With Open Face

David Clayton 

One of the most terrible consequences of sin is that it has distorted our concept of God. This is the tragedy of the ages. and the great goal of the plan of restoration is the renewal of a true concept of God throughout all creation. The fact of this terrible distortion is clearly illustrated in the behaviour of our first parents after they disobeyed God.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (8) And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (Gen 3:7-8)

It is an interesting fact that before God came visiting, Adam and Eve devised a plan. Their plan involved sewing fig leaves together to cover their nakedness with the hope that this qualification would be adequate to enable them to appear before God. But when God appeared, they discovered that our own provision is never good enough to qualify a person to stand before God. When they heard His voice it instantly became clear to them that there was nothing they could do to make up for what they had done and they fled to hide from the face of God.

Let us take note of the fact that it was not God who chased them away, neither was it God who hid from them. God came looking for them. God was not ignorant of what had happened, He knew exactly what they had done, but still, He came looking for them. Had God's attitude towards them changed one iota because they had taken the forbidden fruit? Absolutely not!! True love does not change. A father loves His children when they are good and when they are bad, whether they fail or whether they succeed, a father loves just the same. So God says, “ I am God and I change not …” (Mal. 3:6). Therefore, God went looking for Adam and Eve as His custom was, even when they had rebelled against Him. God's attitude towards them didn't change.

The Hiding of God's Face

But something had happened, there was no question about that, and what had happened is the greatest and most tragic consequence of sin. Man ran to hide from God, His Father and best Friend. The reality of this change in man's attitude towards God is illustrated in other instances in the Bible. Consider Moses' encounter with God on Mount Sinai:

And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: (23) And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen. (Exo 33:22-23)

It is clear that God's action in this encounter with Moses was intended to be illustrative. God could have shown Moses some kind of face while veiling His glory if He had chosen to do it. When Jesus appeared to Abraham with the two angels, Abraham did see his face and speak with Him in open, face to face communication. So when God told Moses, “you cannot see my glory and live,” God was trying to teach a lesson which has deeper, spiritual implications.

And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. (Exo 33:20)

This was in response to Moses' request, “I beseech thee, show me thy glory. ” This is interesting when we compare it with something the apostle John says in John 1:14. He says,

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

John says, “we beheld his glory, ” but God told Moses, “no man shall see my glory … no man shall see my face and live.” So God hid His face and showed Moses His back parts. There are spiritual implications here which we need to consider. What does God's glory represent? It is God's character which is represented as His glory. In this experience with Moses God was teaching the lesson that it was not possible for a human being to behold the full reality of what His character is like. Such knowledge would be overwhelming to the point of being destructive to fallen man. So what did God do? He showed Moses His back parts. How do we apply this in a spiritual sense?

Man's sinfulness not only makes him afraid of God, but it also distorts the image of God in his mind. When Adam and Eve ran to hide from God He had done nothing to cause them to be afraid of Him. His attitude towards them had not changed, but tragically, their understanding of God had changed and because of their distorted view of God, it was not possible for them to face Him.

Veiled in Darkness

God never changes. Every problem which arises from this sinful situation, every fear which we have of God, every reservation which we have concerning God is based on our misunderstanding of God, it is not based on the reality of who God is or of God's true attitude towards us. God does not impose conditions on us before He will accept us. For example, He does not say, “ if you are not good enough you cannot come close to me. ” When we have this kind of concept of God it is because we are still looking at His back parts, we have not seen His face. In 1 Kings 8:12 we read:

Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. (1 Ki 8:12)

Now this is a strange verse, because in other places we are given the understanding that God dwells in brilliant light. In every picture presented of Him, we find that He is hidden by blinding light, but here, Solomon declares that God has chosen to dwell in “thick darkness.” How are we to understand this? Well, obviously, God is speaking of the way He relates to mankind. In relating to humanity, God has to hide Himself in thick darkness because man is incapable of beholding the full glory of God. So God hides Himself in darkness, not for God's sake, but because of the limitations of humanity, and the misunderstandings which men have of God.

The reality is that these misconceptions have become so deeply rooted in human thinking that even today, among the best of us Christians, these misconceptions still persist and affect our relationship to God at every level. This misunderstanding of God is the factor which has the greatest impact upon our faith and most severely limits our ability to receive the blessings of God.

