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But this is not going to be a story about tall trees, rich smells, or tweeting birds, so I shall not say more than is necessary about the setting. But what I should tell you is that this story took place in the mountains of California during a prayer retreat. People, young and old, were gathered here from all across the northern and central California area. Why did they come? They came to learn about the power of prayer. Some heard about it. Others experienced it.

I shall start by introducing a term that many of you are probably familiar with: “The Snowball Effect.” It is a figurative term for a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds on itself, becoming larger with each passing moment. The term comes from the practice of making a small snowball at the top of a large hill and rolling it down the snow-covered hillside. The original small snowball grows with tremendous rapidity. The more surface area itcovers, the more mass it obtains, and vice versa. That is to say, it gets very big, very fast. Such is the phenomenon of The Snowball Effect.

Well, on this particular winter day, a group of my friends and myself decided that it would be an excellent idea to put this snowball theory into practice. And if you’re anything like me, then, perhaps, you have participated in things which at the time seemed like a great idea but in retrospect appeared to be nothing but foolishness. Such was this idea.

“Help! I’m pinned, and I can’t breathe!” These are precisely the words that you don’t want to hear.

The setting was perfect for the execution of our plan, and we immediately began to set it into action. A small ball was selected and then set in motion down the gently sloping hill. The slope was so gradual that the snowball needed a fair bit of assistance in order to keep it from coming to a stop. But this was no problem since we were a fairly large group. Three people were placed on both sides of the snowball to make sure that it did not tip to either side. And a couple of people were situated behind the snowball–their chief responsibility was to push. This was my position. And thus the operation was set in motion. The snowball was rolled in a straight line down the hill, and you must realize that as the “snowball” began to grow, it no longer retained the shape of a “ball,” but rather took on the shape of a very large tire.

At this point, the air was filled with shouts of expectancy, as the mass of snow lumbered down the hill, and began to grow larger. Its size truly exceeded our original expectations. I’m 6’3″ (190.5 cm), and it already stood well above my head. If you were to stand on one side of it, you would be unable to see anyone standing directly on the other side. It was easily the size of a middle-sized car.

Up until this point, everything seemed to be going fine, until the giant mass of snow began to become a bit out of control, and proceeded to tip to the left side, I was on the other side, and I imagined that anyone on that side, would move out of its way. One person didn’t. The huge mass hit the cold field with a thud. And immediately I heard a voice scream “Help! I’m pinned, and I can’t breathe!” These are precisely the words that you don’t want to hear when you are in the middle of nowhere with seemingly no help around. It was our friend David, and he was trapped with the mass on top of him. Without wasting a moment, we all rushed to his side. As you can imagine, the snow had become quite hard packed throughout the whole process, and the weight was incredibly heavy.

Guys! I’m literally dying, and you need to get me out!

I quickly cleared the snow away from his face so he could breathe.His arms, his legs–his entire body–lay motionless under the incredible burden. At once we began looking to see how we could free him from this life threatening situation. Time was not on our side, and he was already breathing in short breaths. The snow block was too hard packed to be broken apart, and so, we began to try the only remaining option-lifting up the fallen mass of snow high enough to quickly pull our friend out from underneath it.

By this time about three minutes had already passed, and David was not in good shape. He cried out desperately, “Guys! I’m literally dying, and you need to get me out!” I’m not sure if you have ever been in a situation where someone was hurt really bad, or where someone was dying, but if you have, than you can imagine exactly how you would feel in this situation. We were standing face-to-face with the reality that if we didn’t get David free, that he wouldn’t be able to breathe, and you can imagine what might happen next…

As we strained against the snow block, prayers rose incessantly to heaven. “God help us!” was our cry.

We were absolutely exhausted from struggling with the several hundred pound heap, and were on the brink of despair, when, all of a sudden, it raised a bit. Not very high, but high enough to give us hope. A shout of hope shot through our group. There was no way humanly possible that this burden could be moved by a handful of young guys. But yet, it was moving. God was moving. It rose a bit higher, and I shoved my shoulder under the side of it in order to obtain a bit more leverage. By now, David could actually gasp full breaths of air. We pushed and strained, but it was evident that a power greater than our own was at work. With one last heave, the burden was lifted high enough and someone grabbed David by the shoulders and quickly pulled him out. The next moment, the snowball crashed to the ground with an ominous sound. He was free. And he was alive.

David looked up from the ground, and said with a tone of indescribable thanksgiving,

“You guys saved my life.”

