery to remove large tumors and begins chemotherapy in two and a half weeks. She sounded confident in the family she is blessed with and her “army of supporters.” (Oh, God, that we would all be so blessed when tragedy strikes us!) Because of this support, she says she can make the most of every day that God will grant her.

Then she listed her prayer requests.

First, she wants to remember that God, not she, is in control.

Second, [recognizing] that “God is most interested in what’s happening in the part of me that can’t be touched, scanned, or medicated.”

Last on the list was that she not waste the time she has [left] despairing or seeking comfort about her disease or the outcome. She was bold in her statement:

“I will only waste my journey with cancer if I seek comfort or despair about my odds, rather than look to know what God can do with me.”

She completed her email request by saying she claimed Jesus’ authority and denied Satan [working] in her life.

After reading her email—which I read three times—I sucked in my breath. Hard.

Certainly all of this is probably easier to say before chemotherapy flattens her and leaves her feeling as though she’s been run over by a semi-truck; when the only time she can drag herself out of bed is when she has to maintain a vigil in the bathroom, lying on the cold tile next to the toilet, in wait of having to relieve her stomach of its contents.

When she undergoes the process of being poisoned to death in order to eradicate mutated cells that are already killing her. Before she’s really knee deep into this battle.

I don’t personally know this sister—whether she is, by nature, as stoic and brave as this email sounds. But clearly she has sought the Lord, the Holy Spirit has spoken to her, and she is ready to confront her disease and this potential earthly death sentence with all the strength, faith, grace, and hope of a believer steeped (and believing) in the promises of Jesus Christ and her true, future hope.

She has put this—and life—in true perspective.

And I was awed.

For me, her prayers and requests are powerful enough to warrant writing down and carrying around with me, to pull out and re-read when metaphorical lightning strikes my life, or I am tempted to whine about inconveniences and aggravating hiccups that cause bumps in my road.

And it was a punctuation mark to my earlier reading about Bethel Music founder and pastor Brian Johnson’s battle with and recovery from depression. He described it as going through six months of “hell” and having to be taken to a hospital when he suffered a nervous breakdown.

When the ambulance arrived at his Redding, California, home, he said to his kids: “This is when God becomes real.”

Isn’t that the truth!

The experience prompted him to write the popular worship song “Living Hope.”

And after watching the YouTube video of Bethel Music singing this heart-churner, I thought about some options for inscriptions on my tombstone:

Jesus Christ, My Living Hope

Hallelujah!

The Grave Has No Claim on Me!

It sounds as though this dear sister is already claiming these truths as she faces the biggest battle of her earthly life.

Her hope is built on Jesus Christ and the power of His death and Resurrection.

May it be so for all of us.

I promise that you won’t be able to stay seated long during this song.

And if watching that isn’t enough to get your motor going, here’s a Bethel song bonus: “Raise a Hallelujah.”

(*The journal picture and entry is a photo found on unsplash.com.)

Until next week, no matter what you’re facing, raise your own hallelujah to the Lord!

Blessings,

Andrea


Andrea Arthur Owan is an award-winning inspirational writer, fitness pro and chaplain. She writes and works to help people live their best lives—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Getting Unstuck: Starting Your Year With Prayer

I encountered a lot of grief last week. Not my own, but the deep-seated, clinging grief of others. Overwhelming grief that came in wave after wave after wave of drowning torture. Fellow believers baring their souls.

And it wasn’t just loss of a loved one grief. It involved loss of a dream, loss of a job, injuries that curtailed work and careers, mental illness in loved ones, anxiety and depression, self-esteem issues and fear.

Some of the grief was fresh, some of it lingering. Some of it was being clung to like a mantel, and it produced a soul-breaking shame.

It reminded me just how much all of us need prayer, and how little time we usually devote to it.

And it reminded me that just like getting your day started right, getting your year started right means beginning it with focused prayer.

But what do you pray for?

Taking stock of what you can take stock of for your year—

There are certain things we know will likely happen in the year, and things we hope to happen. It could be continuing in the same job, having to interact with the same difficult co-worker that was a thorn in your side in 2018. It could be a new semester of tough professors; or a new job. A wedding, a joining together of two families.

