1. So he traveled in from the countryside where he had has little farm, and he located a car dealer in that city.
2. Imagine the farmer's chagrin to discover that everything seemed to be an ADD-ON OPTION with the new car.
3. Have you noticed that? "Oh, you want the steering wheel? Well that's another $100? The tires, too? $100 each? Etc, etc."
4. He protested to the car salesman, but the salesman smiled and shrugged and said, "That's the way we do business around here, Farmer Brown."
5. So with much grumbling the farmer went ahead and purchased the new car.
6. A few days later imagine the farmer's surprise to see the car salesman who had sold him his new car drive up to the farmer's home: "Hi, I remembered you--and since my wife and I are buying a place out in the country, we wanted to buy a cow from you? Can you sell me a cow?"
7. The farmer's eyes lighted up: "Can I sell you a cow? COME ON IN!"
8. The car salesman sat down and asked: "How much will that cow cost?"
9. "Well, let's see" replied the farmer, who pulled out a pad of paper and pencil and began to jot down the price:
   1. One basic cow--$250.
   2. Two-tone exterior--$50
   3. Genuine cowhide upholstery--$75
   4. Dual horns--$50
   5. Product storage compartment--$60
   6. Dispensing device, 4 spigots --$25/spigot--$100
   7. Automatic fly swatter--$50
   8. Total, exclusive of tax and delivery--$635

1. Well, that depends on who sets the price.
2. Illus: Scientists say the average human body has enough FAT to make 6 to 8 cakes of soap; enough IRON to make one medium size nail; enough LIME to whitewash a small chicken coop; and enough SULPHUR to rid an average size dog of fleas.
3. Calculating for inflation, that could put your net worth at around $12-15.
4. But how much are you really worth?
5. Illus: In God's eyes, look at the price tag! I Corinthians 6:19,10 (p 1102)--You were bought with a price!
6. And what was the price-tag in the currency of heaven? I Peter 1:18,19 (p 1162)--Not with silver or gold, but we were bought with the blood of Christ Himself!

1. We may call them our home--but He calls them His temple!
2. "You were bought with a price."
3. And when you're worth that much--it makes all the sense in the world to take very good care of that investment!
4. Moreover, with that astronomically high investment that Someone else has made in you, you can be certain the One who PAID THE PRICE will do everything He can to PROTECT THE INVESTMENT!

1. III John 2 (p 1172)
2. John 10:10 (p 1037)--but then what would we expect a friendship with God to offer, if not the ABUNDANT LIFE!
3. I Thes. 5:23 (p 1137)
   1. Please note: very much in vogue with today's New Age emphasis on wholeness, is the Bible's profound appeal to its readers to experience a deep, integrating wholeness of mind, body, and spirit.
   2. Illus: The Latin motto of Andrews University, in fact, captures that wholistic ideal: mens, corpus, spiritus--mind, body and spirit--mental, physical and spiritual wholeness.
4. Which of course has everything to do with our health--as our last text powerfully demonstrates--Exodus 15:26 (p 66).

1. Dr. Breslow obtained a U.S. Public Health Service research grant to study whether the practice or non-practice of seven specific health habits would have any effect on the rates of death that might occur as a result.
2. He interviewed 7000 people, asking them to what extent they might practice the seven health habits he had selected, and then tracked the death rate among this group of people over a period of nine years.
3. Here are the seven questions the researchers asked the 7000: [screen]
   1. Do you smoke?
   2. Do you drink alcohol, and if so, to what extent?
   3. Do you get regular exercise?
   4. How many hours do you sleep every night?
   5. How much do you weigh?
   6. Are you eating breakfast regularly?
   7. Do you snack between meals on a regular basis?
4. (Some of you are already answering these questions in your mind and are expecting to die immediately!!!)
5. Dr. Breslow had a hunch that these factors might have something to do with human longevity--how long people live.
6. The astounding results verified his hunch 100-fold!