“No,” was the reply,

“God saved your life.”

David then went on to say, with a clarity that only an encounter with death could vouchsafe him, that he, at that moment when stuck helpless beneath the mound of snow immediately saw everything in his life in its proper perspective. He had a brush with death, and it granted him a view of reality that allowed him to see what was really important, and what wasn’t. He said, “When the chips are all down, living for God is all that really matters. When you’re about to die, you all of a sudden wish that you would have invested your life in the things that really matter.” I agree with him. In fact, it sounds a lot like what the world’s wisest man once said,

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Much could be said of the subsequent trip to the hospital that David and his family had. But I will simply say, he was examined by a doctor before he left the mountain retreat, and it was strongly suspected that he had a broken leg. This was minimal in light of the fact that he was actually alive. But God cares even about the details. The entire congregation at the prayer retreat prayed. The X-rays came back, and the leg was healed. I guess that’s just the way that God rolls.

Now if you’re anything like I used to be when I was young, then you realize that this is the part of the story where the analogy comes in, and quite frankly, you’ve heard the story and you’re ready to go on your way, but hang with me for a second. This analogy affected the way I thought about salvation. You see, I realized that our spiritual condition is a lot like David’s physical condition. We are all trapped under a burden, and it’s crushing the life out of us. We’re having a hard time breathing, and thinking straight, and if we don’t get out from underneath it, it’ll kill us. This burden is called sin. Sin is that which separates us from God, and thus by extension, our only source of life (Isaiah 59:1, 2; John 1:4).

If you choose to trust in Jesus’ righteousness, you’ve already been rescued from your snow mass of sin.

Just like there was nothing David could have done to save himself, in the same way, we can do nothing to save ourselves (yeah, that’s right, you can’t save yourself by being nice to the old lady next door). But the good news is that, just like Jesus made it possible to save David, He’s made it possible to save you. You see, you are saved not by what you have done, but by trusting in what Jesus has done (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus would say it like this, “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24). Notice the present tense of the phrase “has everlasting life.” That means, if you choose to trust in Jesus’ righteousness, you’ve already been rescued from your snow mass of sin. Clemency is granted, not based off of your goodness, but it’s rather based off of Jesus’ goodness. That’s called substitution. (1 Peter 3:18)

And guess what? Once you’ve experienced the amazing joy of salvation, and the relief and peace of forgiveness, you’ll actually want to be nice to that old lady next door. Our works are the efflorescence of our salvation. I guess it’s kind of like The Snowball Effect. Once it starts rolling, it’s hard to control. Perhaps that’s why the gospel is called good news.

Andy Hausted is a graduate of the 2012 Cornerstone Program, and is presently volunteering as an Associate Director of Evangelism for a church in Austria. He is a lover of God, people, reading, running, and learning.

That’s me.

My response has, over the years, become reflexive: “Well, thank you, but I’m sure it was Jesus Christ who changed your life, not me.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” is usually the reply. Or something like it. The point is taken, on both sides. I appreciate the affirmation, yes, but I appreciate the accuracy even more.

Jesus Christ is in the life-changing business, and He is awesome at it. For my part, I find it easy to “sell” and “tell” such a successful and consistent “product.” They say that Porsche salesmen do little more than hand out keys, because the cars sell themselves. I like that. That’s what we evangelists do: hand out keys, “the keys of the kingdom” (Matthew 16:19), no less! What we’re offering is better than any Porsche, however.

On my most recent trip to New Zealand, admittedly my favorite country on earth, I heard those words again: “Pastor Asscherick, you changed my life.” The man was dark-skinned, round-faced and smiled a smile that was as much eyes as mouth. His whole face radiated a joy that was as pure and beaming as I’ve seen. I liked him already. He introduced himself as Demcy, then told me a story that warmed my heart deeply.

Demcy had been living with his wife, Thrace, and three children, all boys, in Christchurch. He and Thrace had moved from Sri Lanka many years before. Raised a Roman Catholic, Demcy had a genuine, though not always enthusiastic, interest in spiritual things. He believed, sure, but not particularly deep. This, though, was about to change.

After seeing flyers and billboards around town advertising a meeting, What Does the Future Hold?, Demcy finally, on February 21, showed up. His heart thrilled with the truth he was hearing! This was the God of love and freedom He’d been looking for, and that he’d always believed was there, somewhere!

He left committed not to miss another meeting, but, alas, an unforeseeable disaster intervened.

