Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr19/death_in.zip/DEATH_IN.TXT

Text File | 1993-05-30 | 36KB | 623 lines

Death In The Kitchen


Copyright c by Joe Crews.
  All rights reserved.

Some years ago a survey was taken in a certain American city,
and every inhabitant responded to 156 questions included in the
survey.
It was discovered that the prime interest of adults was that of
health--not politics, history, or even the weather--but health,
their health and the health of their families.  What a
paradoxical age is this one in which we live!  A time when we
have more doctors, hospitals, medicines; more medical knowledge
of the care, treatment, and cure of disease; more pills,
capsules, vitamins, etc.; yet seldom has there been a time when
more sickness and general ill health has plagued the human
family.
Millions are suffering the side effects of wrong living habits
and harmful eating and drinking.  We live in a world which is
shattered by pain.  The cries of the sick and diseased are the
trademarks of modern society.  In spite of incredible programs
in medical research, the problems of health and longevity are
still the most serious our society faces.
The Bible gives a simple, concise answer to the question of
premature disability and death.  Millions would still be alive
today had they but heeded the warning of God in Exodus 15:26:
"If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy
God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give
ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put
none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the
Egyptians:  for I am the Lord that healeth thee."
These words make it abundantly clear that anyone can actually
postpone his own funeral.  By obeying the laws of God concerning
health and diet, disease may be mitigated or avoided altogether.
It is apparent from this verse in the Bible that it is not the
will of God for great, epidemic scourges to sweep millions into
their graves.  He wants us to prosper and be in health--body,
mind and soul.
Why then do we see so much suffering and disease in the world
today?  The answer is that the majority are violating the laws
of their being. Just as surely as the laws of nature operate, so
there are laws of our body which are also predictable and
certain.  "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
Galatians 6:7.  If a person falls from the roof, the law of
gravity immediately takes over.  Regardless of age, sex, or
financial status, that falling body will hurtle downward to be
injured or killed.  In the same way, if we violate the laws of
our body, we may expect the inevitable consequences of sickness
or death.
Effect is always preceded by a cause.  To those who have
seriously studied the counsels of God and the current world
health trends, there is no deep mystery.  Experts are puzzled
that cancer has continued its spiraling increase.  While many
diseases have been greatly reduced, and some eliminated
altogether, cancer has mushroomed.  Even with unprecedented
funding and research there have been few significant
breakthroughs in curbing the growth of this deadly malignancy.
We can easily understand the steady increase of lung cancer in
the light of America's smoking practices.  This trend will
doubtless continue until more people muster the simple, moral
courage to say "No" to imbibing a deadly poison.  But few people
understand that fully one-third of all cancers of the human body
occur within the stomach.  And one-half of all cancers are found
in the organs of digestion, including the liver, pancreas, small
intestine and colon.
The reason for this cancer concentration must be obvious to all
of us.  Except for the lungs, which are bombarded with hot
tobacco tars, the stomach is the most abused organ of the body.
Dr. James Ewing, one of the founders of the American Cancer
Society, made this statement in a tract entitled The Prevention
of Cancer:  "The perpetual abuse of a normal stomach frequently
gives rise to cancer, and an abnormally weak stomach may suffer
the same fate from less abuse.  In both instances abuse and
overfunction must be regarded as the exciting cause.  The
stomach is not lined with copper but by a single row of rather
delicate epithelial cells.  The sole safe conclusion to be drawn
from these data is that all forms of abuse of the stomach must
be avoided if the high mortality from this very common disease
is to be reduced."
It is simply hair-raising and blood-curdling to see what goes
into the stomachs of American men, women and children.  The
great test seems to be whether it tastes good, or else whether
it gives a pleasant after-effect.  No wonder 50 percent of the
population is suffering from obesity and that more than three
million dollars are spent each year on diet formulas and
exercise gadgets.
The amazing fact is that the average American consumes 1,488
pounds of food every year.  This is undoubtedly a large factor
in the one and a half million patients who fill American
hospitals every day of the year.  Have you ever noticed that
three-fifths of the word DEATH is EAT?
Paul Bragg, in his famous cookbook, stated:  "The average person
is poisoning himself day by day with the food he eats.  Most
people eat with their eyes.  If the food looks good, they do not
question whether it is healthful or death-dealing.  Few people
know the right kind of food to put into their bodies to keep
them well and strong or take the time to select this food if
they do know.  From birth to old age the average individual
never experiences the taste of real natural food.  Our tiny
sensitive taste buds have been for generations so polluted by
unnatural, artificially seasoned and stimulating foods that most
of us are unable to appreciate the fine, delicate flavor of the
natural foods.  Foods must be fixed, hashed, mashed, smashed,
boiled, broiled, stewed, baked, pickled, preserved, flavored,
salted, creamed, dried, roasted, fried, greased, peppered,
vinegar-laden, smoked, toasted, crushed, rolled, mealed, oiled,
fermented, beaten, sweetened, spiced, soured, peeled, shredded,
steamed, braised, colored and otherwise seasoned in order to
offer an appeal to the civilized man."  Then, he adds,
"Civilized man is not satisfied with the food the Maker has
supplied him and must do something with it before he feels it is
fit for him to eat."
Small wonder, then, that 25 tons of aspirin are swallowed every
day in the United States.  According to the National Observer,
this is 2 1/4 tablets for every man, woman and child in the
nation; and that is every day of the week.  If you didn't get
your 2 1/4 tablets today, somebody else got a double supply, you
can be sure of that!
One of the strangest paradoxes of American life is found in this
area of health.  Though people fear sickness above every other
enemy, yet they do almost nothing about taking care of their
health until after the disease has already struck.  In a year's
time, out of every medical dollar spent by the American people,
95 cents was spent to get well and 5 cents was spent on
preventive medicine.  Now this doesn't make a lot of sense.  But
in this field most people don't seem to excel in reason or good
sense anyway.
It reminds me of a group of tourists in Spain who had gone there
to visit one of the historic sites.  Up on the side of a cliff,
there was an ancient monastery which they wanted to visit.  The
only way to get up there was in a basket which was pulled up
over a pulley by some of the monks.  After they had toured the
monastery, they were being lowered back down the side of the
cliff.  As they were getting into the basket to be lowered back
down, they noticed that the rope was rather frayed.  So they
asked the monk in charge, "How often do you change the rope?"
And the monk said, "Well, we change it every time it breaks, of
course."  That wasn't much comfort to those who were being
lowered down in the basket.
More and more, the medical researchers are finding out that our
diet has very much to do with our state of health.  The body
machine is actually made up of the fuel we feed into it.  The
quality of nerve, bone, blood and cell is dependent upon good
nutrition and proper diet.  The old adage is almost literally
true:  Millions are digging their graves with their teeth.

