Biblical Health is Holistic...,God's Way to Optimum Health

I grew up near Allegan State Forest in Southwestern Michigan where I did a lot of hunting. When walking in this huge preserve all I saw was the towering pine, oak, and hickory trees. I literally could not see the forest for the trees.

In dealing with illness and disease, a Christian and the health care profession often focuses so hard on the physical causes of a problem, they fail to treat the whole person.

In Luke 2:52 the Bible says that “Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and man.” One can conclude that there are four parts of a properly developed man including mind, body, spirit, and social. While these divisions help understand the nature of man, it is not a good model for approaching health.

I work full-time in health care, and I volunteer as a part-time minister which involves counseling. In these capacities, I observe the wasted effort in treating physical, mental, social, and spiritual conditions independently.

Traditionally our system works where the doctor or medical practitioner takes care of the physical ailments of a person. The psychologist or therapist takes care of the mental and social disorders. The minister takes care of the spiritual side of man. This appears on the surface to be a good division of labor, but it is based on a false belief—that man can be so conveniently divided in four distinct parts.

In my profession as a chiropractor, I must be on guard to avoid thinking of patients who come to the office as solely low back, neck, or arm pain patients. I must continuously remind myself that every health problem in varying degrees has a physical, mental/social, and spiritual component.

These parts—the physical, mental/social and spiritual—are inalterably interconnected and inter-related. An imbalance of one creates an imbalance in the other. A change in one results in a change in the other. An improvement in one results in an improvement in the other. Optimum health results only when all are addressed.

When we have a physical aliment, we must train ourselves to go to God in prayer and ask some questions. We should ask God to show us any spiritual or mental/social problems that might be contributing to this physical ailment.

Am I angry and resentful toward someone? Have I failed to forgive them? Do I have a clear conscience? Should I ask for forgiveness from someone I wronged? Is there some area of disobedience toward God? Do I have some harmful habits that contribute to this ailment such as poor dietary choices, lack of exercise, negative thinking, and so forth?

It is helpful to ask for insight from someone who loves us and knows us well as we are often blind to our own behavior. “The wounds of a friend can be trusted,” Psalms 27:6.

Sometimes God chooses to heal us as a direct answer to our prayers. However, God works best to heal the physical when the spiritual and mental/social issues are addressed. Healing of only the physical will produce temporary results.

Let’s not fall into the trap of believing that since we have gone to the doctor and gotten some pills or treatment for our condition, we have taken care of the problem. Dig a little deeper for spiritual and mental/social components. This approach will bring the abundant health we were designed to enjoy.

Alpha-amyrin, alpha-bergamotene, ......

Alpha-amyrin, alpha-bergamotene, alpha carotene, alpha-caryphyllene, alpha-humulene, alpha-ionone, alpha-ketoglutaric-acid, alpha-phellandrerne, alpha-pinene, alpha-terpinene, alpha-terpinol, lpha-tocopheral, anilene, arabinoside, rginnine, ascorbic-acid, ash, aspartic-acid, 2 methoxy-3-sec-buty-pyrazine, 3,4-dimethoxy-allyl-benzene, 5,7 dihydroxy-2-methyl-chromone, 6-hydroxy-mellein, 6-methoxy-mellein, acetadehyde, acetone, acetycholine, barium, benzoic-acid-4-0-beta-d, glucoside, benzylamine, bergapten, beta-amyrin, beta-bisabolene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanithin, beta-farnesene, beta-pinene, beta-sitosterol, bitene, biphenyl .

Borrneol, borrnyl-acetate, boron, bromine, butyric-acid, cadium, caffeic-acid, caffeoylquinic-acid, calcium, campesterol, carbohydrates, carotatoxin., carotol, caryophyllene, carophyllene-oxide, chlorogenic–acid, choline, chromium, cis-beta-bergamotene, cis-gamma-bisabolene, citric-acid, cobalt, copper, coumarin, cyanidin-diglycoside, csytine, d-glucose, daucic-acid, isocitric-acid, isoleusine, isopinpinellin, isoprene, kaempferol-3-o-beta-d-glucoside, kilocalories.