At 12:50 in the afternoon on February 22nd, beautiful, serene, and quaint Christchurch was racked by a powerful earthquake that killed hundreds, and shattered the lives, businesses, and confidence of thousands. It all happened in about 20 seconds.

The city, more than two years later, is still picking up the pieces and will be for another decade at least. This was the second such earthquake in less than six months, and though this one was weaker on the Richter scale than its predecessor, its shallowness, speed, and location made it far worse and many times more deadly.

God’s ripple effects are greater than any earthquake.

Demcy, like many others, loaded his family in the car that very day and drove away from their beloved city. In Demcy’s case, they drove all the way north to Auckland. He spent the next two months looking for a new job and returning to Christchurch to transport his remaining things to Auckland. His whole life was in a great upheaval; he longed for solidity, hope, and deeper meaning.

He remembered that single meeting he’d attended and googled the presenter, “David Asscherick.” To his happy surprise, he found a set of similar prophecy lectures that I’d delivered before. He watched them day and night. He was surprised to learn, toward the end of the lecture series, that I was a Seventh-day Adventist. Nevertheless, he was persuaded that what he’d found was the truth. The next Sabbath he attended a local Seventh-day Adventist church.

The local pastor faithfully mentored, encouraged, and discipled Demcy and his wife, and soon they were baptized. A family torn from their home city by an earth-shaking quake, were now united in Jesus Christ by His life-changing truth. Demcy is now a deacon in his local church, and his mother, who still lives in Sri Lanka, is studying for baptism! She has even made her business, a hotel, available for Sabbath meetings in her town, which the local Seventh-day Adventists have been thrilled to put to use already.

God’s ripple effects are greater than any earthquake.

That meeting, from my perspective, sure looked like a grand failure after it’d been abruptly stopped halfway through and resumed rather weakly nearly a month later.

But sometimes what looks like failure is really a great success!

Just like the Cross!

Just ask Demcy! 

The average American diet is full, and I do mean full, of very cooked food. Some of the foods we eat use highly processed ingredients that are then cooked once, twice, sometimes three or even four times. Have we killed it yet?! Other foods we cook at temperatures and conditions that cause chemical reactions to occur that literally produce toxins in the food.

I enjoy food. I delight in well-prepared food. But I am becoming more conscious of how I prepare food.

Acrylamide is a chemical that has been classified as a probable carcinogen to humans. It is produced when starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures. “The higher the cooking temperature and the longer the cooking time, the greater the acrylamide concentration becomes. . . . The most concentrated food sources of acrylamide are processed foods such as potato chips and other baked or fried salty snacks and French fries.”¹

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are also produced when high cooking temperatures are used. AGEs have been associated with impaired immune function, inflammation, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, eye disease, nerve disease, and heart disease. “Foods that have the most concentration of AGEs are broiled, grilled, and fried meats.”² The more browned the food, the greater its potential of having higher concentrations. For example, a fried egg or broiled tofu has higher concentrations than a boiled egg or warmed tofu.

Other harmful chemicals are produced at the barbecue. When meat, poultry, fish, or eggs are subjected to high-temperature cooking, such as barbecuing, grilling, or frying reactions occur that produce hetrocyclic amines (HCAs). Grilling meat also produces polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). “The most concentrated sources of PAHS are grilled or charred meat, poultry and fish, grains, fats and oils, and sweets.”³ Both HCAs and PAHs are official carcinogens.

You don’t have to worry about these chemicals in raw or minimally cooked foods. The more food you consume in its natural, or close to natural, state, the less damaging dietary compounds you will ingest.

Understanding the dangers of overcooking has led some to forgo cooking altogether. This way of eating, however, has its social and satiation challenges as well as its nutritional concerns. There are advantages in cooking certain food items, such as promoting nutrient availability and enhancing digestibility. As an example, “The protein digestibility of some raw plant food is lower than the digestibility of that same protein when the food is boiled or steamed.”⁴

Raw plant foods are an excellent source of nutrition.

There are those who thrive on consuming all raw. My hat goes off to them. However, I see this as an extreme. An extreme diet may be quite beneficial in an extreme situation, but on the whole, the benefits of raw food can be obtained and enjoyed without having them compose the entire diet.

Plant foods “deliver nature’s most powerful beneficial compounds—phytochemicals, plant sterols, antioxidants, fiber, and healthful fats.”⁵ Raw plant foods are an excellent source of nutrition. Vitamins are left untrammeled when eaten in a raw form. Research has shown that the average intake of vitamins A, C, E, and K in people groups who consume raw diets is double, triple and in some cases quadruple the daily recommended intake. That is some super nutrition.