Our Bodies Not Our Own

Right at this point someone may be wondering what all this has
to do with religion.  Why would God be concerned about my eating
habits?  Isn't it a man's personal business as to how he cares
for his body?  These are relevant questions and cannot be
ignored.
Fortunately, the Creator of our bodies did not leave us without
answers to these questions.  "Whether therefore ye eat, or
drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."  1
Corinthians 10:31.  Isn't that amazing?  God is concerned about
such small matters as what and how and when we feed our body
system.  The Bible reveals that God did not fabricate the
delicate human machine and then leave it to operate alone.  He
has never released His ownership of the creative process or of
the product itself.
The apostle Paul wrote:  "What? know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of
God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which
are God's."  1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.  These words reveal that
the proper care of our body is not only a spiritual obligation
but a moral requirement.  Even though we have control of our
bodies, they do not really belong to us.  We are only stewards
of someone else's property.
No man has a right to say, "I'll do as I please with my own
body, and it is my business alone."  We can rob God by violating
the divine purpose of the body temple to be the dwelling place
of the Holy Spirit.
Paul refers to both the church and the individual member when he
says:  "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of
God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which
temple ye are."  1 Corinthians 3:16, 17.  This forever settles
that a person can be lost for defiling the property of God.
But how much does the average individual know about his own body
and how to take care of it?  Doesn't it seem strange to you that
the average parent knows more about the physical needs of the
chickens in the pen, or a dog in the house, than he does about
the needs of his own children?  The average man knows more about
the needs of his automobile than he does about the physical
needs of his own family!  Why is there such an incredible amount
of ignorance concerning the way to take care of this sacred body
temple?  The Bible assures us that the human body is to be cared
for, preserved and maintained according to the rules laid down
in the Bible.  The trouble is that most Americans simply follow
their appetite in matters of eating and drinking.
What are the guidelines laid down in the Bible about caring for
and feeding the body?  God asks the question, "Wherefore do ye
spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for
that which satisfieth not? ... eat ye that which is good."
Isaiah 55:2.  And how can we tell what is good?  Surely not by
the taste or the advertising or by colorful labels.  Most
Americans, following the law of appetite, hastily fill their
grocery baskets with the products which have been most loudly
touted by the TV hawkers.  With no regard to content, they
collect everything that appeals to the taste and sight.  As
little baby birds open their mouths to whatever mama will put
in, so the gullible consumers blindly accept the choices of the
media marketers.