1. But then, are you surprised?
2. After all, does it not follow that the One who created us would be the One who knows best how to maintain at optimum efficiency and productivity the very creation He created in the first place?
3. Illus: When you purchase a new automobile--and it's been a long time since I've had that luxury, since car prices are becoming prohibitive in this country--where do you turn to find out how to operate that shinny new machine?
   1. You turn to the glove compartment, of course!
   2. And there inside, in a crisp plastic case, is the OWNER'S MANUAL.
   3. And who wrote the owner's manual?
   4. Why of course, the one who created the car in the first place.
   5. YUGO owner's manuals are written in Yugoslavia--TOYOTA owner's manuals are written in Tokyo--and FORD and GENERAL MOTORS and CHRYSLER owner's manuals are written in Detroit.
   6. Because if anybody knows how best to operate that new and intricate piece of machinery, IT CERTAINLY OUGHT TO BE THE DESIGNER AND MAKER!
4. Now it's true--THERE IS NO LAW THAT REQUIRES YOU TO OBEY THE OWNER'S MANUAL.
   1. And when you get your brand new car home you have every right in the world to laugh at that manual and say, "Ha! Nobody's going to tell me what to put in MY OWN car--so I think today I'm going to pour sand in my gas tank!"
   2. Can you do such a thing? But of course!
   3. "And then tomorrow, I'm going to pour sugar in my radiator and tar in my carburettor and glue in my windshield washers!"
   4. "AFTER ALL, I'M FREE TO DO WHATEVER I WANT!"
   5. And of course, my friend, you are free-- free to do whatever you want to that marvellous new creation--BUT YOU'LL BE JUST AS FREE TO SADLY HAVE YOUR CAR TOWED TO THE NEAREST REPAIR SHOP AND FREE TO SPEND THE HUNDREDS OF EXTRA DOLLARS!
   6. ALL BECAUSE YOU CHOSE TO IGNORE THE OWNER'S MANUAL.
5. Reread Exodus 15:26--the 10 C's give the basic broad sweep of our Creator's directions--but the "statutes" are where our Maker gives greater detail on how we can best care for these creations.
6. Illus: Read Exodus 23:25 (p 74)--PLEASE NOTE: Following the guidelines of this Owner's Manual, God declares, can even reverse the onslaught of illness and debilitation!

1. Through their slick, conscienceless marketing deceptions they have duped and tricked millions and millions of young people--particularly in the Third World--into beginning the lifelong habit of smoking.
2. They don't care why you get started, they only care that you become addicted enough to be forced to have to buy their death-ridden product for the rest of your shortened life!
3. Illus: There is evidence now in the United States that tobacco manufacturers have actually heightened the nicotine content in cigarettes in order to more effectively hold their customers in lifelong bondage!

1. It is now thoroughly documented by the horrible statistics of lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema that the use of tobacco is a guaranteed method of COMMITTING SLOW MOTION SUICIDE!
2. Illus: Dr. Linau Pauling--one of the few scientists to win TWO Nobel prizes--calculated that every cigarette you smoke takes 14.5 minutes off of your life!
3. Illus: The Sloan-Kettering Institute of Cancer developed a smoking machine that extracted tobacco tar from cigarette smoke--and when they painted that tar on the backs of laboratory mice, the mice developed cancer indistinguishable from human cancer.
4. Today we know that there are 29 different CARCINOGENS or cancer-producing chemicals in the smoke of every cigarette.
5. 80% of all emphysema cases are caused by cigarette smoking.
   1. A victim of emphysema can breathe in but he/she cannot breathe out.
   2. And so they slowly suffocate to death, drowning in their own body fluids.
   3. It is a terrible way to die.
6. And because smoking contracts the blood vessels and constricts the flow of blood in the body, a smoker has a 25% greater chance of having a heart attack than a non-smoker.

1. Research now shows that women who smoke during pregnancy are damaging the blood vessels of their babies.
2. Children who live in smoke-filled homes suffer more childhood illnesses.
3. Second-hand smoke is now shown to cause cancer in a non-smoker!