Hundreds to thousands of compounds are present and work synergistically in plant foods. Obtaining nutrients in whole foods has proven to be far more effective than any supplement. Antioxidants in pill form don’t provide the same level of protection. The multitudinous amount of beneficiaries is not found in the same amount in processed or overcooked foods. Some destruction of these health-giving rescue heroes occurs when things get hot.

Phytochemicals mean plant chemicals. Plants produce these chemicals to protect themselves and promote their survival. When we eat these plant chemicals they protect us. When the plant undergoes stress of some kind, production of phytochemicals increases. If a plant is attacked it will launch a counterattack by manufacturing more. “Organic produce receives more contact with naturally occurring microorganisms and pests than conventionally grown food because synthetic herbicides and pesticides are not used.”⁶ This explains why organically grown produce has been found to typically have higher amounts of phytochemicals. Sprouting has been found to remarkably increase phytochemical and antioxidant content in some foods. Wheat, rye, and broccoli sprouts are power packed.

Cooking does result in the loss of some of these powerful substances in food to some degree. Often it depends on the temperature and duration of cooking time. Some substances actually become more bioavailable when cooked. By and large, the greatest concentration of antioxidants and phytochemicals are going to be found in raw food. That doesn’t mean that cooked food is dead, lifeless, or void of nutrition. It may just have less of some of these substances.

I enjoy food. I delight in well-prepared food. But I am becoming more conscious of how I prepare food. I am in the process of turning the stovetop temperatures lower and making my salad bowl larger. My take is why not do both and enjoy the best of both worlds.

Scripture’s encouragement is, “Let your moderation be known unto all men” (Philippians 4:5). In other words, be a people who are consistent and balanced, not given to extremes. Be known as someone who is centered in Christ and from that solid platform receives wisdom as to how to relate to all the various issues in our world today. May God help us.

¹Brenda Davis RD, Vensanto Melina MS, RD, Becoming Raw, Book Publishing Company, 2010, p. 67.
²Ibid., p. 68.
³Ibid., p. 70.
⁴Ibid., p. 89.
⁵Ibid., p. 43.
⁶Ibid., p. 47.

This idea was that from 1929 to the second coming of Jesus there will be exactly seven popes, and the seventh one would reign for a “short time.”

God is waiting for people, not popes.

With a surface study of Revelation 17 in one hand and a February 12, 1929 San Francisco Chronicle headline, “healed wound of many years” in the other, advocates felt they had a valid Bible prophecy (though our pioneers taught a much longer healing process dating back to the 19th century). When Pope Benedict was elected, he was the 7th since 1929. And since he was 78, it did not appear that he would be in office very long and it seemed that the final crisis could burst forth at any time. However, Pope Benedict remained in office more than a “short space.” His reign was in fact longer than two of the previous popes noted in this interpretation (3. Pope John XXIII and 5. Pope John Paul I).

In addition, the election of Pope Francis I shows the interpretation to be false as he is the eighth since 1929. This fact, and that of the previous pope, number 7 who did not reign only for a short time or usher in the final events, was a crushing disappointment for some.

But for me at least, another pope was good news.

Many who have advocated this theory were devastated by the election of another pope. But for me at least, another pope was good news. The election of Pope Francis I helped debunk yet another newspaper interpretation. The gospel has survived a number of more recent false theories about the Second Coming, like Y2K, repeated Harold Camping predictions, the Mayan calendar scare, and now the 1929 interpretation.

The apostle might have included some of these predictions in his “rubbish” bin while directing us to “mature” our minds in the message of Christ our “Righteousness” (Philippians 3:8-15, NKJV). I hope you share our burden for this message that will “swallow up” all others (Review & Herald Extra, Dec. 23, 1890).

God is waiting for people, not popes. Not until the light of the character of the love of God illumines the darkness of every human being on Planet Earth, will we see a final end to sin and suffering. Amen.

Light Bearers has a complete outline on Revelation 17 (The Woman and the Beast) available as a free download here.

As he walked past me, he smiled. Or was it a menacing grin?

Sure enough, his seat was behind mine. In a matter of seconds, the kicking began. For the first hour his father repeatedly scolded him, threatening the little guy: “If you don’t stop kicking that man’s seat, you’re going to be in big trouble. Is that what you want, big trouble?”

It’s all a matter of how we represent the character of God in our approach to people.