Body-Maker's Manual

There is only one way to know what is good for this very complex
body system, and that is to consult the One who made it.  Only
the manufacturer has the best operating manual for its products.
Automobile makers always provide such instructions for keeping
their vehicles in top running condition.
When God made the body, He also gave specific operating
instructions, including fuel and maintenance.  Notice this
counsel in Genesis 1:29, "Behold, I have given you every herb
bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every
tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you
it shall be for meat."  No one has been able to improve on it.
Nuts, fruits, grains and vegetables are still recognized by the
best nutritionists as the finest possible diet.
No one need be reluctant to espouse the ideal vegetarian diet
commanded by a perfect God for the perfect bodies He created in
the beginning.  Today, under the increasing curse of sin, those
bodies have degenerated in both size and stamina, but no
argument or scientific data has been able to challenge the
wisdom of God's original arrangement.
But notice how the American people have departed from the
simplicity of that original recipe.  Today the average eater's
plate is loaded with heavy meat protein, carbohydrates and
pastries.  In the beginning, God did not even allow for the use
of meat.  Apparently flesh was permitted in man's diet for the
first time only after the flood waters had annihilated all
vegetable matter--but only certain meats.  God gave this
instruction to Noah:  "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to
thee by sevens, the male and his female:  and of the beasts that
are not clean by two, the male and his female."  Genesis 7:2.
Don't miss the significant fact that the law of clean and
unclean animals extends all the way back to the beginning of
human history.  Many have assumed that only the Jewish people
were forbidden to eat the unclean animals.  Not so.  There were
no Jews in Noah's day, yet the distinction is clearly made.  Why
were extra clean animals taken into the ark?  Because all
vegetation would be wiped out in the flood, and for the first
time, God would allow man to eat meat.
But only the clean meat!  If Noah and his family had eaten any
of the unclean animals, that species would have ceased to exist
because only a male and female had been preserved to perpetuate
the species.  There were seven pairs of the clean animals in the
ark.  Only they could be spared for food without endangering the
continuity of their kind.
Since it is evident that even some Genesis-kind animals were
unclean, how do we determine where the line is drawn between the
clean and unclean?  God has not left us to wonder about this
important issue.
In Leviticus 11:3-11 the requirements are clearly laid out:
"Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth
the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.  Nevertheless
these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them
that divide the hoof:  as the camel, because he cheweth the cud,
but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.  And the
coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he
is unclean unto you.  And the hare, because he cheweth the cud,
but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.  And the
swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he
cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. ... These shall ye
eat of all that are in the waters:  whatsoever hath fins and
scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall
ye eat.  And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and
in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living
thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto
you ... ye shall not eat of their flesh."
Pork Unclean