1. I have watched hundreds of smokers kick their habits and rid their body temples of this destroying poison!
2. Oh yes, it takes an immediate flushing of the radiator system of the body to rid the body of the nicotine poison.
3. Illus: And because caffeine is also a drug--and is now being linked to major human illness--the quitting smoker does the best when he omits caffeine containing drinks from his diet.
4. (By the way, every human being would live better and feel better were caffeine containing beverages--from coffee to tea to colas--eliminated from the body!)
5. Instead, a fruit juice/water flush of the system is vital.
6. You'll be visiting a certain room in your office and home more often than you ever have before, but that's the whole point--FLUSH THE SYSTEM CLEAN!
7. And for some--chewing gum or chewing on carrots (don't chew your fingernails) is helpful.
8. Exercise is a tremendous replacement addiction that can rewire your neuro-muscular habit that you've developed with your cigarettes--take a fluid and a walk break in the middle of your periods of usual, heightened craving--first thing in the morning, after lunch, before or after dinner.
9. Illus: Speaking of exercise, Dr. Breslow discovered that in fact regular exercise had a greater effect on life expectancy than any other factor in his list of seven!
   1. For all of us, exercise is a natural tranquilliser and helps reduce both stress and risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.
   2. It's not only a must for the smoker who is quitting smoking, it's a vital necessity for everybody who wants to live a healthier, longer life!

1. Jot these powerhouse promises down.
2. John 15:5 (p 1043)
3. Phil. 4:13 (p 1131)

1. Actually it was one tree in particular that this flock of cedar waxwings spotted--a very visible berry tree in the downtown district.
2. And loving berries, as waxwings do, they had a banquet!
3. But after their feeding session had gone on for a while, passers-by began to notice very erratic behavior on the part of the song birds: they started toppling out of the tree--50 of them managed to take off from the branches but flew straight into the convenience store window next to the tree, and a handful died.
4. Turns out the berries in the tree were fermented--and the birds were drunk!
5. And they were all arrested for FUI--flying under the influence!
6. The world could learn a lot from those birds!

1. He can peer through that instrument into the blood vessels in their eyes and study the coagulation of the blood carrying oxygen to the brain.
2. He can determine by examination how many drinks an individual has had.
3. His warning: Alcohol consumption cuts off oxygen to the brain.

1. In order to grow His friendship how or where does God speak to us? Of course, He speaks to us through our brains.
2. Which explains why Lucifer is so obsessed with destroying the human brain through alcohol!
3. Illus: In this country it's called DUI--driving under the influence--
   1. And it is a national shame to note the statistics of drunken driving deaths every year!
   2. BECAUSE WHEN YOU'RE UNDER THE INFLUENCE, YOU CAN BE SURE--IT ISN'T THE INFLUENCE OF GOD!
4. Why do you suppose drinking and sexual immorality go hand in hand, drinking and crime, drinking and evil? BECAUSE Satan is thus able to shut down the powers of human reasoning, and your MORAL CONSCIENCE is stilled/drugged while you are under the influence!

1. Illus: 2 out of every 5 people who use alcohol develop a serious drinking problem....40%!
2. Illus: Listen, if you had a dog that bit only two of five people who came to your house, and it sent them to the hospital for a long time, would you keep that dog around? [Not if I were next door. :) ]
3. Then don't play the fool--and convince yourself that you're the one who can socially drink without effect or danger!

1. He did--but you don't think He created six jars full of alcohol so that the entire wedding party would become soused, do you?
2. Illus: Both the Hebrew and Greek words for wine (yayin and oinos) refer either to the fresh, unfermented juice of the grape or the fermented, intoxicating drink we call "wine" today.
3. Therefore, Bible students must always study the CONTEXT of each reference and word.
4. The reaction of the guests at the wedding is ample evidence to conclude Jesus did NOT contradict what He inspired Solomon to write--instead He created the lush, fresh, invigorating juice of the grape for that wedding feast: "This is the best and sweetest wine we have ever tasted--you have saved the best till last!"