Yet, God had to dwell in thick darkness in relating to man because of man's incapacity to receive the truth of what God really is like. That darkness still envelops the mind of many people, even today. That is our real problem. But there is a wonderful thought found in 2 Cor. 4:3-6:

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: (4) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (5) For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. (6) For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 4:3-6)

When Moses asked, “show my your glory,” God answered, “you cannot see my face and live,” so God showed him His back parts. Now, here in the New Testament we are given the spiritual application of this. Here we are told that now it is possible to see the glory of God and to still live, because God has revealed that glory in the face of Jesus Christ! So it is possible today, to look upon the face of God and live. But of course, looking at the face of Jesus, what we see is not a physical display of light. When the Bible says we see God's glory in the face of Jesus it is referring to God's character, God's nature. God's attitude to humanity may be seen in full display, revealed in the “face” or in the life of Jesus Christ. This is the point, and in our studies of God, we have to view Him from the light which shines in the face of Jesus, otherwise our concepts will be wrong

Transferred glory

In the story of Moses' visit with God on Mount Sinai, we are told of a very interesting phenomenon which took place. It seems that by close association with God, some of that glory of God rubbed off on Moses.

And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. (Exo. 34:29-30)

Many times in the Bible we see this reality demonstrated. Truths relating to God's character are presented with a covering veil because people are not capable of understanding. Until we see Jesus as He is, the gospel will always be, to us, something covered with a veil, poorly and improperly understood. But God tells us that in Jesus Christ He has removed the veil so that all who will can look and see the full glory of God in all its splendour.

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. (15) But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. (16) Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. (17) Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (18) But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor. 3:14-18)

As we behold the face of Jesus without this veil, we are transformed into the same image by the spirit of God. This is what God has been doing for us; step by step He has been showing us the face of Jesus, that the veil might be removed that we might see and understand Him as He really is.

 

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Facts About Faith 

(Heb 11:1) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is based on fact. Nobody can have true faith in something which is not a fact. Now the verse says, “faith is the substance …” A substance is something which exists, something which has reality. Faith is that quality which allows you to take hold of already existing realities, even though some of these realities may be, at the moment, unseen.

Faith does not create the reality, it is important that we understand this, but faith provides a channel by which we may lay hold on reality. It is important to remember that whether we believe or not, that reality is there. Sometimes we get a wrong perspective of faith because we do not understand what James says in James 1:6,7

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. (7) For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. (James 1:6-7)

So we read this verse and we know that faith is critical. According to the verse, if we don't have faith we will receive nothing. How do we relate to this? We say, “God requires faith,” so we pray about something and nothing happens. We pray again and we say, “we need to believe!” So we try to believe and we pray again and … nothing happens. We are humans and we start to ask, “why wont you answer?” We start to question, “why is God so hard, doesn't he care about me? Can it be that my faith is not even as big as a mustard seed? Well, why wont God just answer on the basis of what I have, because I am sure that at least I have as much as a mustard seed.” We end up wondering just how much God requires and asking ourselves just what do we need to do to please Him.

But when we ask, “what does God require,” we put our hand on one of those false ideas which is pinned to the back parts of God, a falsehood which disappears when we take a good look at the face of God.

Let us consider a question: When we have exercised all the faith in the universe, what have we done for God? We have done nothing, absolutely nothing. We cannot make God better, nor make God worse by our faith, we cannot bring benefit to God by our faith, or our lack of faith. Is it God who sits down with His measuring stick assessing our faith when we pray and saying, “it is not enough, you need more faith?” This is how many of us see it and I believe this is one of the misconceptions which reveal that we are still looking at the back parts of God.

Right Faith

In Luke 8:43-48 we read the story of the woman who had an issue of blood and touched the hem of Jesus' garment. This is one of the stories in the Bible that I had to struggle with to some extent because there are some questions there for which I did not have answers. Here we see that the faith of the lady told her something: “If I can only as much as touch His clothes, I will be made well.” She did not plan to ask Jesus for healing, neither did she expect that He would find out when she touched Him. What she was after was the healing and her plan was not to ask Jesus for anything, her plan was to take something out of Him. She was even planning to do it secretly. This was the faith which the woman had. She had the faith that there was something existing in Jesus and she could take it if she wanted it. Was this wrong faith, or was it right faith? The thing is, her faith worked! How could it be wrong faith when it worked?