How fortunate we are that the One who made us also prescribed
the kind of food that should and should not be eaten.  We may
not be able to explain why some are unclean and others clean,
but we can trust the Creator to know the difference, and in His
great love for us He has revealed it for our good.  All animals
which do not have a split hoof and chew the cud are not to be
eaten.
Is it any surprise to us that Satan has created an appetite for
the very foods God forbade?  And should it be any surprise that
epidemic disease has followed the violation of God's dietary
principles?  The forbidden swine is a perfect example of how
presumptuous appetite has overruled God's sensible restrictions.
Unlike some of the other unclean categories, we can show
abundant scientific evidence why pork is totally unfit for food.
Pork contains a microscopic worm called trichina, and if it gets
into the system, the disease trichinosis results.  Governments
warn that there is no inspection for the parasite, and a
Readers' Digest article stresses that there is no cure for the
disease.
Under the title "Must Our Pork Remain Unsafe?" these statements
are made about trichinosis:  "A single serving of defective
pork, even a single mouthful, can kill or cripple or condemn the
victim to a lifetime of aches and pains.  For this unique
disease, trichinosis, there is no cure.  With no drugs to stop
them the worms may spread through the entire muscular tissues of
the human system.
"One of two things then happens, depending on the intensity of
the infection.  Either death ensues or a successful effort is
made by nature to throw an enclosure, or cyst, around each of
the teeming parasites, which then become dormant, although they
remain alive for years.  Don't blame your doctor.  All that the
best doctor can do as yet is to conserve the patient's strength
and try to relieve the painful, local symptoms as they appear."
Reader's Digest, March, 1950.  What these symptoms are, the
layman had much better not worry about.  Trichinosis can
simulate to some degree almost any other malady.  That pain in
your arm or leg may be arthritis or rheumatism or it may be
trichinosis.  That pain in your back may mean a gall bladder
involvement, but it may mean trichinosis.
Dr. Samuel C. Gould, a Washington health official, who has made
an extensive study of trichinosis, states that the average
American consumer eats at least 200 infested pork meals during
his lifetime.  Just because the meat may be stamped "U.S.
Government Inspected and Passed" does not mean it has been
tested for trichina infestation.  Every bit of the pork would
have to go under a microscope to make that determination.
The Public Health Service advises consumers to cook the pork
thoroughly in order to kill the trichina worms.  Someone has
observed that eating dead worms is not very highly appealing to
the palate either.  The fact is that God calls it unclean and an
abomination.  Why is it so hard for Christians to accept the
judgment of God over the perverted craving of appetite?
Some have asked why God created the pig if it should not be
eaten.  The answer to that is self-evident.  The pigs, along
with buzzards, snakes and hyenas, are great scavengers of the
earth's filth and refuse.  All creatures serve a purpose, but
all are not suitable for assimilation into the human system as
food.  We might not be able to figure that out in our own
wisdom, but the counsels of God have revealed it beyond all
doubt or question.
Arguments have been advanced that there is better sanitation
since God made those Old Testament laws, and the pig is now
quite fit to be eaten.  One is hard put to believe that land or
sea animals have become less polluted by the passing of time.
Today there are chemical poisons infecting land, sea, and
atmosphere to such an alarming degree that constant government
directives are being issued.  Environmentalists keep us posted
hour by hour on the massive accumulation of deadly pesticides,
insecticides, and other contaminants in every order of nature.
And if reason doesn't convince us that the unclean animals are
still unclean, we have the revelation of God's Word on the
matter.  Isaiah writes:  "For, behold, the Lord will come with
fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his
anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.  For by
fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh:  and
the slain of the Lord shall be many.  They that sanctify
themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree
in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the
mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord."  Isaiah
66:15-17.
This text is talking about the second coming of Jesus and proves
that the nature of those animals will not experience any change
that will make them fit to eat--not even down to the very last
day of this earth when Jesus comes.  The swine is placed in the
same category as the abomination and mouse, and God plainly
declares that the eaters thereof "shall be consumed together."
None can say that the warning has not been given in language
that everyone can understand.

