You watch people go into a grocery store. Watch them go down the aisle, plucking things off the shelves and putting them into their cart. They don’t read what the contents of the thing is!

<p>You watch people go into a grocery store. Watch them go down the aisle, plucking things off the shelves and putting them into their cart. They don’t read what the contents of the thing is!</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Amazing Facts

How to Postpone Your Funeral

Joe Crews

01 How to Postpone Your Funeral?

The average person in the United States consumes 1, 488 pounds of food every year.

On any day of the year, there are 1 and a half million Americans flat on their backs in hospitals.

What's the relationship between diet and disease?

I'll be back in a moment with some amazing facts about postponing your funeral.

Hello, this is Joe Cruz and the Amazing Facts broadcast, facts which affect you.

You know the world today is desperately trying to discover an answer to the problem of overpopulation and threatening starvation.

Our own affluent nation can hardly visualize the fact that millions of people go to bed hungry every night.

In contrast to the malignant malnutrition problem of many other countries, our greatest chronic health problem seems to be obesity or overweight.

The amazing fact is that the average American consumes 1, 488 pounds of food every year, and this is undoubtedly a large factor in the 1 1⁄2 million hospital patients who fill American hospitals every day of the year.

Did you know that God has given a prescription in the Bible for postponing your own funeral?

It is found in Exodus 15, verse 26, listen, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes.

I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, that healeth thee." Now right here You find the secret for a long, happy life.

If we obey God and follow His commandments, we will prosper in both body and soul.

It is not God's plan, in other words, that any of us should be sick or diseased.

We will find in our study today that heaven has given a plan to the world, whereby we may enjoy abundant health.

These laws are just as certain and predictable as the laws of nature.

Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

If a man follows the rules, he can reap a harvest of good health, But bad dietary habits bring disease and death every time.

Well, it is impossible, of course, to separate the matter of diet from our subject today because millions of people are almost literally digging their graves with their teeth.

Poor habits of eating and drinking account for a large portion of deaths and disabilities in this modern age.

Now you may be asking, does the Bible really have something to say about what we ought to eat and drink?

And friends, if there is any relationship at all between good health and religion, then the Bible should certainly be concerned with this question, and indeed it is.

Listen to this text in 1 Corinthians 10, 31, 31.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Now let's read a text that will forever settle whether or not our health is a spiritual matter.

In 1 Corinthians 6, verses 19 and 20, What know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Now, friends, what a solemn thought this presents to us.

Some people feel they can treat their bodies just like they please, and it is nobody's business, but that is not true.

His Holy Spirit is to inhabit these body temples, and we must preserve them for that holy purpose.

What is to guide an individual in the question of food and eating and drinking.

Should we follow appetite and allow that to be our rule in the way we eat?

Isaiah 55 says we should eat that which is good.

Our appetite can be perverted and lead us to actually destroy ourselves.

So let's turn to the Bible now and see if there are some rules given which might apply in our case.

Now in the beginning God created a beautiful, perfect world and put our first parents in it, And then He specified the kind of food He had ordained for the human family to eat.

Maybe you didn't know about this text in Genesis 1, 29, but it says this, Genesis 1, 29, God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, and the which is the fruit of a tree, yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat." Now there it is, friends.

This is the perfect diet for maintenance of health.

He knew what elements were necessary to keep it strong and growing.

Of course, nobody would dare question the Creator about this provision.

Now Henry Ford, of course, made the Ford automobile, and no 1 knew better than he the kind of fuel to burn in that car.

And when God said, fruits, nuts, grains, and vegetables were the best diet for His creation, we should accept that without any doubt or question.

Now, friends, these 4 great pillars of a perfect diet were fixed right in the very beginning, nuts, fruits, grains, and vegetables.

Well, it just wasn't included in the original diet of mankind, friends.

In fact, meat was never used by human beings as far as we know, apparently until after the flood, at which time God permitted the use of certain clean animals for food.