1. If ever there were a time when we needed to be set free from the life-destroying addictions of Lucifer, it is now!
2. IF YOU WOULD LIKE FREEDOM FROM ALCOHOL, the same two promises we shared for smoking apply to drinking:
   1. John 15:5--Apart from Me you can do nothing.
   2. Phil. 4:13--I can all things through Christ who strengthens me.
   3. Once again, on your knees, you can pour your heart out to Him who has all the POWER in the universe to set you free.
   4. REMEMBER: God is so committed to your freedom that He will not force you to live contrary to your own choice--but the moment you ASK Him, you give Him permission to release His supernatural power on your behalf.
   5. LIFE IS A BATTLE BETWEEN THE FORCE OF GOOD AND EVIL.
   6. When you pray, you are inviting the winning side to join you in your battle!
   7. So ask with all your heart--and God will answer with all His power!

1. Absolutely! You don't think the Creator of this marvellous organism would forget about what kind of FUEL is best for optimum efficiency and health, do you?
2. Illus: That's why you can read words like these in I Cor. 10:31 (p 1106)

1. Illus: Notice what diet God intended for Adam and Eve in the beginning--Genesis 1:29 (p 1)
2. There it is--vegetables, grains, nuts and fruits--the diet of a vegetarian.
3. Adam and Eve never had to worry about MAD COW disease in the beginning, because they never had to rope a cow and then kill it in order to eat.
4. There was no death in God's perfect plan--the diet for the human race was as natural as natural can be! Nobody ate their vegetables second hand.

"From a global viewpoint, one of the gravest threats to Earth's ecology, as well as to human health, is the overconsumption of beef. Now, for the first time in history, ecology groups are joining animal protection, anti-hunger, human rights, family farm and health groups to launch the first world-wide campaign to reduce the population of cattle and the consumption of beef. Please join us. It will benefit your health and the planet too."

1. The ad then listed 8 ecological reasons for abandoning beef consumption: Personal health, animal suffering, rain forest destruction, global warming, water pollution and scarcity, desertification (the diminishing of food-growing land), world hunger, and the preservation of family farms.
2. And with each reason there were a mound of corroborating statistics.
3. But personal health was their number one reason:

   "The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that 70% of deaths in the United States are related to diet, especially for overconsumption of beef and other saturated fats. Americans now eat 25% of all the beef consumed in the world, a habit that all reputable research has linked to heart disease, colon and breast cancers and strokes. Foreign countries that have lately adopted American diets have shown similar accelerating disease rates. Aside from smoking, there is no greater personal health risk than meat eating."

4. Looks like God knew what He was doing when in His Owner's Manual He prescribes the natural, organic, vegetarian diet, doesn't it!

1. Illus: But actually those changes did not come about until AFTER the flood.
2. And that makes logical sense--since the flood did destroy all plant life initially.
3. And so for that reason God makes an important distinction to Noah as he boards the ark with his seven family members--Genesis 7:2 (p 6)
4. Long before there were garbage disposals there were some animals who functioned as SCAVENGERS, living garbage removers.
   1. Those speciality animals were not to become speciality foods for humans, neither were they to become sacrifices--for God declared them UNCLEAN.
   2. And He did that, by the way, long before the Jewish race ever existed!
5. Because it's a GOOD HEALTH PRINCIPLE--good for all time--based on what the Creator knows about those scavenging beasts, their anatomies and their eating habits.