Seafood Not Fit to Eat

It should be noted that only the marine animals that have fins
and scales are counted as "clean" in Leviticus 11.  All others
are an abomination to God.  This eliminates oysters, shrimp,
crabs, clams, eels, catfish, lobsters and crayfish.  Again, the
scavengers have been forbidden as articles of diet.
Are there sound, scientific reasons for accepting God's
appraisal of these shellfish and other seafood?  It is quite
common knowledge that these creatures feed largely on the raw
sewage and pollutants in the water.
Prevention magazine of September, 1972, carried an interesting
article entitled "Shellfish Are Dirty and Dangerous."  The
author appeared reluctant to take a stand, but he was committed
to telling the truth on this sensitive subject.  He wrote:
"They're succulent; they're delicious; they're even nutritious.
But, because of the nature of the mollusk and the sewage-like
pollution of its habitat, we must in good conscience advise you
to avoid shellfish, no matter how they tempt you, and even
though those around you seem to be swallowing them with delight.
The day of reckoning cometh.
"Why are shellfish so dangerous?  Because they are many times
more polluted than the filthy waters they inhabit.
"Unfortunately they choose to live and love and multiply in
estuaries along coastal regions.  These estuaries are
particularly subject to discharge of sewage, sewage effluent,
and other water-borne pollution from municipal discharges, from
suburban home drainage and agricultural runoff.
"The polluted aspect of their habitat is one danger.  The fact
that they are filter feeders compounds the danger.
"Oysters, for instance, because of their way of obtaining and
absorbing food, have been found to concentrate polio virus up to
20 to 60 times the level of the surrounding seawater.
"No other animal food offered on the menu of your favorite
eating place would be served to you along with its feces.  Yet
this is the case with seafood.  It is served whole; complete
with its intestinal tract."
Can you imagine anyone finding such fare to be a culinary
delicacy?  Over and over again outbreaks of hepatitis have been
traced to the eating of seafood.  After feeding on raw sewage,
the creature is harvested and sold.  The disease is simply
cycled from man to mollusk and then back to man.
Again we must confess the loving concern of an all-knowing God
for the health and happiness of His creation.  And those who
deliberately flaunt the divine laws will finally suffer the
tragic consequence that disobedience always produces.
Alcohol--A Curse

Now let us consider how to glorify God in what we drink or
inhale into the body.  The Bible says, "Whether therefore ye
eat, or drink, ... do all to the glory of God."  1 Corinthians
10:31.  Among all the popular poisons which are imbibed by
modern man, one that is particularly pernicious and destructive
is alcohol.  Glorified as a symbol of gracious living, it has,
in fact, been the most malignant social disease known to
civilization.  No wonder the Bible declares that no drunkard
will be in heaven.
In these days of compromise, most of the great religious bodies
have changed their attitude toward social drinking.  From total
abstinence they now take a stance of moderation.  In essence
this is exactly the same position the brewers take--no
drunkenness.  But is that a safe posture to take toward
alcoholic beverages?  Statistics reveal that one out of every
ten that start drinking become either alcoholics or problem
drinkers.
The claim is made by many Christians that the Bible endorses
moderate drinking of alcohol.  This is based largely on the use
of the term "wine" in the Scriptures.  But the recommended wine
of the Bible is not alcoholic.  The word wine is used for either
fermented or unfermented drink.  God declared, "As the new wine
is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a
blessing is in it:  so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I
may not destroy them."  Isaiah 65:8.
This wine in the cluster has to be the fresh juice of the vine.
This is the only kind God ever declared to have a blessing in
it.  There is no blessing in the intoxicating, befuddling bottle
of fermented poison.  Inspiration declares, "Wine is a mocker,
strong drink is raging:  and whosoever is deceived thereby is
not wise."  Proverbs 20:1.  "Look not thou upon the wine when it
is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth
itself aright.  At the last it biteth like a serpent, and
stingeth like an adder."  Proverbs 23:31, 32.
Did Jesus go contrary to the Old Testament and turn the water
into alcoholic wine?  It is unthinkable that He should do so.
He obeyed the Word of God.  The wine He created was the
unfermented kind.  We now know the actual physiological effect
of alcohol on the body.  Research has proven that intoxication
is caused by a process which deprives the brain of oxygen.  This
deprivation destroys brain cells, affecting, ultimately, the
reasoning powers of conscious thought.  Would Jesus, the Creator
of the body, condone something that would weaken moral
inhibitions, reduce the power of effective decision, and finally
destroy the sacred body temple of the Holy Spirit?  Never.  And
what can we say about the use of tobacco?