Now the reason for this extra provision becomes clear as we study the case more closely.

Remember now that Noah took the clean animals into the ark by sevens and the unclean animals by twos.

You can read that in Genesis 7, verses 2 and 3.

Now God had a purpose for this arrangement.

After the water subsided, of course, all vegetable matter had been destroyed, and God allowed the clean animals to be eaten for the first time.

Now perhaps you are wondering which animals are clean and which are unclean.

Why did God make any distinction in them back there, even in the days of Noah, so that He took in certain ones by sevens and certain ones by twos?

Some people seem to think that only the Jews were to be careful about the food they ate.

But the distinction between clean and unclean foods goes all the way back to the Flood, in fact before the Flood, before there were any Jews in existence at all.

In Leviticus 11, 3-10, God lists the rules which govern the eating of flesh foods.

Notice verses 3-7, "...whatsoever parteth a hoof, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth a cud among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof, as the camel, because he cheweth a cud, but divideth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you.

And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be cloven-footed, yet he cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you.

These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters, whatsoever hath fins and scales on the waters, and the seas, and the rivers, them shall ye eat.

And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you, ye shall not eat of their flesh." Now notice, friends, something very interesting.

Those animals which are forbidden as food seem to be the very ones that Satan has created an appetite for today.

The swine, for example, has been accepted in the world as good food, and yet God says not to eat it, not to touch it.

I don't believe that we necessarily have to prove the scientific reasons for God's prohibition in this matter.

If God says it is unclean, I believe it, I accept it.

But it is interesting to read what modern research has established about the hog.

Pork contains a tiny microscopic worm called trachina.

And if it gets into the system, the disease trichinosis results.

And governments warn that there's no inspection for this parasite.

And in the Reader's Digest some time ago, there appeared an article entitled, Must Our Pork Remain Unsafe?

Notice a few statements now about trichinosis.

It said, A single serving of defective pork, even a single mouthful, can kill or cripple or condemn the victim to a lifetime of aches and pains.

For this unique disease, trichinosis, there is no cure.

With no drugs to stop them, the worms may spread through the entire muscular tissues of the human system.

1 of 2 things then happens depending on the intensity of the infection.

Either death ensues, or a successful effort is made by nature to throw an enclosure or cyst around each of the teeming parasites, which then becomes dormant although they remain alive for years.

All that the best doctor can do as yet is to conserve the patient's strength and try to relieve the painful local symptoms as they appear.

What these symptoms are, the layman had much better not worry about.

Trichinosis can simulate to some degree almost any other malady.

That pain in your arm or leg may be arthritis or rheumatism, or it may be trichinosis.

That pain in your back may mean a gallbladder involvement, but it may mean trichinosis." End of quotation.

And you know, the American Medical Association Journal said something about this infestation of Americans with trichinosis.

Several years ago in 1 of their journals they said this, 1 would conclude that they are presumable of the following percentages of trichina infestation in American cities, Washington, D.C.

24.6%, Minneapolis and Rochester 31.5%, San Francisco 43%, Boston 49.7%, an average of 37 infestation of the urban population of the United States." Now that statement, as I say, was made a few years ago, and I don't have the very latest statements on it, but, friends, suffice it to say that God indicated that it was not to be eaten, it was unclean, it was unfit for food, and, of course, it will cause problems.

God says, if you want to be healthy, you keep My laws, and obey My laws.

Now some have thought that thorough cooking of the meat might destroy the Dracina parasite.

But surely, friends, one-third of the American population didn't eat their pork raw or half-cooked, and not even a few years ago.

No, no, God knew what the body of man needed for food, but He said, Don't eat the swine.

Other animals also mentioned as unfed include the fish that don't have fins or scales.

Some may ask just why God made these unclean animals if they are not to be eaten at all?

Well, the obvious answer is they serve the purpose of being scavengers on the earth.