Notice that even Jesus supported what the woman did and commented on the rightness of her faith. First of all He says, “somebody touched me …” how does He know? He says, “I perceive that something (virtue) has gone out of me.” He didn't say, “I healed the woman,” He didn't say, “I rewarded her for her faith.” According to what He says, we are made to understand that it was not He who healed, but the woman who took the healing!! Then He says, “thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace …” This opens up a whole new world of thinking to our minds; Is God waiting till we have enough faith before He will act? Is it God who needs our faith before He will act, or is it we who need faith to take what is already there?

Remember the original point; faith is based on fact! A fact is an already existing reality. If it does not exist, if it is not already true then it cannot be a fact. Faith is the taking of what already exists. When we exercise faith we are not asking God to do something, we are laying hold on what God has already done. So God is not measuring our faith and saying, “when you reach 75 percent it will be good enough,” or, “you need to pump up your faith a bit more.” In other words, God has already provided the miracle, but the experience of that miracle is waiting on the hand of faith to take it.

When a person becomes a Christian does God save Him at that moment? Is that the moment when God provides salvation for that individual? The truth is, God saved all men two thousand years ago at Calvary, in Christ Jesus His Son. Salvation is not something which God has to accomplish all over each time we believe, it is only the moment when we lay hold on what has already been provided. It is when we, by faith, accept what is already true. When we appeal to people to turn to Christ, we are not making an appeal to God to do something, we are asking them to believe the truth. It is their faith which must take hold of the truth.

It is not God who needs our faith before He can bless, it is we who need faith before we can lay hold on the already given blessing.

(Mark 11:22-23) And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. (23) For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

This is an amazing verse, but Jesus begins by saying, “have faith in God.” Then He goes on to explain that if you have faith in God, you can speak to a mountain, and it will obey. If you speak the word of command and do not doubt in your heart then whatever you ask, you will have it!! Did Jesus really mean what He said here? Did He expect us to believe this and to take it seriously?

Do we really lack faith?

Faith is not hoping something will happen, faith is knowing that it will happen. Faith is illustrated when I step from my bed to the floor in the morning. I never question if the floor will hold my weight, I know it will. It is demonstrated when I jump into the air; I never question if I will return to earth. If I did, I would have to do some serious praying before I ever dared to jump. If this sounds like a trivial illustration, then the next time you stand on the edge of a high building or a cliff, think of what it would take for you to jump, believing that you will land safely, and you will realize that it takes faith to simply step on the floor or to jump into the air. We do have strong faith – in some things – faith so strong that we don't even give a second thought to exercising that faith. Jesus said that if we had the same kind of faith in God, trusting His good-will, His promises and His abilities so absolutely that we “do not doubt” in our hearts, then whatever we command (in His name) will be done, without the possibility of failure!!

But who can command a mountain to move and not doubt? This sounds like an impossible proposition. But we read the story in the Bible of a man who one day commanded the sun to stand still in the sky and the sun obeyed! (Josh. 10:12,13). Surely, that was a far greater challenge than the challenge of telling a mountain to move. I suppose there were a thousand ways that God could have defeated the enemies of Israel that day, but Joshua chose to command the sun to stand still and the entire system of gravity and the finely tuned balancing systems of the solar system were disrupted. Amazing things happened in the realm of physics that day, but Joshua had no clue of how massive was what he had commanded. He simply spoke the word of faith and the laws of the universe submitted to that word! This is the amazing potential which is available through the power of trusting God. When we claim the promises of God and we do not doubt then what is already ours in Christ appears in our experience.