Lauric acid, lecithin, leucine, liminene, linoleic -acid, lecithin, leucine, limonene, linalool, linoleic-acid, linolenic acid, lithum, lupeol, luthein, luteolin-7-0-beta-glucoside, lycopene, ltsine, magnesium, maltic-acid, maltose, malvidib-3,5-diglucoside, manganese, mannose, methionine, methymine, mevalonic-acid, molybdenum, mufa, myristic-acid, myristicin, n-methyk-anilne, n-methyl-phenethylamine, neurosporene, niacin (B), nickel, nitrogen, non-2-en-1-al, nonan-1-al, oleic-acid, osthole.

Oxepeucedanin, p-coumaric-acid, p-cymene, p-hydroxybbenzoic-acid, palmitic-acid, palmitoleic-acid, pectin, pectinesterse, peroxidase, phenyalanine, phosphorus, phytin, phytofluene, phytosterols, potassium, proline, protein, psoralen, pufa, quinin-acid, rhamnose, riboflavib (B), rubidium, sabinene, scopoletin, selenium, serine, sfa, shikimic-acid, silicon, sodium.

Starch, syearic-acid, stigmasterol, strontium, suberin, succinic-acid, sucrose, sulfur, syringic,-acid, taritaric-acid, terpinen-4-ol, terpinolene, tetradecenoic-acid, thiamin (B), threonine, tin, titanium, toliuidene, teans-gamma-bisabolene, tryotopjhan, tyrosine, uronic-acid, valine, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin E, vitamin K, water, xanthophylls, xantotocin, xylthol, xlose, zinc, and zirconium.

This is a list of 222 of the known nutrients and phytonutrients skillfully placed in the carrot by God. The truth is that scientists have not come close to identifying all of them and never will.

What this means to us is that we should never take for granted the health and wellness power of the humble carrot (and other fruits and vegetables). Mankind will never duplicate in the laboratory these miracle foods that commonly grow in our fields and gardens.

These foods are best grown in soil that is naturally fertilized—free of pesticides and herbicides. They reach their fullest nutritional potential when eaten close to nature with little processing. Many nutrients and phytonutrients are fragile and so are destroyed with over-cooking, and with the addition of various chemicals.

Let’s hear it for the carrot. What a mighty God we serve!

Salt that is good for your health

I just read an article by Dr. J. Mercola about the effect of natural and unnatural salt in the diet. Processed salt is 97% sodium chloride, heated to1200 degrees, with chemicals such as aluminum and iodine added. Not the way God intended for it to be.

Natural, unprocessed salt is 85% sodium chloride with about 84 trace minerals naturally occurring. This salt actually improves your health—blood pressure, mood, heart disease—while making the food taste great. Only a rare person needs to restrict this kind of salt.

When we tinker with God’s design for food, we will always mess things up.

Natural salt is great medicine as well. It can used as a soak for rashes, decongestant for sinus problems (1/5 teaspoon for 3.34 oz of water inhaling fluid), and gargle for sore throat.

Prescription Drugs and God's Temple

Prescription Drugs and God’s Temple

The Apostle Paul admonished us in I Corinthians 6:19 to regard our physical bodies as the “temple of the Holy Spirit”. He also told us not to harm this temple which was “bought with a price”. Without knowing it, we can harm our bodies just by going to the doctor to get well.

In the world today the most profitable of corporations are those that produce drugs for everything that ails us. These chemical compounds are with few exceptions unnatural to the human body and when taken have from minor to very serious toxic effects on the body. The average person takes these without thinking twice because they are prescribed by their doctor.

We can thankful for the advances in science that has made many of these life saving drugs available. But only a few of them are lifesaving, and most could be replaced by less toxic and more natural remedies which are equally as effective.

As a Christian we must be careful not do anything that will harm our bodies and this includes properly prescribed drugs. We need to ask our doctor and pharmacist some questions. We should ask if there is a natural remedy for this problem, what are the side effects of the drug, and ask them to print out this information for study.

According to the Center for Disease Control, one of the biggest causes of death in America is from legally prescribed drugs (over 100,000). Drug overdoses and interactions are a major cause of hospitalization. Drugs are dangerous and should be used only when a safer alternative is not available.