It was all to no avail. I got the distinct impression that all the threatening dad could heap on the little rebel was only stimulating more rebellion in him. So I took the matter into my own hands. Turning around in my seat, I looked up over the seatback and said, “Hi, my name’s Ty.” I reached my hand down offering to shake his. Hesitantly, he grabbed mine. Smiling, I said, “What’s your name?”

“Quentin,” he said, not yet trusting me.

“Cool name. As soon as I saw you, I knew you must have a cool name,” I said with a corny laugh. He laughed in response. Now we had a connection. I pulled out a piece of paper and drew a funny picture of him with his name over it. He laughed again. Now he liked me and we had relationship, or at least the beginning of one.

Then I said, “Hey Quentin, I’m gonna try to read, so don’t kick my seat, OK?”

“OK, Ty,” he said with a smile. And he never kicked again.

Paul had something like this in mind when he said that we are “ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).

It’s all a matter of how we represent the character of God in our approach to people. People are responsive to relationships and resistant to pressure. We can either hand them “the letter” of the law, expressing the truth in terms of requirement and forbidding, oughts and nots, in which case we can expect failed promises at best, rebellion at worst, or we can present the heart of God, as revealed in Christ, and watch them warm up and become affectionately responsive to Him.

The term “new covenant” is jam-packed with brilliant significance. It basically means, the Law of God internally formed by the motive power of love as opposed to externally imposed by the self-defeating cycle of guilt.

Paul goes on to articulate the powerful engine that drives the new covenant:

“We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Beholding the beauty of God’s character in Christ is the catalyst for transformation in the new covenant. In Christ, God extended His hand and His heart to us. He knew that merely dictating rules would never change our hearts. But when we look into His face and realize He likes us, everything changes. Now we’re eager to do what pleases Him.

The human body has a certain speed at which life processes must occur for health and survival to be maintained. Cellular functions operate according to a biological clock. If these interactions and reactions occur too slowly, life cannot be sustained. This is what makes enzymes very important. They keep things happening, fast.

You have heard the generalization that man can live for about three to five weeks without food and three to five days without water. However, we would live only three minutes without enzymes? Enzymes are proteins with amazing abilities. They function as catalysts, compounds that increase the rate of chemical reactions. They were designed to attach, activate, and adjust their conformation to specific molecules, like other proteins, to form a desired product. After releasing their product, enzymes return to their original form to do it all over again, at mind staggering speeds. Without enzymes, reactions such as those involved in nerve conduction, heart contraction, energy production, and digestion of food would occur at a sloth’s pace, and we would die in three minutes.

There is good evidence that food enzymes play a positive role in health and digestion

Inside cells there can be thousands of different enzymes that have a unique shape and location for specific chemical reactions and outcomes. Each enzyme has an active site where coenzymes, like zinc, copper, and vitamins partner in biochemical activity. There are three main classifications of enzymes: metabolic, digestive, and food. Metabolic enzymes run and maintain the body. They are found in every single cell. Digestive enzymes break down the food we eat into absorbable, usable components. Food enzymes are found in raw foods. In plants they serve to harvest the energy of the sun, protect the plant, and promote its survival and reproduction.

In the 1800s, Sylvester Graham advocated increasing raw plant food consumption. He called the simple diet he recommended, “the food of the first family.” Advocates today give a variety of reasons for consuming a raw food diet, or a diet with a significant proportion of raw. Their strongest argument is based on the belief that plant enzymes benefit humans. The enzyme theory states that:

1. Food enzymes possess a ‘vital life force.’
2. People have a finite ability to produce enzymes over their lifetime.
3. Insufficient digestive enzymes lead to poor health, chronic disease, and premature death.
4. Cooking destroys enzymes in food.
5. Food enzymes are important for human digestion.¹ 

Dieticians and authors, Brenda Davis, RD and Vesanto Melina, MS, RD, researched the tenets of this theory. Their conclusion is that “Raw food offers many advantages, and food enzymes are among them. There is good evidence that food enzymes play a positive role in health and digestion, although the role appears somewhat different, and less critical, than what proponents of the food-enzyme theory have suggested.”² Let’s look at some of the evidence.

All enzymes have a pH and temperature range in which they are active. Outside of that range they are either inactive or denatured. This is why cooking pretty much destroys most enzymes. Raw food enzymes passing through the extremely acidic environment of the stomach also contributes to the destruction or inactivation.