02 How to Postpone Your Funeral

Last year, $9 out of every $10 spent for medical needs was spent to cure illness.

Only $1 out of $10 was used to prevent illness.

Increasing tobacco sales in the face of lung cancer medical reports also point out the amazing fact that Americans wake up too late to postpone their funerals.

♪ Hello, this is Joe Cruz from the Amazing Facts Broadcast.

Perhaps the subject of most vital interest to every human being is how to postpone one's funeral.

Life itself is the sweetest gift that anybody possesses, and the greatest causative factor behind unhappiness is that dreadful toll of sickness and disease.

Millions of people live in daily fear of languishing in pain through some possible future disease.

In spite of the tremendous advances made in medical research, the world continues to suffer under the weight of much mysterious unexplained illness.

Now how does all this scene of human misery affect the great God of the universe, friends?

Believe me, he is not pleased to see his creatures suffer.

His plan for us has always been clearly revealed in the Bible.

He wants us to be strong and in good health.

But mankind has largely ignored the basic rules of taking care of that body which the scriptures laid down long, long ago.

God says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, and how true that is, especially in these days of physical and moral excesses.

1 of the strangest paradoxes of American life is found in this area of health.

Though people fear sickness above every other enemy, yet they do almost nothing about taking care of their health until after disease is already struck.

In a year's time, 1 out of every dollar spent on medical needs, 95 cents was spent to get well by the average American, and 5 cents was spent on preventive medicine.

Now this doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?

But in this field most people don't seem to excel in reason or good sense anyway.

It reminds me of a group of tourists in Spain who had gone there to visit 1 of the old historic monasteries.

Up on the side of a cliff there was this ancient monastery that they wanted to visit.

Well, after they had toured the monastery, they were being lured back down the side of the cliff, and the only way to get up there was in a basket that was pulled up over a pulley by some of the monks.

And as they were getting into that basket to be lured back down, they noticed that the rope was rather frayed.

And so they asked the monk in charge there, How often do you change the rope?

And the monk said, Oh, we change it every time it breaks, of course.

Well, that wasn't much comfort to those who were being lured down in that basket that day.

But friends, the care and control of one's body requires self-denial and self-discipline, and these characteristics are not very popular in the soft, materialistic world that we have inherited.

Now, perhaps you haven't realized it before, but there is a marvelous relationship between good health and good religion.

A sick, weakened body can't really give full, true service to God and His commandments.

But do we realize that human bodies and systems are exactly the same as they have been for thousands of years?

Also, the basic laws of our being have been unchanged for generations.

Doctors, drugs, and diseases may change drastically as time goes along, but the human machine is essentially the same as when God made it at the very beginning of human history.

The laws which govern our health are also permanent and unchanging.

Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap.

That is merely repeating an eternal truth that applies to every age and every people.

And you know something, friends, the practices which kept grandpa healthy will doubtless be good for us.

And by the way, some of the more simple and natural remedies are still recognized as being the most effective.

Fresh air, exercise, plenty of water, lots of sleep and relaxation, They're standard prescriptions of modern physicians just as they were a generation ago.

Unfortunately, under the 20th century scheme of things, people will not slow down to enjoy the benefits of these reliable remedies.

Medical doctors also seem to find it easier and faster to just give an injection or a pill instead of utilizing some of those longer treatments more in line with nature's operations.

There is certainly a need for every new medical aid to combat disease, but there remains a lingering question that we are depending too much on drug medication instead of the slower but more genuine benefits of natural therapy.

If the preventive practices of good living habits could be used against illness, many of the emergency drug medications would never be needed today.

Well I want to deal today with another health and life destroying habit that has recently received worldwide publicity.

I have a list of several reasons here why tobacco smoke is wrong in the body.

First of all, of course, it contains nicotine, which is 1 of the most deadly poisons known to man.

And besides nicotine, there are hundreds of other active poisons also found in the tobacco smoke, believe it or not.

