Health andHealing

The April, May, and June 2010 issue of the Adult Sab bath School Bible StudyGuide (ASSBSG) is enti tled “Health and Heal ing.” The Gen eral Con fer enceHealth Min is tries Depart ment is listed as the prin ci pal con trib u tor. “Con tri bu torsfrom the Health Min is tries Depart ment of the Gen eral Con fer ence of Sev -enth-day Adven tists were Allan Handysides, Kathleen Kuntaraf, Peter Land less,Stoy Proc tor, and the late Thomas Zirkle” (ASSBSG, Teacher’s edi tion, p. 3).Allen Handysides wrote the com pan ion book for the quar ter enti tled, Liv ingPraise.

This book let will dis cuss the first five les sons of the ASSBSG cov er ing March27–April 30.

The ASSBSG for this quar ter focuses on holis tic health, a very wor thy and gos -pel-bases con cept. “Dur ing His min is try, Jesus devoted more time to heal ing thesick than to preach ing. His mir a cles tes ti fied to the truth of His words, that He camenot to destroy, but to save” (The Min is try of Heal ing, p. 19). Per haps no Chris tianchurch has put more empha sis upon health and a holis tic approach to man than Sev -enth-day Adven tists. Due in great degree to the inspi ra tion of the Holy Spirit uponEllen G. White, God’s peo ple have been lead ers in health reform all over the world.Ellen White laid out the pur pose of health reform so lack ing in most other churches:

In teach ing health prin ci ples keep be fore the mind the great ob ject of re form,that its pur pose is to se cure the high est de vel op ment of body and mind and soul.(The Min is try of Heal ing, p. 146)

The health message was not given sim ply to have health ier bod ies, but also forthe devel op ment of the mind which com bined with the body make up the soul or the total per son. The giv ing of the gos pel is greatly aided by the health work. We havebeen told:

The med i cal mis sion ary work is as the right arm of the third an gel’s mes sagewhich must be pro claimed to a fallen world; and phy si cians, man ag ers, andwork ers in any line, in act ing faith fully their part, are do ing the work of the mes -sage. (Coun sels on Health, p. 331)

Though the health reform work is of great impor tant, being called the “right arm” of the mes sage, it is not the mes sage. Some, like Dr. John H. Kellogg, tried to makehealth reform the mes sage (Bat tle Creek Let ters, p. 90). Yet Ellen White noted:

As the right arm is to the body, so is the med i cal mis sion ary work to the thirdan gel’s mes sage. But the right arm is not to be come the whole body. (Med i calMin is try, p. 311)

I value my right arm greatly; I use it all the time. In typ ing these words, it helpedto pro duce about 50% of the char ac ters. If my right arm were bound up so that itcould not be used, I would be greatly restricted. I would still be able to live but in aham pered manner. The right arm is not the body, and if it is removed it dies, for itcan not live with out the body.

Through inspi ra tion, God gave to his peo ple eight laws of health:

Pure air, sun light, abstemiousness, rest, ex er cise, proper diet, the use of wa ter, trust in di vine power—these are the true rem e dies. (The Min is try of Heal ing,p. 127)

These rem e dies are known to many Adven tists under the acro nym New Start,made pop u lar by the Weimar Insti tute. Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunshine,Temperance, Air, Rest, and Trust in divine power. Some have expanded this to tenrem e dies and dur ing the last quinquennium, the Gen eral Con fer ence Health Min is -tries Depart ment pre pared a new health mes sage pack age that uses the acro nymCel e bra tions to empha sis twelve points of holis tic health: Choice, Exercise,Liquids, Environment, Belief, Temperance, Rest, Air, Integrity, Optimism,Nutrition, and Social sup port (http://www.health20-20.org/arti cle.php?id=63).

Cel e bra tions retains all of the prin ci ples of New Start but expands it in the area of spir i tual and men tal health.

Jesus said that he came that man kind “might have life, and that they might have itmore abun dantly” (John 10:10). While the desire to live a healthy abun dant life iswon der ful, the ulti mately moti va tion of the Chris tian to live a healthy abun dantlife is to bring honor and glory to God. Paul writes:

Whether there fore ye eat, or drink, or what so ever ye do, do all to the glory ofGod. (1 Co rin thi ans 10:31; all em pha sis sup plied un less oth er wise noted)

What? know ye not that your body is the tem ple of the Holy Ghost which is inyou, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with aprice: there fore glo rify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.(1 Co rin thi ans 6:19, 20)

Les son 1 — Praise God From Whom AllBless ings Flow!A thir teen week les son series for a twelve point pro gram has an extra week pro vid -ing that a point is cov ered each week. Thus the first les son of the ASSBSG is ales son on praise. The les son title is taken from the famous dox ol ogy, a hymn ofpraise usu ally under stood to be in honor of what is called the tri une god or trin ity.Surely the God of the Bible is wor thy of praise and ado ra tion. Surely his only

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begot ten Son is wor thy of praise also. How ever due to the trin i tar ian mind set ofthe author there is con fu sion in the intro duc tion where we read:

. . . the same God who cre ated the uni verse is the One who in the per son of Je -sus bore not only our hu man ity but our sins as well. The God who cre ated theuni verse faced in Him self the pun ish ment for our in iq ui ties, in or der that wecould have eter nal life.

While it is true that Jesus is declared to be both divine and the one by whom Godthe Father cre ated all things, the above state ment could eas ily be under stood to bespeak ing of God in the sense of the trin ity and that this God (sin gu lar), bore ourhuman ity and took the pun ish ment for our iniq ui ties. While the Bible does teachthat Jesus became incar nate, it does not teach that the Father became flesh or thatthe Father died for our sins. Language might allow us to say that God the Father didthis in the per son of his son, but God the Father was not incar nate nor did he die forman’s sins.

When we mis un der stand the doc trine of God we lay a poor foun da tion that can -not ever be fully cor rectly there af ter for the doc trine of God is the most basic of allteach ings with all the rivers of doc trines com ing out of this great head water.

It is noted in the intro duc tion that the one may view or down load a Hope Chan nel pro gram on each week’s les son by vis it ing “www.lifesbeat.org” on the Internet. Asof the mid dle of April, dur ing the pub lish ing of this booklet, this website was notyet oper a tional so we can not com ment upon it.

Sunday, March 28: The title of Sunday’s les son is, “Our God of love.” TheBible teaches that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). While a pole of dif fer ent peo plemight give as many dif fer ent answers as to how one knows that God is love andloves man kind, the Bible declares that God hold the giv ing of his Son’s life for oursins as the great est dem on stra tion of his love.