When food is chewed, or ground up in some way (chopped, blended) food enzymes are released and activated. These enzymes remain active in the blender (raw food blended into a smoothie), mouth, and even in the upper part of the stomach. When food enters the stomach, it hangs out in the upper segment for approximately 40 minutes. It is thought that perhaps here, salivary as well as food enzymes work and are beneficial. After this stop however, the food enters the lower section of the stomach where it is mixed and churned with hydrochloric acid. Ph levels change dramatically. Here, the enzyme pepsin is produced and secreted. Pepsin is the only enzyme known to survive, be activated, and thrive in the acidic pH of the stomach. As a result, the chance of food enzymes entering the small intestine (and being absorbed into the body) is not highly likely. Enzyme researcher Stephen Rothman states, “I am unaware of any evidence that suggests that enzymes in raw vegetables or fruits at quantities normally eaten, can substitute for our digestive enzymes or provide substantial assistance in the digestive process. Nor am I aware of any evidence that they pass safely through the acid environment of the stomach or are not rapidly degraded when they reach the intestines. . . .”³

The enzyme theory premise, that there is a limited amount of digestive enzymes in the body and that we cannot make digestive enzymes to reboot supplies, lacks scientific evidence. Researchers have found that instead, the body conserves digestive enzymes by reabsorbing, recycling, and reusing them. In addition, the contribution of raw food enzymes to the total digestive process is quite small. For example, amylase activity in a glass of carrot juice is 20-30 U/L whereas amylase in saliva is 200,000 U/L. If we had to rely on food enzymes alone, without digestive enzymes, “we would starve to death in short order.”⁴

From a scientific perspective, the enzyme theory appears rather weak. However, this does not mean that an individual cannot be greatly benefited from eating more raw food. Raw plant foods provide an amazing array of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidants. In fact, there are a couple of enzymes that stand out when dealing with cancer. Myrosinase is an enzyme found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, and even radishes. Myrosinase converts specific phytochemicals into active forms which are absorbed into the blood stream and are known to inhibit cancer growth and kill cancer cells in the body.

Allinase in allium vegetables like onion and garlic converts the phytochemical alliin to an active form possessing antimicrobial, antithrombotic, lipid lowering, antiarthritic, and anticancer activities. This conversion occurs when the plant has been juiced, blended, mashed, chopped, or chewed. Cooking these foods destroys much or all of these two enzymes. The anticancer potential of consuming these raw foods is exciting.

What do you imagine as the diet of the original family? Some people view it as a Paleolithic diet based on the hunting and gathering of cavemen. I see a family whose parents had once partaken of Edenic food picked fresh from trees, vines, and bushes, who made sure to include these in their daily fare, giving their children a reminder of that better land.

¹Brenda Davis RD, Vensanto Melina MS, RD, Becoming Raw, Book Publishing Company, 2010, p. 210.
²Ibid, p. 224
³Ibid, p. 218
⁴Ibid, p. 214

Some of you have confessed, though, that the health section is the first section you turn to (you know who you are). Others have shared how the health article was the right information at the just the right time for a personal need.

Often extra copies of the health article have been ordered to share with friends and relatives or to be placed in doctors’ offices and other outreach venues (this is one of the reasons Alive is a stand-alone tract). We recognize that the circulation of our health publications is a most important work. It is a work in which all who believe the special truths for this time should have an interest. Now, as never before, the minds of the people everywhere are being deeply stirred to investigate the principles underlying true health transformation.

In His dealing with men, Jesus sought to prepare the mind for the reception of truth.

When Risë and I began dating 25 years ago we believed God was calling us to do a double work for Him, combining the gospel and health. After we were married, we traveled everywhere together with Risë giving a short health lecture before I preached. We experienced that in giving attention to this branch of the work, prejudice was removed from minds that had been barred from the reception of truth. We still believe that this matter must not be passed over as nonessential. When people become intelligent on the question of health reform, the way is prepared to give attention to the present truth for these last days. In this way, our health literature is the helping hand of the gospel, opening the way for the truth to enter.

In His dealing with men, Jesus sought to prepare the mind for the reception of truth. He made inroads into the mind by the gentle introduction of light and by healing them physically.

True religion and the laws of health go hand in hand. It is impossible to work for the salvation of men and women without presenting to them the need of breaking away from gratifications which destroys health, debases our soul, and prevents divine truth from impressing the mind.

When someone’s personal health is helped, an interest is created that may not have been piqued, to see or read anything about important Bible subjects. Truth that comes to people on the return of health grabs their attention.