And if you want to see what those poisons really look like, just blow the smoke through a white handkerchief and observe the yellowish deposit on that cloth.

Just a half drop of pure nicotine placed on the bare skin of a small rabbit or rat will immobilize the animal and knock it unconscious almost instantly.

In every cigarette there are 2 or 3 drops of that pure nicotine.

Now not all of it, of course, is absorbed into the body of a person when he smokes that cigarette, because if it were done, that person would probably die immediately.

In fact, there is no doubt that he would.

But slowly those poisons are assimilated into the system, and slowly the lungs are coated with that fatal tobacco tar.

The narcotic effect soon makes a man an addict so that he craves more and more of the tobacco with its nicotine effect.

Now many people, of course, claim that it quiets their jittery nerves.

Of course, it is true that narcotic nicotine gives a temporary sedative effect, but so does a tenth of a grain of morphine give that.

But the sedative wears off in a little bit, and those jangled, aggravated nerves begin to cry out for more and more, and thus nicotine is poured into the system to overcome the jittery feeling, and the end result is more addiction.

Habitual smokers have bodies that are simply saturated with the poisons of tobacco.

You know, 1 cigarette will often cause the blood pressure to rise 10 to 15 points.

That's because it contracts the arteries, causing the heart to overwork in pumping the blood through the constricted vessels.

And that's why some smokers, in fact, many of them, have yellow discolored fingertips.

The tiny blood vessels are so constricted that circulation is not adequate in those extremities to keep them healthy.

The Mutual Life Insurance Company checked on the mortality among tobacco users and abstainers, and they found that among the tobacco abstainers there was but 59% of the expected mortality rate.

The total abstainers lived nearly one-third longer than the tobacco users.

Now this is pretty good evidence on how to postpone your funeral, I would say, friends.

Books could be written about the massive research into the deadly effect of nicotine on the body.

Since the Surgeon General's first release on the subject, every new study has documented more supporting information.

Nicotine, as I said, is probably the most deadly poison known to man.

Millions have died as a result of the malignant influence of it.

By constricting the arteries of the body, that nicotine is forced into those constricted arteries by a heart that is overworked.

And of course, lungs have become riddled with carcinoma.

Hardly an organ of the body escapes the insidious effect of that deadly nicotine poison.

There is no sense in denying a patent truth.

Anything that defiles the Holy Body sanctuary is a sin.

God says He will destroy those who do it.

It's a sin, and no Christian should presumptuously shorten his life by introducing it into his body.

Few church members would consider taking even small microscopic doses of, let's say, arsenic or strychnine into the body.

And yet they take something just as deadly.

Slowly the tobacco tars coat the delicate membranes of the lungs until death results.

It is exactly the same when men and women deliberately inhale the toxic fumes of tobacco until the accumulative effect of it causes death.

It is morally wrong to take God's property and violate our stewardship and rob Him of His possessions.

And what couldn't we say about the waste of money on tobacco?

Most smokers spend $50 or more every month for their indulgence.

By retirement time, this would amount to $25, 000, enough to guarantee a fair life income, even if Social security fails.

And yet many of those who waste that money on tobacco come to the end of life penniless and dependent on welfare or relatives.

No wonder God said, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

We can surely see by now what a serious matter it is to desecrate the physical body and mind which were created for a specific spiritual purpose.

This principle of being accountable to God for the way we take care of our bodies is rooted deeply in the Bible, but millions are becoming health conscious today just to avoid the painful effects of neglecting their bodies.

And it is so true that that reason and good judgment alone should provide enough motivation for a balanced diet and exercise program.

Well, sometimes logic and even scientific evidence has a tremendous conflict with appetite and also social customs and addiction.

Caffeine, for example, is a dramatic illustration of this.

There's a growing catalog of research that points to caffeine as a pernicious enemy of good health.

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02 How to Postpone Your Funeral

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