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.

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