In this was man i fested the love of God to ward us, be cause that God sent hisonly be got ten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love,not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the pro pi ti a tion for our sins. (1 John 4:9, 10)

Our Sav iour him self declared in that most famous Bible text John 3:16: “ForGod so loved the world, that he gave his only begot ten Son, that who so ever believ -eth in him should not per ish, but have ever last ing life.” It can not be said too oftenthat God’s love is most clearly revealed in the gift of his Son. “To wit, that God wasin Christ, rec on cil ing the world unto him self, not imput ing their tres passes untothem; and hath com mit ted unto us the word of rec on cil i a tion” (2 Corin thi ans 5:19).In the third para graph of Sunday’s les son we again see the trin ity doc trine impliedwith the state ment that “God Him self, in our human ity, bore the pun ish ment for oursins.”

Thank fully, a great deal of the ASSBSG focuses pri mar ily upon issues of phys i cal health with light doses of the ol ogy. Most of the health coun sel in the les sons is valu -able infor ma tion.

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Mon day, March 29: Monday’s les son is on the “God of Grace.” Sal va tioncomes through God’s mag nif i cent grace. The Bible declares:

But we be lieve that through the grace of the Lord Je sus Christ we shall besaved, even as they. (Acts 15:11)

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quick ened us to gether with Christ, bygrace ye are saved. (Ephesians 2:5)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of your selves: it is the gift of God. (Ephe sians 2:8)

The Hebrew word trans lated grace in the Old Tes ta ment (chen) is from theHebrew word chanan which is trans lated “gra cious.” God is gra cious when hedem on strates toward the sin ner unmer ited grace and favor.

There is an illus tra tion given in the les son of a man who saves an epi lep tic youthfrom an oncom ing train tak ing a poten tially deadly risk to save the youth. Whilethis was cer tainly a noble deed, is it as the les son states really “a pow er ful illus tra -tion of grace, of unmer ited favor, of what Jesus has accom plished for us”? There isa large dif fer ence between what the man did and what Jesus did. While they bothaccepted a risk, the man did not suf fer and die in the place of the youth. How ever, inthe plan of sal va tion, Jesus died for man kind.

Tues day, March 30: Tues day’s les son is “A Love Rela tion ship.” The main textis from Mat thew 22:37, 38. The les son in the third para graph states:

In deed, if the most im por tant com mand ment deals with our love to God, thenthe foun da tion of all the com mand ments deals with a re la tion ship. Af ter all, what is love if not a re la tion ship. . . ?

Since the author asked, we believe that he deserves an answer to his ques tion.May we let inspi ra tion speak:

True love is a high and holy prin ci ple, al to gether dif fer ent in char ac ter fromthat love which is awak ened by im pulse and which sud denly dies when se verelytested. (Pa tri archs and Proph ets, p. 176)

Love is a pre cious gift, which we re ceive from Je sus. Pure and holy af fec tionis not a feel ing, but a prin ci ple. Those who are ac tu ated by true love are nei therun rea son able nor blind. Taught by the Holy Spirit, they love God su premely, and their neigh bor as them selves. (The Min is try of Heal ing, p. 358)

In the mid dle of the les son, the ques tion is asked: “Why would that [love forGod] be so fun da men tal?” Let it be remem bered that “God is love” and this love isthe foun da tion for our ser vice to him. He does not want our ser vice because we arefear ful of him or destruc tion, but because we love him and love gives and serves byits very nature.

One of the thought ques tions at the bot tom of Tues day’s les son asks, “How doyou know that you love God? The Bible tells us why we should love God and whatour response to that love should be:

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For this is the love of God, that we keep his com mand ments: and his com -mand ments are not griev ous. (1 John 5:3)

And this com mand ment have we from him, That he who loveth God love hisbrother also. (1 John 4:21)

Wednes day, March 31: This day’s les son is on “Prais ing the Lord” and beginswith a help ful quo ta tion from Ellen White. It must be remem bered that “A merryheart doeth good like a med i cine” (Prov erbs 17:22). The Hebrew word trans lated“merry” means to rejoice. A heart that rejoices in God and praises him can be merry. Yet it is essen tial that we know God aright to praise him aright. Inspi ra tion tells us:

And this is life eter nal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Je susChrist, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)

We are here to be come like God in char ac ter, and by a life of ser vice to re vealHim to the world. In or der to be co-work ers with God, in or der to be come likeHim and to re veal His char ac ter, we must know Him aright. We must know Himas He re veals Him self.

A knowl edge of God is the foun da tion of all true ed u ca tion and of all true ser -vice. It is the only real safe guard against temp ta tion. It is this alone that can makeus like God in char ac ter. (The Min is try of Heal ing, p. 409)

Thurs day, April 1: This les son’s text comes from Romans 12:1. It is a rea son -able ser vice to offer our bod ies to God as a “liv ing sac ri fice.” This is done out ofappre ci a tion for God’s great love to us. “A sense of God’s pres ence” will bring“thank ful ness and grat i tude” (This Day with God, p. 22). Here are some inspiredthoughts on appre ci a tion:

That which com mands re spect and wins ap pre ci a tion is true good ness. (Signsof the Times, July 14, 1887)

Will not the spec ta cle of the cross of Christ awaken ev ery feel ing of grat i tude? Will it not sweep away the cold ness and in dif fer ence which steels the senses tothe great sac ri fice made in our be half? (This Day with God, p. 328)

Shall not our hearts swell with grat i tude to Him who gave Je sus to be the pro -pi ti a tion for our sins? (That I May Know Him, p. 73)

He who be holds Je sus with the eye of faith sees no glory in him self, for theglory of the Re deemer is re flected into the mind and heart. The atone ment of Hisblood is re al ized, and the tak ing away of sin stirs the heart with grat i tude. (OurHigh Call ing, p. 203)

[God] de sires us to ap pre ci ate the great plan of re demp tion, to re al ize our highpriv i lege as the peo ple of God, and to walk be fore Him in obe di ence, with grate -ful thanksgiving. (The Up ward Look, p. 61)

Fri day, April 2: Dis cus sion ques tion three asks, “How do we under stand therela tion ship between faith and works?” Ephe sians 2:8-10 pres ents a sim ple bal -ance. While we are saved by grace through faith, we have also been “cre ated in

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Christ Jesus unto good works” (Ephe sians 2:10). “Seest thou how faith wroughtwith his works, and by works was faith made per fect” (James 2:22)? Ellen Whitesim ply puts it:

Faith and works are the two oars with which we are to make our way in theChris tian life. The Lord calls upon all who think they know what faith is, to besure that they are not pull ing with only one oar, and their lit tle bark go ing roundand round, mak ing no prog ress at all. Faith with out in tel li gent works is dead.(Aus tra lian Un ion Con fer ence Re corder, Oc to ber 15, 1905)