Many people are down-and-out and often looked upon as hopeless, but when one comes disinterestedly seeking to encourage them, taking an interest in their physical well-being, they will come to respect the genuine interest in their spiritual well-being also. Then their lives can be radically changed and God can use them to reach out to others. This is one reason why Light Bearers wants to fill your hands with good health material while God fills your hearts with the love of Christ for others.

We need to, “Educate, educate, educate.”¹ Young people can go out among the crowds, doing their utmost to share health principles, because, as never before, there are many in the world who are anxious to know more in regard to a better lifestyle.

Now is the time to focus more attention on the circulation of the health principles. Every member of the church should work earnestly to share health literature as much as we do gospel literature. Risë and I have seen in our united ministry that there is no friction between the gospel and health. They blend together in perfect unity.

The health message will reach people that otherwise would never have been reached by the truth. There is a great necessity for labor being put forth to help the people, believers and unbelievers, at the present time by health talks and publications. This is why Light Bearers has made the health message a consistent part of our ministry, in meetings, publications and at our yearly convocation. This message, we believe, has a permanent place in the proclamation of the gospel to all the world. The Lord has shown His regard for it by giving it abundant prosperity. And God will continue to prosper every effort you make in the Spirit of Christ to minister to a hurting world through the combination of the health message and the gospel. Amen!

¹Ellen White, Colporteur Ministry, pp. 131-134.

I’d been watching Natalia’s condition for two months via online video chat from Australia. She was obviously getting worse, but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw in that room. She looked like a completely different person, so small and fragile. Cancer had wreaked havoc on her, it got to her bones, spine, liver and finally her brain.

It began with a lump. I called everyone I could think of: friends at Loma Linda, Weimar, Harvard and everywhere in between. We counseled with cancer survivors. Then came the mastectomy. She wasn’t comfortable with chemo, so we followed up with cleanses, herbal remedies and juicing like crazy (she should’ve turned green with all that wheat grass). But those wicked little cancer cells came back with a vengeance to finish what they started.

The only thing I can cling to is the resurrection of Christ.

It’s sad, she was too young. The fourteen year old daughter she leaves behind is a reminder of the bad timing of all this. It was painful to watch Natalia suffer but it was also painful to watch my wife grieving. She stood there with her brother realizing that their mom was gone.

Mourning over the loss of our loved ones has got to be among the most difficult things we’ll taste in this life.

It’s difficult for my wife to be in this house without her mom around. Everywhere she looks there is a reminder of her absence: her slippers by the bed, the Russian shawl on the banister, her Chanel perfume in the bathroom, that vase we got her for Christmas.

Jesus Rose, We Will Rise

The sobering reality is that, should time linger, death will come knocking at my door. So at the end of the day, I need to know that this is not the end. That death is not the postlude, just an intermission. I need to know that this is not the whole show. But I can’t access this kind of optimism from anything in this world. There’s simply no basis for it.

The only thing I can cling to is the resurrection of Christ. It’s real. It actually happened. Without this reality, there’s no such thing as hope.

I anchor my life to the resurrection of Christ for many reasons:

• it’s the climax of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
• it’s the foundation of my faith (1 Corinthians 15:14,17)
• it was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies (Acts 2:25-36) which tells me that God keeps His promises.
• it reminds me that Christianity is not merely another world religion. It’s anchored on historical facts to ground its theological claims. And one of those stubborn facts is that the tomb was empty.

But this week I’m celebrating the truth that the resurrection of Christ is a bullet-proof guarantee that we will rise again.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:14)

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)

Vendetta On All Things Evil

Death is the most stubborn undeniable reminder that we live in a fallen world. “Enemy occupied territory,” as C.S. Lewis put it. But Jesus was a game changer that Sunday morning. He turned the tables on the devil and beat death at death’s own game¹:

He also became a human being, so that by going through death as a man he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might also set free those who lived their whole lives a prey to the fear of death. Hebrews 2:14,15 (Phillips)²

The resurrection of Christ announced a vendetta against the kingdom of darkness. It was a straight up threat. It announced that Jesus will take death by the neck and choke it into non-existence.

That day is coming, no doubt. But for now, I’m satisfied with Jesus telling me: “I hold the keys of death and Hades” Revelation 1:18 (NIV). In this very room I’m writing from, the room Natalia died in, Christ taunted the devil with those keys and dangled them in his face.

The resurrection was a deathblow to all things evil. It robbed death of its terrors. “Be calm my child,” says the empty tomb, “Death is just a sleep, and the grave is just a bed where you rest from your labors.”