I tell in my book about an elderly patient that was on 18 prescription drugs. With her doctor's help, she was able to reduce this to 2 prescriptioins , and reported feeling better than she had in twenty years

Take a look at the drugs you taking. Could any become unnecessary with a change in lifestyle such as reduction in stress, a better diet, or more exercise? Perhaps the prayers of the saints need to be sought. Caution: never stop taking a medication without the guidance of your doctor.

Design Beyond Our Understanding

I watched a Nova segment on PBS tonight concerning the scientific struggle to understand the natue of heat and cold and the process to create in the lab the coldest temperature possible..273 degrees C.



Scientist have reached within 1 billionth of a degree of absolute zero and found the very nature of matter changed. There were no longer atoms with electrons but now a strange acting substance that did n0t behave like a gas, fluid, or solid but consisted of waves flying at randon.



Mankind often has a hard time believing in anything that cannot be measured or observed or experienced with the 5 senses. As we delve more deeply into the mysteries of the world, we discover phenomina that cannot be explained to human satifaction.



We can be confident that an Almighty God understands it completely because He designed it down to the most intricate detail. When we accept this fact, we will explode in worship to the Creator of all things great and small. What a mighty God we serve.

I'm Beginning To Eat Like Christmas......

The holidays are a challenging time for me. As soon as I see those enticing, sugary treats, view that bowel of "Texas trash", and smell the aroma of the briskett baking in the oven, my primal instincts take over giving me the desire to eat everything in sight. I eat too much, I eat the wrong things, and I feel terrible afterwards. I ask, "Why?"

I'm doing better than I used to do. My wife does in fact fix "treats" that are healthy and devoid of white sugar, and she does arrange the treats around the house to discourage stuffing.
And maybe the unpleasant experiences of previous holidays have taught me, "It simply isn't worth the temporary fix I get from junk food to endure the discomfort."

I don't know. With such wonderful times that go with the holiday....family, laughter, good feelings, God's goodness....it is a shame to ruin it by eating too much and eating "junk". Couldn't we just change our customs a little to exclude anything that is harmful to the body.

We might be amazed to know that God designed foods which are complete nutritionally, but are also wonderful to eat. I'm afraid in this "already made to eat" world, homemakers have lost the art of preparing the food as God designed it without altering its nutritional content. <

Just a thought.

Creator's Design Low Tech --Affordable

In a time in the United States where health care expenses are spiraling out of sight and a significant part of the population is without health insurance, we need a better approach to health care, and it’s not national health care. God figured this problem out from the beginning.

It is a well-accepted fact among health experts that over 80 percent of the diseases that affect us in our country today are lifestyle mediated. This means the way we eat, work, rest, exercise, handle stress, cause these health problems. Modern medicine has to use high- tech therapies to repair the damage from what could have been prevented by the
simple life.

It appears most us would rather spend $40,000 plus for heart surgery and endure the dis- comfort and disability associated with it, rather than follow the Creator’s simple wisdom for health.

Believe me the original, low-tech design is much less expensive and a whole lot less painful. It does require reeducating ourselves and going counter to our culture, and being perceived as some kind of “nut”.

Instead of eating 50 percent of food at fast food restaurants and serving primarily processed foods from the grocery store, we need to get most of our groceries from the produce section. Consuming these foods as close to their original condition as possible will insure we get the vitamins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, fats, fibers, anti-oxidations, and 1000s of phytonutrients both known and unknown required for good health.

How about when we do get sick? The Good Lord has this covered as well by creating hundreds of inexpensive herbs for many of these conditions. Also, it might just help to slow down a little, decrease the stress, rest some more, spend time in prayer and meditation, and give the body’s natural disease defense a chance to work. (Forgive me if this idea sounds too radical.)

You mean you believe we will never need to see the doctor? No, I’m not saying this at all. We are blessed with the availability of many compassionate and capable health care providers. But, why not try the low-tech approach first before having it cut out (do we not think God might have put it there for a reason) or taking a prescription which the chances are pretty good a research study will show it causes some other disease later.

Admittedly the Creator’s original design appears too low-tech and too simple for a modern society surrounded by scientific advancement. The facts are that it works better than anything mankind has ever designed, and I suspect will ever design. Remember, God never makes mistakes.