Les son 2 — The Power of Choice“Every human being, cre ated in the image of God, is endowed with a power akin tothat of the Cre ator–indi vid u al ity, power to think and to do” (Edu ca tion, p. 17). Oneof the great est gifts given to man kind is the abil ity to be a free moral agent. To be assuch, a per son must have the abil ity to choose and make deci sions. Yet when mansinned he lost his abil ity to be able to make right choices. His nature was now fallen, and he was sub ject to a higher power that would be con stantly pull ing him awayfrom God and ever towards destruc tion. Choose he could, but now his abil ity tochoose would be on a one-way street toward perdition. If man kind would live, Godmust act and he did act. God put enmity between humanity and Satan (Gen e sis3:15), and then he “dealt to every man the mea sure of faith” (Romans 12:3). Godhas taken action so that man kind can both desire to be free and, also by faith, make achoice to receive the power that will enable him or her to be free. Of our selves wecan do noth ing, but with God we may now choose to serve him.

You are not able, of your self, to bring your pur poses and de sires and in cli na -tions into sub mis sion to the will of God; but if you are “will ing to be madewill ing,” God will ac com plish the work for you, even “cast ing down imag i na -tions, and ev ery high thing that exalteth it self against the knowl edge of God, andbring ing into cap tiv ity ev ery thought to the obe di ence of Christ.” 2 Co rin thi ans10:5. (Thoughts from the Mount of Bless ings, p. 142)

God has given us the power of choice; it is ours to ex er cise. We can not changeour hearts, we can not con trol our thoughts, our im pulses, our af fec tions. We can -not make our selves pure, fit for God’s ser vice. But we can choose to serve God,we can give Him our will; then He will work in us to will and to do ac cord ing toHis good plea sure. (The Min is try of Heal ing, p. 176)

Sunday, April 4: This les son dis cusses the real ity of free dom. It cor rectly notesthat to be moral beings we must have moral free dom to make choices. Mak ingchoices is of such com mon nature in our world we take it for granted. Even the ani -mals, which are not moral agents as man is, make choices. Will the cat sleep in thesun or shad ows? Will a lion attack a zebra or a deer? The greater the degree of intel -li gence bestowed upon the ani mal, the great the num ber of choices that will bemade. While instinct can account for some choices made by ani mals, the fact thateven sim ple crea tures can be trained shows that they have abil i ties to choose.

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God gave Adam and Eve the abil ity to choose. While this abil ity cov ers everyfacet of life, the one great prin ci ple of choice is choos ing our way or God’s way.Through out the Bible, man is com manded to fol low the way of God.

I call heaven and earth to re cord this day against you, that I have set be foreyou life and death, bless ing and curs ing: there fore choose life, that both thou andthy seed may live. (Deu ter on omy 30:19)

. . . choose you this day whom ye will serve. (Joshua 24:15)

Come unto me, all ye that la bour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.(Mat thew 11:28)

Mon day, April 5: Mon day’s les son is on guilt and fear. When man sinned hebecame “naked” in all that the word means and can imply. He was stripped bear andeven this does not fully con vey the fall of man, for though he was stripped of hisgar ment of light, that which was revealed was a fallen sin ner deprived anddegraded. With sin came guilt and fear. Guilt is not easy to bear, and from the begin -ning human ity has tried to shift the cause of our guilt, our sin, and the respon si bil ityfor our sins to oth ers. Eve blamed the ser pent and then Adam blamed Eve and indi -rectly God for giv ing him Eve. But Je sus has ac cepted our guilt, even the tor ment ofour sins was laid upon him.

“Chil dren of the Lord, how pre cious is the prom ise! How full the atone mentof the Sav iour for our guilt” (Tes ti mo nies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 124)

Jesus has pro vided per fect love, agape love in the place of fear. The Bible says,“There is no fear in love; but per fect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18). Not justsome fear but we are told, “ I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and deliv ered mefrom all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). “ Fear thou not; for I am with thee” (Isaiah 41:10).For Jesus to deliver us from fear, he had to encoun ter fear. Once when Jesus was in a boat upon the Sea of Gal i lee, a ter ri ble storm arose. Though all the dis ci ples fearedand thought that they would die, we are told:

When Je sus was awak ened to meet the storm, He was in per fect peace. Therewas no trace of fear in word or look, for no fear was in His heart. But He rested notin the pos ses sion of al mighty power. It was not as the “Mas ter of earth and sea andsky” that He re posed in quiet. That power He had laid down, and He says, “I can ofMine own self do noth ing.” John 5:30. He trusted in the Fa ther’s might. It was infaith–faith in God’s love and care–that Je sus rested, and the power of that wordwhich stilled the storm was the power of God. (The De sire of Ages, p. 336)

Because of the Father’s pres ence, Jesus knew no fear. When that pres ence beganto be with drawn from Jesus, how ever, he began to know fear by expe ri ence:

And they came to a place which was named Geth sema ne: and he saith to hisdis ci ples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he tak eth with him Pe ter and Jamesand John, and be gan to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy. (Mark 12:32, 33)

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The Greek word trans lated “sore amazed” is ekthambeo, and it means to beafraid or struck with ter ror and amaze ment. Describing the expe ri ence of the cross,Ellen White states:

“Christ is dy ing! He is in de spair! His Fa ther’s ap prov ing smile is re moved.

Even doubts as sailed the dy ing Son of God. He could not see through the por -tals of the tomb. Bright hope did not pres ent to Him His com ing forth from thetomb a con queror and His Fa ther’s ac cep tance of His sac ri fice.” (Tes ti mo nies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 209).

In despair Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why hast thou for saken me” (Mark15:34)? Because, like human ity, Jesus would have to depend upon faith alone, thistest must come to him. And though “he could not see through the por tals of thetomb” his faith in the unseen, the unfelt, reached out and by faith he “cried with aloud voice, . . . Father, into thy hands I com mend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). The vic -tory of Jesus assures our vic tory. When the saints can not see or feel God’s favor inthe time of trou ble, when the whole world appears arrayed against them, theyremem ber the Sav iour upon the cross and know that if God did not for sake hisonly-begot ten Son, he will not for sake them.

Tues day, April 6: This les son is on “Choices: Good and Bad.” As we noted inthe intro duc tion to this les son, we could not even have true choice today except bythe grace and mercy of God.

Man needs a power out side of and be yond him self, to re store him to the like -ness of God, and en able him to do the work of God. (The De sire of Ages, p. 296)

The sin ner is pow er less apart from God to choose right, but if his will is alliedwith the will of God, he has all the power needed to be “more than con quer orsthrough him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).