Whatever is already on your 2019 calendar, it’s not too early to start praying. Or too late. God is still on the throne and He majors in the business of changing lives—yours and others.

And if you really don’t know what to pray for, then spend your prayer time asking God to reveal that to you. He will. He wants us to pray. Praying for the right thing in the right way with the right motive is a sweet aroma to Him. And just sitting in His presence, listening to Him can reveal a plethora of insights and new directions!

I’ve been blessed to be a witness to some pretty powerful results of prayer, both as a recipient and a participant. What I’ve learned over the years is:

EVERYTHING needs to be committed to God in prayer.
Prayer should be our first resort, not our last.
While you’re making plans, He orders your steps.
Unless the Lord builds your house, you labor in vain.

But what about all of your past failures? Are they holding your prayers back?

It’s so easy to get mentally and emotionally stuck on our past failures. And that can affect how we view our futures and how we set goals, make plans, and pray.

In pastor, author and writing coach Cecil Murphey’s January newsletter, he offers some advice on how to flip the outlook and enjoy more—and better—results.

“In 1987, six of us talked about the year ahead. We were good friends, met regularly, and decided to meet New Year’s Eve and read from a list that began with, ‘I resolve to . . .’

Each of us read our list and *Joel was the last, but he hadn’t written anything. ‘I just can’t do it. Each year I start out with grand ideas and strong determination of things I want to achieve. By the end of February, I’ve failed.’ He talked for a couple of minutes about individual fiascos such as developing an exercise program and being on time for appointments.

One of the others said, “But even if you failed, you tried.”

I didn’t see that response as helpful to Joel and was trying to figure out what to say. Then, in one of those rare moments of clarity, I said, ‘I’ll bet you never learned to ride a bicycle.’

“I certainly did!”

‘But didn’t you spill a few times?’

‘Everyone does—‘ and then Joel started to laugh. ‘I get it! I don’t have to remember my past when I plan my future.’

I thought of Joel’s words today and how well he had said them. Then I pondered several times where I’d fallen short of my goals last year. Although I struggled with guilt, my lack of success hadn’t crippled me.

‘I didn’t succeed in everything last year,’ I said aloud. ‘I don’t have to focus on what I didn’t do right. I can concentrate on what I want to achieve.’

Are you like Cec Murphey’s friend, Joel? Focusing on the past failures rather than the times when you tried and tried and tried again and finally succeeded, like when you learned how to ride a bike? Or when you learned how to walk? You probably don’t remember that one, but you undoubtedly fell repeatedly on your diapered fanny and kept at it until you successfully toddled around and then sprinted.

Do you approach your prayer life like that kind of persistence and trust in the One who hears your prayers?

Or does your past keep worming its way into your memory and soul, dragging you down and short circuiting your prayers, robbing you of your future hopes and dreams?

Getting your year off to a great start with prayer—

Because our prayer life is so important, and we need to get 2019 off to a great start, ll of the January Meditation Mondays posts will be dedicated to prayer.

Some of the prayer topics and ideas we’ll look at include:

Prayer and Relationships
Discerning Prayers
Using God’s Word to Breathe New Life into your Prayers
Imparting (and Teaching) a Heritage of Prayer

And while I’m a firm believer in parking yourself in a quiet corner of your home with your Bible, journal, pen and maybe some prayer beads, to spend quality, undistracted communing time with the Lord, I do realize that sometimes schedules make it difficult if not impossible to get on your knees in solitude. And when that happens, we usually throw our hands up in despair and are overcome with guilt.

For those times, we’ll look at some effective and satisfying options that let you multitask your prayer time with another, beneficial activity. The ideas will help you practice the encouragement St. Paul gives us when he says, “Pray without ceasing.”

It will become a sweet, fruitful habit. And in the process, you’ll find yourself becoming more receptive and responsive to the Holy Spirit’s voice. And that’s a benefit all of us need!

Until next Monday,

start brainstorming all of the things you could—and should be—bringing to the Lord in prayer.

And start by praying for yourself!

Blessings,

Andrea

“Certainly there was an Eden….We all long for it, and we are constantly glimpsing it.” —J.R.R. Tolkien

*Not his real name

How to Start your New Year with a Health Self-Assessment Instead of Resolutions

Well, it’s likely that you’ve fully embraced your New Year’s resolutions and are hot on the path of pursuing them, you have them written down, or you have them tallied up in your mental storage.