The true nature of unbelief

Unbelief is really the great enemy of true Christian experience. It is the only obstacle which stands in the way of us and all the blessings of God. There is a verse in Matthew 25 which gives us a helpful understanding of the true nature of unbelief

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strowed: (25) And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. (Mat 25:24-25)

This is the parable of the talents. We know the story. The master gave to his three servants five, two and one talent respectively. Those who received five, and two talents went out and multiplied their talents in the master's service and returned twice as much as they had received. The one who had received one talent went and buried it in the ground because he believed that the master was a “hard man” who was unfair in his dealings with others. What point was Jesus trying to make? What was the problem with this servant? His problem was that his understanding of the master was faulty and because he had a poor picture of the master, he ended up doing nothing in his service.

We need to apply this to ourselves. Even people who are sons, sometimes have a wrong concept of their father. We see in the parable of the prodigal son that when he thought of returning home, he expected to be given the place of a servant. He did not know the true nature of his father's heart, but the father restored him to the full privileges of sonship without a second thought and in fact, never ever had any other intention in his mind. All the time he had only been looking for the opportunity to do it.

Our problem with God is not that we don't understand His power. Any idiot knows that there is a God and that He must be an almighty Being, capable of doing anything. The wonders of creation teach us this lesson. Everybody knows that God can heal the sick and raise the dead. The problem is that most people are like either the prodigal son, or they are like this unfaithful servant; they have a false concept of God's attitude towards them, of God's true character. Even the best of us sometimes believe that God has reservations in His love or good-will towards us. Remember that in the garden of Eden it was man who ran from God, not God who ran from man. God has not been holding us at a distance, it is we who have been holding Him at a distance. The real reason why we have been unable to access God's blessings is because we have had this misconception about God's attitude towards us

Blessings from the beginning

In the beginning, God gave man dominion over cattle, over birds, fishes – over the whole creation – including even microscopic forms of life. This dominion meant that man had the authority and power to command these things and they would obey. This is what dominion implies. This is the dominion which Adam turned over to Satan when he subjected himself to Satan and the principles of Satan. Therefore Jesus calls Satan, the prince of this world. But in 1 John 3:8 we are told that Jesus came to, “destroy the works of the devil.” These works of the devil which Jesus came to destroy, include the works of sin, but are not confined to moral sin only, but also the effects of sin in nature itself. Satan, in his role as the god of this world, learned how to manipulate the forces of nature, to create storms and “natural” disasters, learned how to manipulate germs and microbes to cause disease, suffering and death. Therefore the Bible teaches us that disease and sickness are also the work of Satan. Consider the following incident:

The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? (16) And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? (Luke 13:15-16)

Here we find the case of a woman who had been bowed down with a sickness for eighteen years. Notice what Jesus said when He healed her; He referred to her as somebody “whom Satan hath bound … these eighteen years.” Jesus declared that sickness is the result of Satan's “binding.” And so when He began His ministry He declared,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18).

He did not come just to bring forgiveness of sins and the power to overcome sin, He came to heal lepers, to cast out devils, to bring back sight to the blind, to make the lame walk, and when He sent out His disciples He told them,

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. (Mat 10:8)

Because Jesus came to overthrow the kingdom of Satan and to establish the kingdom of God.

Faith is The Key

When Adam and Eve lost their faith, this was not the only thing which they lost; Genesis 3:17,18 tells us,

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (18) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; (Gen 3:17-18)

Adam and Eve lost the perfect circumstances which had been given to them by God and now instead, were surrounded by pain, disease and nature mutated in such a way that it brought suffering instead of pleasure. Was it God who brought these circumstances upon the earth? Was it God who began to deliberately mutate creation and to cause these things to appear on the earth? No, Satan was the author of these things, but there is something else which we also need to understand. Satan established his kingdom on this planet and the principle of this kingdom is the principle of doubt. Not doubt of God's powers and abilities, but doubt concerning God's good-will. When Satan rebelled against God in heaven he did not doubt God's abilities or God's power, but he doubted that God meant well for His creatures. When he came to Adam and Eve in the garden, his lie was, “God does not mean you well.” They never doubted God's power, for they knew that He was their Creator, but what Satan got them to do was to doubt God's good-will towards them. They began to distrust God. This is the principle of Satan's kingdom, distrust of God and James tells us that when we distrust God the consequence is, “… let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. (James 1:6,7)”