Wednes day, April 7: This les son dis cusses the choices that we make whichaffect the gen er a tions after us. It is true that the choices we make cre ate an impres -sion upon our chil dren and those around us. When the study of genet ics began, itseemed that the basic frame work of a per son was set tled, based upon their chro mo -somes, and noth ing would change that. Thus, while pre na tal care was empha sizedfor the phys i cal health of a child, cor rect or incor rect pre na tal care was not beassigned any fur ther sig nif i cance until the recent dis cov ery of epigenes which areaffected by the actions, men tal state, and envi ron ment of the par ents. The epigenesact as switches that have the abil ity to turn some genes off or on. For exam ple, a cer -tain gene has been found which tends to obe sity. The proper pre na tal care of themother can not affect the gene but it can affect the epigene which can then turn thisgene off and not give the child a ten dency to obe sity.

Today the pre na tal coun sels of Ellen White are vin di cated since we havelearned that the moth er’s actions can deter mine if a child has a dis po si tion to alco -hol, a quick tem per, or a host of other unde sir able traits. We wish to add the cau tionthat this does not mean, for exam ple, that a mother who might make all the wronglife choices dooms her child to being lost. What we are say ing is that this child will

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still be given the power of choice, but may have a greater uphill bat tle than oth ers.Yet, due to the fact that Christ is our suf fi ciency in all things, that per son may stillfind sal va tion and be a bless ing to many peo ple.

Thurs day, April 7: This les son is on “Choice and Chance.” Neurofibromatosis,usu ally called NF, “is a life long dis or der that encom passes a set of dis tinct geneticdis or ders that cause tumors to grow along nerves and can affect the devel op ment ofbones and skin” (http://www.ctf.org). NF is a genetic dis ease that the affected per -son is born with. About half of the cases of NF are inher ited from a par ent and abouthalf are con sid ered to be a spon ta ne ous gen er a tion of NF among the genes. The per -son who has NF has no choice if they have it or not. As with a host of other dis eases,many peo ple do not have the same oppor tu ni ties for good health. Some peo ple areborn blind, not of any per son’s sin either (John 9:3). But regard less of our oppor tu -ni ties within a phys i cal frame work, each per son may still choose Christ. Somechil dren are born into vio lence, drugs, pov erty, or other neg a tive fac tors, yet God’sSpirit is still able to reach these peo ple as they make the choice to serve God. Per -haps the issue that many need to be con cerned about is not the lack of oppor tu ni tiesgiven, but what we do with the oppor tu ni ties that we have.

If we do not re spond to the light given and ren der cor re spond ing obe di ence,keep ing our souls in the love of God, abid ing in Christ, that which to us wouldbe come a bless ing be comes a curse. It is the de ceiver, not the Spirit of truth, thatmakes us be lieve that we can not be come pure and holy, a pow er ful peo ple sep a -rate from the world, united in love and un ion with one an other through Christ.We need not ex pect any other por tion than that which was given to our Lord. Ac -cord ing to the heart ser vice given to God will be the en mity of Sa tan against thefol low ers of Je sus; and the chil dren of God are more wise and pow er ful when the wis dom and in flu ence of the world are ar rayed against us than when they are en -gaged in fa vor and fel low ship with them. (The Up ward Look, p. 373)

Fri day, April 9: The day our Lord died upon the cross, Pilate gave the peo ple achoice: Christ or Barabbas. But that choice is still our choice today. Will we chooseChrist or some one else? We should be thank ful that God, in his mercy, has given usthe free dom of choice. May we use it, like all our fac ul ties, to the honor and glory ofGod.

Les son 3 — Cel e brat ing Spir i tual and Phys i -cal Fit nessThis week’s les son is on spir i tual and phys i cal fit ness. To be strong, one must exer -cise, and keep ing both the body and mind fit is impor tant. We have been told:

The re la tion that ex ists be tween the mind and the body is very in ti mate. Whenone is af fected, the other sym pa thizes. The con di tion of the mind af fects thehealth to a far greater de gree than many re al ize. Many of the dis eases from which men suf fer are the re sult of men tal de pres sion. Grief, anx i ety, dis con tent, re -morse, guilt, dis trust, all tend to break down the life forces and to in vite de cayand death. (The Min is try of Heal ing, p. 241)

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Those to whom the care of the sick is en trusted … should not lis ten to the sug -ges tion that it is dan ger ous to speak of their eter nal in ter ests to those who livesare in peril, lest it should make them worse; for in nine cases out of ten the knowl -edge of a sin-par don ing Sav iour would make them better both in mind and body.Je sus can limit the power of Sa tan. He is the phy si cian in whom the sin-sick soulmay trust to heal the mal a dies of the body as well as of the soul. (Tes ti mo nies forthe Church, vol. 5, pp. 448, 449)

Sunday, April 11: Sunday’s les son is on “The Spir i tual Ath lete.” The Biblecom pares the Chris tian’s walk with running and even box ing. One qual ity that isneeded by ath letes is endur ance: the abil ity to keep going. The Bible says that weare to look “unto Jesus the author and fin isher of our faith” and to “con sider him that endured such con tra dic tion of sin ners against him self, lest ye be wea ried and faintin your minds” (Hebrews 12:2, 3). The Chris tian must keep the mind fresh and hedoes this by focus ing upon Christ who is our strength. The bat tle is for the mind ofthe Chris tian. That is why we are told to “Let this mind be in you, which was also inChrist Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

Just as reg u lar phys i cal exer cise is impor tant, reg u lar spir i tual exer cise, dailyBible study, is essen tial for spiritual growth and main tenance.

Mon day, April 12: Mon day’s les son dis cusses the prin ci ple of atro phy: thatwhich is not used wastes away. As Ellen White noted: “Action is a law of our being” (The Min is try of Heal ing, p. 237). This is true in the spir i tual realm as well as phys i -cal. Let none be deceived to think that they can slack off of their spir i tual expe ri ence and then come back to it later at full strength quickly dur ing a cri sis. It can not bedone. I have seen many peo ple who were edu cated in the things of God when young who later turned their backs on Christ, and, as time pro gressed, they had less andless value of and knowl edge of spir i tual things. Things that might have been sim pleas a child, such as know ing the Ten Com mand ments, are for got ten. Con vic tion thatwas eas ily pricked when young, becomes quickly seared and unre spon sive whenspir i tual mat ters are neglected.