Nicotine--Most Deadly Poison

Books could be written about the massive research into the
noxious effect of nicotine on the body.  Since the Surgeon
General's first release on the subject, every new study has
documented more supporting information.  Nicotine is possibly
the most deadly poison known to man.  Millions have died as a
result of its malignant influence.  By constricting the arteries
of the body, nicotine forces the heart to over-exert.  Lungs
have become riddled with carcinoma.  Fetuses have been fatally
affected.  Hardly an organ of the body escapes the insidious
effect of the fatal nicotine poison.
Is it a sin to use tobacco?  There is no sense in denying a
patent truth.  Anything that defiles the holy body sanctuary is
a sin.  God says He will destroy those who do it.  We dare not
call it less than it is.  It is a sin, and no Christian should
presumptuously shorten his life by introducing it into his body.
Few church members would consider taking even small, microscopic
doses of arsenic or strychnine into their body, yet they take
something just as lethal.  Slowly the cigarette tars coat the
delicate membranes of the lungs until death results.  It is
exactly the same when men and women deliberately inhale the
toxic fumes of tobacco until the accumulative effect causes
death.  It is suicide on the installment plan.  It is morally
wrong to take God's property, violate our stewardship, and rob
Him of His possessions.
And what can we say about the waste of money on tobacco?  Most
smokers spend $50 or more every month for their indulgence.  By
retirement time this would amount to $25,000.  Enough to
guarantee a late-life nest egg, even if Social Security fails.
Yet many of those who waste that money on tobacco come to the
end of life penniless and dependent on welfare or relatives.
What an unspeakable tragedy!  No wonder God said, "My people are
destroyed for lack of knowledge."  Hosea 4:6.  How much better
it would be to simply place the $25,000 in a neat pile and
strike a match to it.  At least it would not be serving as a
destroyer of life.
We can surely see by now what a serious matter it is to
desecrate the physical body and mind which were created for a
specific, spiritual purpose.  This principle of being
accountable to God for the way we take care of our bodies is
rooted deeply in the Bible, but millions are becoming health
conscious today just to avoid the painful effects of neglecting
their bodies.  And it is so true that reason and good judgment
alone should provide enough motivation for a balanced diet-and-
exercise program.
But sometimes logic, and even scientific evidence, has a
tremendous conflict with appetite, social custom and addiction.
Caffeine is a dramatic example.  There is a growing catalog of
research which points to caffeine as a pernicious enemy of good
health.  It is a powerful, habit-forming drug which has fastened
millions in a vise of addiction.  Many find it just as hard to
give up caffeinated drinks as to stop smoking or drinking.  It
has been indicted for its adverse effect upon heart, stomach,
nerves and even the fetuses of expectant mothers.