What we see then is that the kingdom of God is a kingdom where faith accesses anything which belongs to God. When Adam and Eve were in that Garden, anything which belonged to God, belonged to them, they had dominion over the whole planet. When they lost this dominion, what did they really lose? Why was it that the world began to change shape and become distorted? It was because it had become a place where trust in God was not the prevailing principle. Distrust of God cut them off from the presence of God and when they pushed God out of their lives by unbelief, then the very atmosphere around them began to change. Therefore when the angels over the night sky of Bethlehem sang of the birth of the Messiah, their triumphant proclamation was,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:14)

So the main point of what we are considering is this: Where true faith in God is rekindled in man, the authority which God gave to Adam at the beginning is restored. Man is once again given dominion over the entire planet when we trust God again. God did not take this authority from man, it was man who pushed it away by unbelief. He stopped trusting God and in his state of unbelief, he could no longer command the animals, he could no longer command the elements because in the kingdom of unbelief God's blessings are banned. God's blessings are banned in Satan's kingdom because where unbelief exists, there is no means available by which we may take hold of them. These blessings are present in abundance, but where there is no faith, they are inaccessible. So unbelief is the basis of the kingdom of Satan and faith is the basis of the kingdom of God

As Jesus said, when we truly believe God, everything on the planet must submit to us - even if we command a mountain to move! This is why Jesus could command the storm to cease, why Joshua could command the sun to stand still in the sky, why Jesus could command the fig tree to be dried up etc. Where there is true faith, the entire planet is under our dominion. Every blessing provided by God is already ours, freely given and ours for the taking as we have need.

But there were people rubbing against Jesus constantly every day as He went from place to place. Many of them got no healing, but those who extended the touch of faith, those who recognized the grace of the Lord, those who acknowledged the power that was in Him, they got the healing which they desired. Let us extend the touch of faith understanding that it is not we who are waiting on the Lord, but that it is God who is waiting on us. The only way we can access those blessings is by exercising this faith in believing in what is already given to us, trusting in the good-will of God, acknowledging the beauty of grace and mercy which we see in the face of Jesus Christ.

We have spent a lot of time asking God for what He has already given. It is time for us to believe.

 

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God Will Not Turn Away

They who think lightly of praying for the Spirit of God, which Jesus assures us will be given in answer to prayer; or for the sick, whom James says the Lord will raise up in answer to prayer; or for any other blessing which is directly promised, really reproach God as if he would not fulfill his word. They are of those who are reproved because they "say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil;" Zeph. 1:12; or of the perverse ones who say, "The Lord hath forsaken the earth." Ezek. 8:12; 9:9. They think the Lord has no care for our wants, and will not regard our petitions. But he who hears the cry of the young ravens, and notices the fall of the sparrow of the field, and numbers the hairs of the heads of his children, will not turn away from their cry when they are in affliction.

No reason can be given to show that this promise of James is not of general application and for all time. The frequent references in this chapter to the coming of the Lord, prove that it may be claimed by those who live in the last days (see Jas. 5:1-8), who have the assurance that "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." J.H. Waggoner, The Spirit of God - p. 84, 85

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Think about it

You believe in behaviour which produces perfection.

I believe in perfection which produces behaviour.

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Jamaica Campmeeting Report

The Jamaican Campmeeting for 2011 has come and gone – inscribed into the records of history forever. As usual, it was a memorable experience for those of us who had the privilege of being present and it proved to be another occasion when we were able to glean not only memories to cherish, but also gems of truth to help us to strengthen and maintain our hold on Christ.

This year we had the campmeeting at a location which was perhaps the best of all the places where we have had campmeeting over the past 15 or so years. This year we were at the Moorlands campsite which is just about 25 minutes drive away from the little community of Albion in Manchester where the Restoration Ministries chapel is located. Actually, the campsite is only about 7 kilometers away, but the road is very bad in some places so it takes longer than would be expected to get there.

It is worth a little inconvenience to get there however, for the campsite is a beautiful place in the middle of lush countryside without another human habitation anywhere in sight. The grounds are spacious and well kept and the facilities are ample and clean. In fact, there are many bathrooms and toilets which are all supplied with hot water! A real rarity in a Jamaican campsite. Of course, the fees at this campsite were a little higher than we usually pay, but all who attended felt that it was worth the sacrifice of paying a little more for the additional benefits which we enjoyed. In addition to this, we actually had no other option this year as all the other places where we have been in previous years were all booked out early.