Mon day’s les son dis cusses faith being a gift that must be exer cised. Ellen Whitenoted that we are to “cul ti vate the gift of faith” (The Review and Her ald, Novem ber6, 1900). The cul ti vat ing of faith must come through God’s word, for “faith com ethby hear ing, and hear ing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

Tues day, April 13: Tues day’s les son is on faith, “Believ ing With out See ing.”True Bible faith is built on the word of God and while expe ri ences encour age us inGod’s word, it is the word itself that builds the faith.

Wednes day, April 14 and Thurs day, April 15: Wednes day’s and Thurs day’sles sons deal with the ben e fits of phys i cal exer cise.

The index to the writ ings of Ellen White give a long list of inspired ben e fits ofphys i cal exer cise. For the bless ing of those with out the index, as well as to encour -age those who have cop ies of the indexes we repro duce the list of ben e fits here:

l Ben e fits of (or from) ML 144

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l an i mal pas sions pro vided healthy out let MM 81

l blood cir cu la tion equal ized LS 354; MH 238

l blood cir cu la tion im proved CH 199-200; MH 238, 385; ML 150; MM 81, 106; 2T 525-6, 529-30; 4T 94

l blood cir cu la tion quick ened FE 426; MH 238; MM 106

l blood helped to ex pel im pu ri ties 2T 529

l body is in vig o rated 3BC 1157

l body or gans strength ened MH 239; 3T 77

l body re ceives 1T 394, 686

l body strength ened 3BC 1157; 2T 428

l bow els strength ened 3T 78

l brain re lieved of wea ri ness 3T 152

l com plain ing in valid re stored MM 107

l di ges tion aided 2T 413, 530

l dis ease pre vented MM 81

l dis eased per sons helped CG 343

l dis eased stom ach re lieved 2T 530

l dis eased sys tem helped to re cover nor mal con di tion FE 146

l dys pep tic’s di ges tive or gans given healthy tone CD 103; MH 240

l en tire hu man sys tem in vig o rated MM 107

l girls im proved in mind and body 1T 686-7

l health re cov ered MM 232, 297

l how to re al ize FE 418; 2T 533

l im pu ri ties thrown off by body 3T 490

l in ure ment to life’s hard ships 3T 193

l in va lids given life and strength 2T 530-1

l in va lids re ceive CD 302; MH 238; MM 107; 2T 526

l kid neys strength ened 2T 533

l liver strength ened 2T 533

l lungs kept in good con di tion MH 238

l lungs strength ened 2T 533

l mind di verted from self 2T 670

l mind health fully in flu enced ML 150; 1T 394, 686

l mind strength ened 2T 428

l min is ter re ceives 2T 569

l min is ters blessed 2T 643

l mus cles given tone 1T 448

l mus cles strength ened CH 199-200; ML 150; MM 81; 1T 448; 2T 528, 533; 3T 78; 6T 192

l per sons of sed en tary hab its re ceive 3T 489-90

l phys i cal de vel op ment aided FE 426

l re cov ery from sick ness pro moted MH 240

l rem edy for dis ease MM 225

l skin given health ful glow 2T 530

l skin helped to ex pel im pu ri ties MH 238

l skin kept in healthy con di tion MH 238

l tone given to sys tem FE 426

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l waste mat ter ac cu mu lat ing in sys tem is worked off 3T 310

l young women re ceive FE 74-5

l youth pro tected from se cret vice 2T 348-9

The ques tion of type and loca tion of exer cise should be con sid ered. TheASSBSG pro vides some sound, estab lished facts con cern ing the amount of exer -cise, as well as the fre quency and inten sity of exer cise. Walk ing is rec om mendedas an “excel lent and sus tain able form of exer cise” (Thurs day’s les son).

Walk ing out side is per haps one of the best exer cises pos si ble. Ellen White notes:“Walk ing, in all cases where it is pos si ble, is the best rem edy for dis eased bod ies,because in this exer cise all the organs of the body are brought into use” (Tes ti mo -nies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 78).

Ellen White also encour aged sim ple out door work for exer cise. Man’s first workof dress ing and keep ing the gar den, even in a sin less envi ron ment, pro vided exer -cise. “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the gar den of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Gen e sis 2:15).

Ellen White rec om mend sim i lar work as some of the best heal ing activ ity thatcan be done!

Let men and women work in field and or chard and gar den. This will bringhealth and strength to nerve and mus cle. Liv ing in doors and cher ish ing in va lid -ism is a very poor busi ness. If those who are sick will give nerves and mus clesand sin ews proper ex er cise in the open air, their health will be re newed. (Med i cal Min is try, p. 296)

The New Tes ta ment com mends work (2 Thessalonians 3:10, 12), and we shall be laborers in the New Earth (Isa iah 65:1, 2).

Out side gar den ing in a rural set ting also has the ben e fits of pro vid ing fresh airand sun shine with the exer cise. This is much better than doing exer cise that bringsno use ful ben e fit to oth ers.

The great est ben e fit is not gained from ex er cise that is taken as play or ex er -cise merely. There is some ben e fit in be ing in the fresh air, and also from theex er cise of the mus cles; but let the same amount of en ergy be given to the per for -mance of use ful work, and the ben e fit will be greater. A feel ing of sat is fac tionwill be re al ized, for such ex er cise car ries with it a sense of help ful ness and theap proval of con science for duty well done. (Coun sels to Par ents, Teach ers andStu dents, p. 308)

Jesus grew up know ing hard work. Jesus labored at a car pen ter’s bench until hewas thirty. Com mon labor was noth ing embar rass ing to our Mas ter, and it shouldnot be embar rass ing to us either! “By pre cept and exam ple, Christ has dig ni fieduse ful labor” (Spe cial Tes ti mo nies on Edu ca tion, p. 39).

There are elderly and sick who may need to be care ful in their exer cise if they arenot already in good phys i cal shape. Some times cau tion must be exer cised too. How -ever, it is true that “more peo ple die for want of exer cise than through overfatigue;very many more rust out than wear out” (Coun sels on Health, p. 183).

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Fri day, April 16: While some peo ple see exer cise as use less and some see italmost as a god or religion, phys i cal exer cise is needed and a great bless ing whenset in its proper place. As a part of true health reform it is one of the steps by whichwe may have the clear est minds pos si ble so that we might dis cern spir i tual truthsand give glory and honor to God.