But if you want to make life changes, is that the best way for you to start?

Instead of coming up with an endless list of resolutions, why not try a more focused approach, one that is more likely to bring you success.

Why not try formulating an annual overall health self-assessment first?

Advantages of first doing a health self-assessment—

Most people realize that the majority of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned with the first month of the new year. While there may be many reasons for that, an important one is that the resolution was either not carefully thought out or planned out.

There really was no solid basis for the resolution and logical path to follow to get there.

What is a health self-assessment?

With a self-assessment, you can gather the critical information to allow you to take a magnifying glass look at exactly where you are in life, identify the paths that need the most attention, care and adjustment and give you a guide for designing a change blueprint, making those important changes, increasing your chances of success and enjoying satisfying and effective life changes.

But what areas should you target in your assessment?

5 self-assessment focus areas—

Spiritual. While most professionals will list physical s the first category, I argue that your spiritual life is the most important one and the category upon which you structure and develop the other four.

Why is spiritual so important? Because a healthy spiritual life, with weekly church or religious organization attendance and involvement, has been shown to be a critical component in all communities where longevity and effective aging are the most successful. (We’ll explore this more when we talk about Blue Zones.)

Studies show spiritual health is associated with greater wellness. So if your aim is for wellness, why not use spirituality as your strong foundation? Something that involves more than just personal meditation (which is a critical component), or interacting with nature (also important).

My Meditation Mondays blog posts can help you with the spiritual category; but for now, make a personal assessment on how much time you spend—

Meditating
Praying
Attending church or a religious service
Gathering with like-minded friends of the same faith

Decide what you need (more Bible study, more prayer, engage with a local congregation) and take whatever steps are necessary to open and enrich your life to your spiritual needs and health.

Physical. Always focus on staying healthy, but make sure you fashion your fitness plan or program to meet specific goals.

Don’t be vague or general. Make a list of specific goals you want to meet. If you want to gain a certain cardiovascular fitness, decide what that fitness level will be and what it will take to reach it and maintain it.

What if you’re older and just want to aim for having more energy to run around with your grandkids, without having stiff knees or back, or couch-calling fatigue. What is it that’s driving you and the change or goal?

Knowing the specific answers to these questions will help you stay motivated and enjoy more success.

Intellectual. Make sure you devise a category, and activities, to exercise your brain and mental stamina.

Learn something new.
Play board games or crossword puzzles.
Study a subject you’re unfamiliar with.
Pick up a new activity. Exercise a different way. (Yes, this does trigger brain neuron growth.
Take a class at a local college or community college. Many colleges allow senior citizens to audit classes without charge.
Take an existing passion or skill to a new level. Improve upon what you already do or know.
Join a book or chess club, or conquer your public speaking fear by joining Toastmasters!

Social. This is another Blue Zone must—having a strong social network. We’re not talking a fraternity house number of friends, but a handful of really close people you can share your heart with. People who support and encourage and pray for you. Those you can call for help and rely on. People you can laugh and cry with, dine with, and live out life with.

Financial. Stressing about financial issues is one of the type 5 stressors on the life stress and depression-triggering list. It’s also one of the top reasons couples end up in counseling and divorce court.

So do the dirty (and probably unsavory) work of figuring out your financial status and what you need to do to improve it. While some of the changes you have to make may be drastic, like forgoing any dining out or downsizing from a spacious home to a cozy apartment. Purging the stuff you hoarded and stored in the garage. Living more simply.

These are not quality of life changes, but they might be quantity. Once you bite the bullet, so to speak, and make them, you’re likely to enjoy the simplicity and freedom you feel as you reduce your debt and feeling of being chained to work and monthly debt payments.

Decide what you want to do—like travel more, maybe—and draw up some plans and charts to meet that goal.

So start your 2019 right! Take the steps to really make this new year happier health-wise.

NEXT WEEK: We’ll take a quick look at the new fitness guidelines and talk about what they mean for you!

Until then,

Blessings,

Andrea

“Certainly there was an Eden….We all long for it, and we are constantly glimpsing it.” —J.R.R. Tolkien