One outstanding feature of this years campmeeting was the fact that we had a large contingent of visitors from overseas. There were two visitors from Canada and seven from Germany. We also had brother Ken Corklin from the USA, although he no longer qualifies to be called a visitor as he is a settled fixture of our program year after year. Some of our visitors from Germany were unable to speak much English and three of them were almost totally unable to say anything at all in English, but the others could speak well enough to hold discussions and in fact, brothers Erwin Zoor and Marco Eier are quite fluent in the use of English and were able to translate for the others. In spite of the language barrier, there was no mistaking the smiles and friendly gestures and they soon became good friends with everybody – especially the children and younger ones who found it easy to communicate without words.

I developed a deeper appreciation for what we have when the visitors from Germany expressed their delight with the food which we have in Jamaica. They loved the yams, sweet potatoes, cassava, breadfruit and ackee etc.

One of these visitors, Sister Brigitte Klein found an easy way into the hearts of many of the people by utilizing a skill which she has. She is skilled in the art of massage and she was willing to serve anyone who felt the need of one. This made her quite popular with many of the ladies who took opportunity to get some relief for aches and pains and tired muscles.

The speakers at the campmeeting were more or less the same persons who have been ministering over the last couple of years, the usual Jamaicans in addition to Brother Ken Corklin being the main speaker. However, the focus on Christ and His Righteousness continues to stir deep interest and to bring revival to lives as we explore this subject more and more deeply. The theme of the campmeeting was, “Foundations of Righteousness,” and the different speakers all brought insight on how the Bible lays foundations which, when properly understood, all highlight the completeness of God's gift in Christ and the simplicity of salvation in Him alone.

Everybody came to the campmeeting with an air of anticipation. When the focus is Christ and His righteousness, what else would we expect? In addition to this, the recent focus on the baptism of the holy spirit has made people more aware of the living presence of Christ among His people and of His willingness to intervene in our lives. While there was the usual liveliness associated with the Jamaican campmeeting with many children and young people present, yet there was an evident air of reverence and expectation as the sense of God's presence affected the behaviour of everyone.

Of course one of the features of the Jamaican campmeeting is the musical emphasis and this year, there was no change in this respect. There was enthusiastic and spontaneous singing between meetings when people just gathered around the guitar or the keyboard and sang their hearts out. In addition, there was the usual fare of songs by the choir, assorted groups and individuals.

All in all it was not just a thoroughly enjoyable time, but also one which was spiritually uplifting and all who attended left with memories which will not be soon forgotten.

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Cancer Prevention 

Lenworth Frankson

Cancer is a preventable disease. There are some who will argue and oppose this thought but I consider this to be fact, not fiction. Dr. Lamont Murdock of Loma Linda University School of Medicine put it this way: “faulty genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.” All humans have inherited degenerate and imperfect bodies and there is nothing that we can do about this, however, most of us choose a lifestyle that plays a significant role in determining our health. All health problems may not be avoidable, but we have more control over our health than we may think. Research shows that a large percentage of cancer-related deaths - maybe even the majority - are directly linked to lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking, lack of exercise, and an unhealthy diet. Avoiding cigarettes, alcohol, and getting regular exercise are a great start to an anti-cancer lifestyle but to best support our health, we also need to look at our eating habits.

Before a person dies from cancer there are often dramatic changes in their physical and intellectual function. Some of these changes may include significant weight and muscle loss, loss of hair, memory loss, episodes of severe pain and even personality changes. It is definitely a disease that is feared and for good reasons.

All human beings have cancer cells in their bodies but not all are diagnosed with the deadly disease. This is because a healthy immune system destroys these harmful cells before they spread and cause problems to various parts of the body. The white blood cells of the immune system defend the body against the attack of harmful microorganisms. However, when too many microbes invade the body, the white blood cells and the immune system weakens and this triggers the development of cancer cells.

It is unfortunate that some folks feel that all they can do is hope that they never get cancer. What these folks don't realize is that the probability of getting cancer is largely dependant on their personal lifestyle and therefore to a large degree they can determine whether or not they are afflicted by this disease.