Les son 4 — The Wa ter of LifeAs the title sug gests, the fourth les son is about water. Water is per haps the mostwon der ful sub stance in the uni verse. A water mol e cule is made of two hydro genatoms com bined with one oxy gen atom. Inter est ingly, the ele ment hydro gen ishighly com bus tive and oxy gen is a cat a lyst for com bus tion. Yet, when these two are com bined we have water which extin guishes fire. Water, like most sub stances con -tracts when cooled, but only to a point, then when the tem per a ture is at the freez ingmark, the hydro gen bonds in the mol e cule cause the water to expand and becomeless dense though it has formed into a solid (ice). Hav ing a den sity less than its liq -uid state causes the ice to float, instead of sinking. Were it not for this prop erty, thewater would freeze and sink to the bot tom, fol lowed by more ice freez ing and sink -ing, and this would con tinue until the oceans and seas would all be frozen over, tothe point that they would never thaw and all life on earth would fail. Surely, thiswon der fully-made sub stance clearly reveals a Mas ter mind of cre ation.

God uses the sym bol of water for spir i tual life for his peo ple. Some thing equallywon der ful.

Sunday, April, 18: Sunday’s les son is on liv ing water. This was the water thatJesus offered the Samar i tan woman at Jacob’s well. Jesus said, “ He that believ ethon me, as the scrip ture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of liv ing water”(John 7:38). Water is used as a sym bol for sal va tion.

Be hold, God is my sal va tion; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JE -HO VAH is my strength and my song; he also is be come my sal va tion. There forewith joy shall ye draw wa ter out of the wells of sal va tion. (Isa iah 12:2, 3)

Christ also loved the church, and gave him self for it; That he might sanc tifyand cleanse it with the wash ing of wa ter by the word. (Ephe sians 5:25, 26)

But who so ever drinketh of the wa ter that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the wa ter that I shall give him shall be in him a well of wa ter spring ing up into ev -er last ing life. (John 4:14)

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto liv ing foun tains of wa ters (Rev e la tion 7:17)

Mon day, April 19: Mon day’s les son is on the waters of bap tism. This les sonbegins with story of Philip and the eunuch who was bap tized after the con fes sionthat “Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:37).

Bap tism is a sym bol of the Chris tians expe ri ence of sal va tion. “There fore we arebur ied with him by bap tism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from thedead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in new ness of life”

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(Romans 6:4). When the believer is low ered into the water he can not breathe, sym -bolic of death. “The body with out the spirit is dead” (James 2:26). Then the believer is raised to breathe (live in Christ).

Bap tism is one of the two ordi nances of the church. It sacred ness should be care -ful observed and is com manded for the Chris tian. “He that believ eth and is bap tized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).

A point that should be kept in mind is that there is noth ing mag i cal about beingbap tized. Baptism is an out ward expres sion of an inward change that has alreadyoccurred. Peter writes:

The like fig ure whereunto even bap tism doth also now save us (not the putt ing away of the filth of the flesh, but the an swer of a good con science to ward God,)by the res ur rec tion of Je sus Christ. (1 Pe ter 3:21)

Peter makes it clear that it is not the phys i cal act of being immersed that saves one but, rather, hav ing a good con science towards God.

Tues day, April 20: Tues day’s les son is on the uses of water. No mol e cule ismore impor tant for life then water. Water should be used gen er ously, both the inter -nally and externally. Those liv ing in mod ern 21st cen tury Amer ica may be temptedto take a plen ti ful sup ply of water for granted. How ever, it was not always so easy to have such a sup ply. Even today much of the so-called fresh water in the UnitedStates is pol luted and not safe for drink ing. This has given rise to an eight bil liondol lar bot tled water indus try. (See com ments on Fri day for a dis cus sion on the bestbot tled water to pur chase.)

Wednes day, April 21: Wednes day’s les son is about the power of water to keepthe body work ing. Water, when taken in ade quate amounts to keep the urine clear to pale, pro vides the body with the abil ity to live more abun dantly and to keep pre -form ing much lon ger than a per son suf fer ing under even mild dehy dra tion.

Drink ing water at nor mal room tem per a ture is best most of the time. Cold watershould be avoided unless refresh ment from heat is needed, but then the watershould be warmed in the mouth in small amounts before it is swal lowed.

Wa ter can be used in many ways to re lieve suf fer ing. Drafts of clear, hot wa tertaken be fore eat ing (half a quart, more or less), will never do any harm, but willrather be pro duc tive of good. (Coun sels on Diet and Foods, p. 303)

And a very impor tant prin ci ple of water usage is that it should not be taken withmeals:

Many make a mis take in drink ing cold wa ter with their meals. Food shouldnot be washed down. Taken with meals, wa ter di min ishes the flow of sa liva; andthe colder the wa ter, the greater the in jury to the stom ach. Ice wa ter or ice lem on -ade, taken with meals, will ar rest di ges tion un til the sys tem has im partedsuf fi cient warmth to the stom ach to en able it to take up its work again. Mas ti cateslowly, and al low the sa liva to min gle with the food.

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The more liq uid there is taken into the stom ach with the meals, the more dif fi -cult it is for the food to di gest; for the liq uid must first be ab sorbed. (Ibid., p. 106)

Thurs day, April 22: Thurs day’s les son is on the use of water as a type of ther -apy. As noted in the les son, we have been told:

Wa ter treat ments are not ap pre ci ated as they should be, and to ap ply themskill fully re quires work that many are un will ing to per form. But none should feel ex cused for ig no rance or in dif fer ence on this sub ject. There are many ways inwhich wa ter can be ap plied to re lieve pain and check dis ease. All should be comein tel li gent in its use in sim ple home treat ments. Moth ers, es pe cially, shouldknow how to care for their fam i lies in both health and sick ness. (The Min is try ofHeal ing, p. 237)

On the same page, we read: “A cold or cool bath is an excel lent tonic. Warm baths open the pores and thus aid in the elim i na tion of impu ri ties. Both warm and neu tralbaths soothe the nerves and equal ize the cir cu la tion” (Ibid.).

Water treat ments, such as heat ing com presses, hot fomen ta tions, cold mit tenfric tions, work amaz ingly well when cor rectly done. It is beyond the scope of thisbook let to describe all the var i ous uses of water. A quick internet search for“hydrotherapy treat ments” will bring up use ful infor ma tion.