The resurrection of Christ announced a vendetta against the kingdom of darkness.

As a kid, I was afraid of that haunted house we’d visit on Halloween. It was scary: the horror costumes, the creepy noises and screaming, the diabolical props, the eerie music. And the only thing that made it all work was the fact that it was dark in there. But then someone turned the lights on and all of a sudden it wasn’t scary anymore.

I live in a world that sometimes feels like a haunted house. But Jesus switched the lights on. The devil’s kingdom ain’t scary no more.

This Easter holiday we’ll be lowering Natalia into the ground. The letters will be placed: R.I.P. But our mourning will be tempered by a powerful reality. As the poet put it: “When death dies, all things live.”³ We know of a day when a trumpet blast will cut through the dirt and crack through that coffin at Forest Lawn Cemetery, when King Jesus shouts:

“Natalia, rise!”

¹ I love that line from Andrew Peterson’s song “Hosanna”, Resurrection Letters, Vol. 2
² J. B. Phillips, “The New Testament in Modern English”, 1962 edition by HarperCollins
³ Michael Gungor, “When Death Dies”, Album: Ghosts Upon the Earth

A group called the King’s Messengers, sponsored by the East- Central Africa Division, recently paid a series of visits to a prison in Nairobi housing 3,500 men. Rather than merely preach, the King’s Messengers conducted free medical check-ups and offered treatments for the sick. Seven hundred inmates were treated in conjunction with nursing and medical staff from the Adventist University of Eastern Africa Baraton, based in Kenya. Benson Obolla, one of the leaders of the ministry, said, “We were the first outsiders ever to be allowed to conduct a medical camp in the prison and the authorities were very excited with the results.”

Once the ministry of healing hands softened the hearts of the inmates, the King’s Messengers offered the King’s message by placing in each inmate’s hands, a Bible and a set of study guides provided by Light Bearers. As a result, says Obolla, “we baptized 213 prisoners.”

Those men in Nairobi are behind bars for a reason, and the reason reaches deeper than their deeds. There is a more fundamental bondage that lies behind their physical bondage.

We were the first outsiders ever to be allowed to conduct a medical camp in the prison and the authorities were very excited with the results.

Incarceration is the native condition of all human beings. The apostle Paul says all of us are “slaves of sin” (Romans 6:6).

At the core of our bondage is a deep-seated “enmity [hostility] against God” and His “law” of other-centered love (Romans 8:7; 13:10). And that enmity is rooted in the fact that we have believed lies about God, which in turn arouses mistrust and rebellion in our hearts (Genesis 3:1-11). This internal bondage—ingrained in our mental, emotional and spiritual natures—is the root cause of all the external actions that bring us into social, relational, and physical bondage.

But freedom may be ours, by one powerful and empowering means.

There is something very specific that every human being needs in order to be set free from bondage to sin. Jesus pinpointed the catalyst of our liberation in these words: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

By loving her without condemnation, Jesus set her free internally. Then, in the illuminating light of his forgiveness, He empowered her to be free externally, on the behavioral level.

But what truth, precisely? Lots of things are true, but they do not necessarily constitute “the truth” of which Jesus speaks. Fortunately, we don’t need to guess what Jesus had in mind because, in the immediate foregoing context, He clearly revealed the truth that sets us free. In fact, He actively applied that truth to someone’s heart and she was, indeed, set free.

I speak, of course, of the Savior’s epic encounter with the woman caught in adultery, recorded in the earlier verses of John 8. Like all of us, she was in a condition of internal bondage to a false conception of God. As a result, she was also in external bondage to a life of sin. As she lay there on the ground in tears before Him, weighed down with her shame, Jesus spoke the truth that set her free: “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (John 8:11). By loving her without condemnation, Jesus set her free internally. Then, in the illuminating light of his forgiveness, He empowered her to be free externally, on the behavioral level.

A crowd had gathered by now to witness this woman’s encounter with God in the flesh. Once she had been liberated by the power of His love, He turned to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Jesus is telling them that His forgiving love is the light the world needs. He has also made clear that the condemnation projected upon the woman in God’s name, holding her in bondage to sin, is the darkness we all need liberation from. It is in this context that Jesus spoke His famous words, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Clearly, then, the truth that sets us free is the truth of God’s non-condemning love revealed in Christ.

That’s what those inmates in Nairobi encountered as loving hands sought to bring healing to their bodies and the light of truth was then delivered into their minds by the agency of gospel literature.