What we eat - and avoid eating - has a powerful effect on our health, and on how high is our risk of cancer. Without knowing it, we may be eating many foods that fuel cancer, while neglecting the powerful foods and nutrients that can protect us. If we change our diet and behavior, we can minimize our risk of disease and possibly even stop cancer in its tracks.

Some Warning Signals of Cancer

· A change in bowel or bladder habits

· A sore that does not heal

· Unusual bleeding or discharge

· Thickening or a lump in the breast or elsewhere

· Indigestion or difficulty in swallowing

· Obvious change in a wart or mole

· Nagging cough or hoarseness

These are not all the signs but some of the common ones. What is important is to pay attention to early warning signs of cancer and take the necessary steps in treating the disease while it is still curable. More important is preventing the disease before it occurs. As the old saying goes “prevention is better than cure”

Sugar and cancer

In a Swedish study researchers looked at specific types of cancers and found that both men and women with the highest blood sugar levels were more likely to have pancreatic cancer, urinary tract cancer, and malignant melanoma (the most deadly type of skin cancer) than those with the lowest blood sugar levels. The research also showed that women with high blood sugar may be more likely to develop cancer, even if they didn't have diabetes and that high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) wasn't tied to men's overall cancer risk. Doctors often can't explain exactly why one person develops cancer and another doesn't but as indicated earlier there is a complex mix of genetic and lifestyle factors that may affect cancer risk. What appears clear to me is that there is a definite link between high sugar consumption and cancer formation. There are a number of theories why these linkages exist but a full explanation for them is not yet clear. What is also true is that as sugar consumption rises, white blood cells' ability to destroy bacteria decreases. In the book, Proof Positive Dr Neil Nedley explains that there are about eight cancers that are linked to sugar consumption. These include colon, rectal, breast, ovarian, uterine, prostate, kidney and the nervous system. It is interesting to note that over a hundred years ago Ellen White also wrote that “…sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than meat” (2T, - 370). Today, research and studies strongly support the idea that both sugar and meat consumption are linked to cancer.

Focus on a plant based diet

It is an established fact that a plant based diet is the healthiest. There is much scientific research to support this. More importantly this is the diet that was designed by the Creator for man. This is the best diet for preventing or fighting cancer and includes vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

It might not be be practical for everyone to become completely vegetarian. There have been times and conditions when it was necessary to eat animals to survive but this is not always the case. The point is that our real focus should be on minimizing the intake of animal products as best we can and at the same time also, avoid processed foods as far as possible. The better option is eating “whole” foods, which are foods close to their original form. So, eating an apple instead of drinking a glass of apple juice or enjoying a bowl of oatmeal with raisins instead of an oatmeal raisin cookie is the healthier and more natural way to go. The bottom line is simply this: plants have less fat, more fiber, and more cancer-fighting nutrients than meat, animal products and processed foods. These three elements play a major role in supporting our immune system and helping our bodies to fight off cancer.

Eat a lot of fiber

Another name for fiber is roughage or bulk. Fiber is the part of plants (grains, fruits, and vegetables) that your body can't digest and one of its primary functions is to keep your digestive system clean and healthy. It helps keep food moving through your digestive tract and it also moves cancer-causing compounds out before they can create harm. The more natural and unprocessed the food is, the higher the fiber content. Meat, sugar and dairy, with its products, have no fiber. Dietary fiber may help prevent a wide array of health conditions, including several cancers, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases and, even, obesity.

Eat little or no meat

The World Health Organization has determined that dietary factors account for at least 30 percent of all cancers in Western countries and up to 20 percent in developing countries. When cancer researchers started to search for links between diet and cancer, one of the most noticeable findings was that people who avoided meat were much less likely to develop the disease. Large studies in England and Germany showed that vegetarians were about 40 percent less likely to develop cancer compared to meat eaters. In the United States Seventh-day Adventists were studied with interesting results. The results indicated that although nearly all members avoid tobacco and alcohol and follow generally healthful lifestyles, about half of the Adventist population is vegetarian, while the other half consumes modest amounts of meat. This fact allowed scientists to separate the effects of eating meat from other factors. Overall, these studies showed significant reductions in cancer risk among those who avoided meat. Harvard studies also showed that daily meat eaters have approximately three times the colon cancer risk, compared to those who rarely eat meat.