Fri day, April 23: The index to the writ ings of Ellen White gives a long list ofinspired ben e fits of the use of pure water. For the bless ing of those with out theindex, as well as to encour age those who have cop ies of the index, we have repro -duced the list for “lit eral” (pure) water.”l as re me dial agency MH 237; MM 223; 4aSG 133; 2SM 286-7, 291, 446, 450, 456, 458; Te 248

l in stead of drugs 4aSG 134

l one of most ef fec tive MM 225

l bath ing in, as treat ment for dis ease 2SM 446

l helps to re move poi sons from sys tem CH 62

l ben e fi cial to: health CH 61-2

l the af flicted ML 139

l bev er age which God pro vides to quench thirst MH 237

l blood is pu ri fied by ML 139

l cold, mak ing gra ham gems with CD 319-20

l doc tor pro vided by God MM 230

l drink freely of CD 419

l helps na ture to: keep body well 4aSG 141

l over come sys tem’s bad con di tions ML 139

l re sist dis ease MH 237

l helps to sup ply sys tem’s ne ces si ties MH 237

l im por tant in treat ing in va lids CH 55-6; MM 106-7

l is all that na ture re quires to quench thirst CH 120

l main tain per sonal clean li ness by us ing 2SM 460-1

l man needs, to keep well CD 419

l one of God’s: heal ing rem e dies 5T 443

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l phy si cians CH 261; MM 259; 2SM 281, 297

l one of heaven’s choic est bless ings MH 237

l one of na ture’s own fur nished rem e dies 2SM 287-8

l peo ple can not keep well who are not care ful to get MM 226

l quench thirst with CD 420; Te 101

l thou sands have died for want of CD 419; CH 55; 2SM 456

l use of, would pre vent much suf fer ing ML 139

l use wisely, to pre vent dis ease 1T 491

l vi tal or gans are in vig o rated by ML 139

l within reach of all 2SM 287

l at lit tle ex pense 5T 443

l young women who think that they are in va lids should drink freely of MM 106-7

Finally, we want to dis cuss a few points about bot tled water. Most bot tled watercomes from one of two main sources: munic i pal water sys tems or springs andwells. Many peo ple do not know that up to 40% of the bot tled water sold in theUnited States is sim ply tap water from some munic i pal water sys tem. Some of thiswater under goes fur ther fil ter ing and/or treat ment and some does not. Some of thespring and well water is also fil tered and some is not. Another type of water is dis -tilled water, which can be pro duced from munic i pal or spring sup plies. Because ofthe pro cess involved, the source is not impor tant and can not be detected once thedis til la tion pro cess is fin ished.

One of the most com mon kinds of treat ment is reverse osmo sis, which uses fil -tra tion to remove many types of large atomic mol e cules from smaller mol e cules.This is achieved through the use a mem brane that has very small holes. The water isforced through the mem brane’s pores (holes) with high pres sure. The holes are justlarge enough to allow the small water mol e cules to pass through but none of thepol lut ants.

Some con sider spring or well water to be unsafe, but it has to meet min i mal testsfor bac te ria and pol lut ants to be sold in stores.

Which should you buy? Please remem ber that God’s plan for his peo ple is to livein the coun try where fresh water is readily avail able in nat u rally-occur ring springsand where clean wells can be dug. This kind of fresh water is the best and clos est tothe pat tern we find in the begin ning. With this kind of home, one should not need tobuy water for drink ing pur poses, unless they are trav el ing, but for the many whohave munic i pal water, bot tled water may be very nec es sary for them. Remem berthat you need either dis tilled water or spring water, or at least a puri fied water.There is no need to buy bot tled water if it is straight from the tap of a munic i palwater sys tem. Some peo ple like dis tilled water, for it has no min er als and, in the ory,no taste, though some claim that it has a “metal taste.” It should be noted that springwater nat u rally has a cer tain amount of trace min er als in it. Totally dis tilled water isnot found in nature except in rain wa ter; however, by the time rainwater cyclesthrough the ground and in the streams it picks up min er als. For more infor ma tion on bot tled water see: http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/water121003.cfm

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There fore, when I have to buy water I pre fer to try to buy spring water from agood source. Be care ful to check the sources if pos si ble. One bot tled water waslabeled as “Alaska Pre mium Gla cier Drink ing Water” but it in real ity came from the munic i pal water sys tem of Juneau. The moral of the story? Move to a place in thecoun try that has good fresh water, as inspi ra tion coun sels.

Les son 5 — The En vi ron ment

Rev e la tion 11:18 says that God will “destroy them which destroy the earth.” At onetime it might have seemed impos si ble that man could cause dev as ta tion to the earth, but in the last gen er a tion we have received quite a wake-up call. Man has pol lutedthe land, the sea, and the waters. Con cern about stew ard ship of the earth is clearlybecom ing a global issue that none can avoid. Even the Vat i can has declared theneed to be better stew ards of the earth.

Sunday, April 25: Sunday’s les son dis cusses the the ory of evo lu tion and the factof cre ation, set ting them in oppo si tion, as the oppos ing views they are. The Biblerecord is plain, and if we wish to set it aside in the mat ter of cre ation, the next step is toset it aside in the mat ter of rec re ation or redemp tion. God was wise to order the cre -ation exactly as he did with each day’s work lay ing the foun da tion for the day before.For exam ple, before cre at ing the birds and fish on the fifth day he cre ated the grass,trees and veg e ta tion on the third day so that there would be a place for the birds todwell and food for them to eat. The sun and moon which cre ates the waves and cur -rents in the ocean were cre ated on the fourth day so that all would be in place for thefish.

It has come to our atten tion that the Sev enth-day Adven tist Church is on record(ref er ence) as believ ing that the rocks and mate rial of the earth to be old as the evo -lu tion ists claim, but main tain that life is young. This hybrid belief directlycon tra dicts the fourth com mand ment which says:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in themis… (Ex o dus 20:11)

The law of God states that the earth, the sea, as well as the heav ens, and all that isin them were made in the six days of cre ation. Beloved, if sci ence says dif fer ently, itis not true sci ence but is what the Bible calls “sci ence falsely so called” (1 Tim o thy6:20).

Some peo ple won der how we can see the light of stars that are sup posed to be tril -lions of miles away. The idea being that if there are stars 20,000 light years away,how could we see them now if this earth is only 6,000 years old. I have heard sev eral pos si ble tech ni cal expla na tions by creationists that are too long to explain here.Some seem more rea son able than oth ers. But, it is also pos si ble that God sim plymade the light from those stars already extend ing here. Any God who could makebil lions of gal ax ies with bil lions and bil lions of stars in each one could also do thatby sim ply speak ing it into exis tence.

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Mon day, April 26: This day’s les son is on “The Sab bath Envi ron ment.” On thesev enth day, God rested, and, accord ing to Exo dus 31:17, he was “refreshed.” Jesus being God’s active agent of cre ation rested and blessed the Sab bath day. His exam -ple in cre ation and dur ing his life on earth pres ents to us a pat tern that we mayfol low. It has been noted by some groups, such as the Jeho vah’s Wit nesses, thatthough God rested on the sev enth day, there was no com mand for the people to restuntil Sinai. How ever, the gath er ing of the manna was reg u lated by the Sab bathcom mand ment and the manna began to fall before Sinai. Fur thermore, the othernine com mand ments were under stood before Sinai but they were not given in acod i fied form either until Sinai. Nobody uses the argu ment that they were not cod i -fied to avoid them today. But the Sab bath is a spe cial object of Satan’s hate, and sohe works hard to destroy its sanc ti fy ing influ ence.