1. But there are some that chew the cud but don't split the hoof, and some that split the hoof but don't chew the cud--THESE, the Creator declares, ARE NOT FIT FOR YOUR CONSUMPTION.
2. Illus: I hope you're not disappointed that we'll have to give up our MacDonald's camel-burgers--because God does forbid the camel.
3. Illus: Interestingly enough He warns us against another scavenger--v. 8!
4. Cows, OK--unless they have MAD COW disease--but pigs, NO.
5. Why?
6. #1, do you know that ounce for ounce no meat is higher in fat than pork--and overconsumption of fat has become the great contributor to our modern illnesses--by clogging our arteries and precipitating heart disease.
7. Illus: And #2, a Dr. McNaught, no relation to MacDonald, examined pork specimens in the San Francisco meat markets and found that one out of four had living trichina larvae in them. (Trichina are parasite worms that can invade the human system causing the disease, trichinosis, a potentially fatal disease.)
8. Illus: Autopsies done on Egyptian mummies have revealed that many of them were infected with trichina worms.
9. Exodus 15:26--"Obey my statutes, God counselled Israel, and none of the diseases of Egypt will be yours."

1. I.e., only 5% of the women in Dr. Breslow's study who practised all 7 of the health habits in question died during those 9-years, whereas 12% of the women died who practised only 3 or less of those health habits.
2. That means that the women who practised 3 or less of Breslow's 7 health habits were 140% more likely to die during that 9 year period than were the women practising all 7.
3. The more of the 7 health habits a woman practised, the less likely she was to die during that 9-year period.
4. With the men, the results were even more pronounced--again, only 5% of the men who practised all 7 health habits that were being evaluated died during that 9-year study, whereas nearly 20% of the men who practised 3 or less died--a nearly 400% difference.

1. Think about that for a moment. That means you can actually grow younger by improving your lifestyle--not indefinitely, of course, or you'd never die, but you get the point.
2. Dr. Breslow found that those who practised all 7 of these health practices not only experienced better health, but lived an average of 11.5 years longer than those who practised 3 or less of them.
3. That's absolutely amazing!
4. If you could develop a pill that people could take every day that would lengthen their lives by 11 years, you could become famous and very rich!

1. "I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly."
2. My friends, that's what a friendship with God offers us all! The more abundant life.
3. A life without the shackles of drug-induced habits....a life set free from the lifestyle diseases that have become the scourge of our civilization!
4. "I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, good health!"
5. "For your body is the temple of My Spirit--and by My death I purchased your life."
6. "Therefore, whether you eat or whether you drink or whatever you do, do all to My glory."
7. "For I am the God who heals you!"

1. Illus: Peter Dimitru, Russian author of Incognito, tells the story of a forester in one of the great Eurasian forests, where long wooden chutes had been built on the hillside to slide tree-trunks down the slope to the valley and into the river.
2. These wooden chutes were hundreds of yards long--smooth and polished inside and very slippery--and the foresters would sit on the floor the chute or an their axe-handle, and they'd go tobogganing down the chute to save themselves the trouble of walking down the hillside.
3. As one forester was sliding his way down to the valley floor one day, his foot got caught in a hole in the chute, and he couldn't get it free.
4. As he struggled to free himself, he froze as he heard a shout of warning from atop the hill, signalling that a tree-trunk was on its thundering way down the express chute.
5. He turned up and saw the thing hurdling straight towards him.
6. But his foot was jammed--he could not get it out.
7. So with a split second remaining, he grabbed his axe, chopped off his foot and leaped clear just in time!
8. As Dimitru put it, he was crippled for life, but at least he was alive.

1. For too long you've been jammed in the hole of that habit, and tonight you realize that it's going to kill you in the end.
2. My friend, God has all the power you need to make your decision and find your freedom.
3. But you're the one who is going to have to decide.
4. Don't try to whittle this habit out of your life, drink by drink or cigarette by cigarette.
5. IT'S TIME TO CUT IT OUT....RIGHT NOW.
6. AND YOUR DIVINE FRIEND AND SAVIOR HAS ALL THE POWER IN THE UNIVERSE TO ANSWER YOUR PRAYER.
7. Why don't you decide to ask Him right now.
8. Better yet let's ask Him together right now.