Coffee Drunkards

Merck Index of Drugs lists quite a variety of caffeine symptoms
and indicates that seven grains of the drug is a medical dose.
Most cola drinks, tea and coffee contain from one and a half to
three grains.  Many people take far more than a medical dose at
every meal.  The effect is to stimulate the cells of the body to
operate on a higher level of activity than God ever intended.
One physician described it this way:  "We in America have become
a nation of tea and coffee drunkards."
Incredible as it seems, this country consumes 275 billion pounds
of coffee every year.  That averages 17 pounds for every man,
woman and child.  Doctors warn heart patients and those with
stomach ulcers to leave off caffeine, along with smoking.
Another coffee factor has recently been established as cancer-
causing.  This is, by far, the most serious charge which has
grown out of the coffee research.  Although the carcinogen has
not been identified as caffeine, it is definitely associated
with coffee drinking.
Tea, in addition to its content of caffeine, has another harmful
constituent, tannic acid.  This powerful chemical is used for
dyeing leather.  The detrimental effect of sugar concentration
in the caffeinated drinks provides still another reason for
eliminating it from the diet.  The murderous effect of refined
sugar threatens the well-being of every habitual user of soft
drinks.
It is not uncommon to see secretaries or bosses sitting at their
desks with a cigarette in one hand, a cup of coffee nearby, and
a Coca-Cola on the credenza.  Who hasn't heard their common
rationale:  "If I don't get my coffee (or coke) I get a
headache"?  They are telling the truth. The caffeine does take
away the headache, but so would a tenth of a grain of morphine.
The temporary, sedative effect is to deaden the pain, but the
daily dosing of delicate nerve-endings wears off, leaving them
more jangled, and demanding more and more sedation.
The most pathetic proof of this drug-slavery is to be found in
expectant mothers.  With all the accumulation of medical data
proving the damaging effect of alcohol, tobacco and caffeine on
the fetuses, pregnant women still pour the poison into the
bodies of their unborn babies.  It might be possible to
understand a woman willing to risk her own life and health by a
perverse indulgence in chemical poisons, but how could she so
deliberately endanger the life of her child?  The answer to that
question reveals the depth of the drug problem in American
society.
The big question, of course, is how to quit.  After the will has
been weakened by years of indulgence, how does one find the
power to resist the powerful craving for these narcotic-type
drugs?  Most will only find deliverance from outside themselves.
First, there must be a decision  to stop--a willingness to give
up the physical pleasure associated with the habit.  All
available effort should be mustered for the conflict.  Then
pray.  Claim the mighty promises of the Bible for total victory.
Don't try to taper off on the use of something that is morally
and physically wrong to indulge.  It just doesn't work.  It is
much like cutting off the dog's tail a little at a time to make
it easier on the dog!  It is actually more painful that way.  A
habit is a habit.  If you cut off the "h" you still have "abit"
left.  Take off the "a" and "bit" remains.  Remove the "b" and
"it" is still with you.  Even after taking away the "i" you are
left with "t."  And if your problem is tea-drinking, you still
don't have the full victory.
Someone may object that we are trying to take away too much.
After all, you can overdo anything.  Too many potatoes or beans
can also be very harmful to some people.  Indeed they can, and a
true definition of temperance should read like this:  A total
abstinence from things that are harmful, and a moderate,
judicious use of the things which are good.  Doesn't that make a
lot of sense?  It also contains a lot of good, sound religion.
Impressive evidence that a person can postpone his own funeral
was presented by Paul Harvey in his news column.  Under the
title Eat Right, Live Longer, Harvey described the results of a
western survey on longevity.  The study focused on the death
certificates of California Seventh-day Adventists in comparison
to non-SDAs.  Comparing the records of the Adventist (who teach
against drinking, smoking, or using caffeine) with others, the
survey revealed that Seventh-day Adventists have a life
expectancy almost six years greater than other Californians.
Seventy percent fewer Adventists die from all types of cancer,
68 percent fewer from respiratory disease, 88 percent fewer from
TB and 85 percent fewer from pulmonary emphysema.  Adventists
have 46 percent less strokes, 60 percent less heart disease.
Perhaps as a by-product of abstinence from alcohol, they have
only about one-third as many accidents.
Again we are faced with the reassuring truth that all of us can
add years to our lives by simply obeying the practical, ageless
principles laid down by our Creator in the Bible.  Rather than
feeling cheated or short-changed, we ought to rejoice that God
loves us enough to share with us His secrets of long life and
happiness.   The apostle John wrote, "Beloved, now are we the
sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:  but
we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in
him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."  1 John 3:2, 3.
Do you have the faith and courage to accept the inspired
prescription that can lengthen your life and tranquility?  Seize
it right now as the course which can prepare you well for both
time and eternity.

If you found this topic interesting, we would love to hear from
you. We have bible studies as well as video and audio tape
libraries. Send for our free catalog of study materials.
    Amazing Facts
    P.O. Box 680
    Frederick, MD 21701
Please let us know that you found this sermon on a bbs.