Tues day, April 27: This les son dis cusses some of the changes in the envi ron -ment after sin. One of the first changes in the envi ron ment of Adam and Eve wasthat they lost their cov er ing of light. But soon they began to see more and more thechanges that sin brought, even to the envi ron ment. God has pro nounced to Adam:

Thorns also and this tles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herbof the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou re turn unto theground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou re -turn. (Gen e sis 3:18, 19)

Later Isa iah would declare: “Lift up your eyes to the heav ens, and look upon theearth beneath: for the heav ens shall van ish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a gar ment” (Isa iah 51:6). Surely we see the ful fill ment of this proph ecytoday with the earth wax ing old and Paul wrote, “For we know that the whole cre -ation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22).

In addi tion, we also have cli mate changes with harsh win ters in many areas andburn ing sum mers in other areas. Floods, earth quakes, and even sim ple rain werenot a part of the pre-sin world.

While we have the respon si bil ity as stew ards to be faith ful, this earth has been sorav aged by sin and sin ful man that God will have to finally con sign it to the fires,and it will be puri fied and then rec re ated (2 Peter 3:10-13).

Wednes day, April 28: This les son dis cusses some of our respon si bil ity for theenvi ron ment. Since the earth is the LORD’s (Psalm 24:1), we are only stew ards, and“more over it is required in stew ards, that a man be found faith ful” (1 Corin thi ans4:2). We each have a respon si bil ity to do what is rea sonable.

There is a move to elec tric cars cur rently going on to relieve the need of oil and toelim i nate the pol lu tion that comes from cars. How ever, there has to be a source fortheir power. So instead of the oil, another fos sil fuel, coal, is used to pro vide theelec tric ity. We will also soon have to deal with the issue of dis pos ing the large bat -ter ies these cars carry. How will they be dis posed of in an envi ron men tally friendlyway? The answers are not so sim ple, and we trade one form of pollution for another.

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There are some things, how ever, that can be done. Where we can slow down ouruse of resources and stop pol lu tion, we cer tainly should, but with the pop u la tion ofthe earth increas ing the out look is cer tainly not good. God’s word will not fail andwhen he declares that man is destroy ing the earth, that word will not fail.

Thurs day, April 29: This les son is on “Sun Wor ship ers.” The final trag edy ofsin is that it brings one from wor ship ping the Cre ator to the wor ship of the crea ture.This has been most viv idly seen in sun wor ship, both ancient and mod ern. The book of Ezekiel has a proph ecy that details the wor ship of the Sunday com ing into thepeo ple of God in the last days. This should be care fully stud ied. In the May 2010issue of the mag a zine Old Paths we will be detail ing that sec tion of proph ecy, soplease watch for it next month.

The pro tec tive ozone layer around the earth is thin ning, and expo sure to the sun thatwas once a bless ing is becom ing more dan ger ous. While a cer tain amount of expo sureto the sun is nec es sary for good health (vita min D pro duc tion, among other things), toomuch expo sure has been linked to skin can cer, but whenever pos si ble, our homesshould be opened up so that we may be ben e fit ted by the direct and indirect rays of thesun.

If the win dows were freed from blinds and heavy cur tains, and the air and sunper mit ted to en ter freely the dark ened rooms, there would be seen a change forthe better in the men tal and phys i cal health of the chil dren. The pure air wouldhave an in vig o rat ing in flu ence upon them, and the sun that car ries heal ing in itsbeams would soothe and cheer, and make them happy, joy ous, and healthy.(Health ful Liv ing, p. 229)

In va lids too of ten de prive them selves of sun light. This is one of na ture’s mostheal ing agents. It is a very sim ple, there fore not a fash ion able rem edy, to en joythe rays of God’s sun light and beau tify our homes with its pres ence. Fash iontakes the great est care to ex clude the light of the sun from par lors and sleep ingrooms by drop ping cur tains and clos ing shut ters, as though its rays were ru in ousto life and health. It is not God who has brought upon us the many woes to whichmor tals are heirs. Our own folly has led us to de prive our selves of things that arepre cious, of bless ings which God has pro vided and which, if prop erly used, areof in es ti ma ble value for the re cov ery of health. If you would have your homessweet and in vit ing, make them bright with air and sun shine. Re move your heavycur tains, open the win dows, throw back the blinds, and en joy the rich sun light,even if it be at the ex pense of the col ors of your car pets. The pre cious sun lightmay fade your car pets, but it will give a health ful color to the cheeks of your chil -dren. If you have God’s pres ence and pos sess ear nest, lov ing hearts, a hum blehome made bright with air and sun light, and cheer ful with the wel come of un -self ish hos pi tal ity, will be to your fam ily, and to the weary trav eler, a heavenbe low. (Tes ti mo nies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 527)

Fri day, April 30: We rec om mend a care ful read ing of the fur ther study ref er -ences of Patri archs and Proph ets, pp. 44-51 and The Great Con tro versy,pp. 675-678.

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Help ful Ma te ri alsThis vol ume explores the roots of Sev enth-day Adventism from the Chris tian Con -nec tion and the Millerite move ment to our pres ent time. Believ ing that the voice ofEllen G. White pres ents an inspired his tory of the Adventmove ment, this book explores Adven tist Chris tol ogy of thelast 160 years and dem on strates the har mony between theBible, the writ ings of Ellen G. White, and the writ ings of theAdvent pio neers con cern ing the doc trine of God. This bookcon tains over 230 pages of vital infor ma tion. It has a descrip -tive table of con tents and a com plete Scrip ture index. Thesug gested dona tion of this book is usu ally $7.00, but for those who receive this study guide we are sug gest ing a dona tion ofonly $4.00, if you will note that you are claim ing the offer inthe Sab bath School les son com ments book.

What did Ellen White mean when she wrote that “the Father and the Son alone areto be exalted (YI, July 7, 1898)”? “Ellen G. White and the Truth About God” DVDdis cusses the his tory of Ellen G. White and doc u ments her under stand ing about theFather, Son, and Holy Sprit. This pre sen ta tion con tains scores of

state ments from Ellen White on the issue of God and answers

to the com mon ques tions that arise con cern ing what some

peo ple believe to be con flict ing state ments from her pen on

this vital doc trine. The suggested dona tion is $6.00, but for

those who receive this study guide we are sug gest ing a dona -

tion of only $4.00 if you will note that you saw the sug gested

donation in the Sab bath School les son com ments book.

To request these mate ri als or for other gos pel lit er a ture please con tact us at:

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