Eat more soy products

Soy is a more healthful source of protein than meat. The primary anti- cancer value of soy seems to come from phytonutrients which inhibit the growth of new blood vessels necessary for tumor survival. Soy also protects against colon cancer by blocking the carcinogenic effects of bile acids. Isoflavones also help regulate the production of sex hormones, which could affect the risk of prostate and breast cancer. Studies have also shown that women who eat more soy foods have less risk of breast cancer. However, don't rely on highly-processed soy foods, such as soy burgers, soy sauce, and soy beverages to contain a lot of cancer-fighting isoflavones.

It has been reported that American women, especially those whose diets are low in soy products, are four times more likely to die of breast cancer than Japanese women whose diets are plentiful in soy. This reduced risk is attributed mainly to the soy and not to genetic factors, because, even in their own country those Japanese who eat the most soy foods get the least cancer. Soy seems to protect against the most common types of cancer, including lung, rectal, colon, stomach, prostate, and breast. Experimental animals that are fed high soy diets and then given a chemical that causes cancer, develop fewer tumors than the animals that are not fed soy.

One does not have to eat large amounts of soy in order to reap the benefits. One serving of soy (equal to a 1/2 cup of cooked soybeans, tofu, tempeh, or one cup of soy milk) a day can lessen the risk of cancer. Try to consume soy products from a manufacturer that uses a water extraction process and not alcohol extraction, which can remove much of the genistein (one of the isoflavone found in soy that is a natural cancer preventive) from the soy.

Choose good fats

One of the major benefits of cutting down on the amount of meat you eat or, abstaining from meat altogether, is that you will automatically cut out a lot of unhealthy fat. Eating a diet high in fat increases ones risk for many types of cancer. Eliminating fat entirely from your diet isn't the answer, either. Some research strongly suggests that certain types of fat may actually protect against cancer. The trick is to choose your fats wisely and eat them in moderation.

The two most damaging fats are saturated fats and trans fats. Saturated fats are found mainly in animal products such as red meat, whole milk dairy products, and eggs. Trans fats, also called partially hydrogenated oils, are created by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid and less likely to spoil—which is very good for food manufacturers, and very bad for you.

The best fats are unsaturated fats, which come from plant sources and are liquid at room temperature. Primary sources include olive oil, canola oil, nuts, and avocados. Omega-3 fatty acids, which fight inflammation and support brain and heart health is also a good fat to be included in ones diet. Sources for omega-3 include salmon, tuna, and flaxseeds. For strict vegetarians the flaxseed oil would be the obvious choice of course.

Virgin coconut oil - In the opinion of several health experts, virgin coconut oil can be used as a weapon to fight cancer and save precious lives. This statement is supported not only by numerous testimonies of cancer survivors but also by the results of medical studies. The regular consumption of virgin coconut oil will strengthen and fortify the immune system allowing it to defeat the formation of cancer cells before they can create major damage. Developing a strong immune system is the first step in prevention and treatment of cancer and other diseases. Several studies prove that virgin coconut oil has anti-carcinogenic effects. In more than one of these studies lab animals were chemically induced with colon, breast and skin cancer. Various dietary oils like corn, safflower, olive, and coconut oils were fed to the rats to determine their effect on the body. At the end of the study, the rats that were fed with coconut oil had none or the lowest incidence of tumor.

Coconut oil has antimicrobial properties so it effectively prevents the spread of cancer cells and enhances the immune system. In another study done by L.A. Cohen and his colleagues, animals were chemically induced with breast cancer. They found out that the animals that were given coconut oil did not develop tumors while those animals that were given other dietary oils develop tumors. Virgin coconut oil is probably the cure that will give hope to all cancer patients. Its unique properties make it an effective antioxidant and prevent the formation of harmful free radicals. With the regular use of virgin coconut oil, many types of diseases including cancer can be prevented and healed. For skeptics and others who would like more information on the healing properties of coconut oil, I strongly recommend reading Dr Bruce Fife's book The Coconut Oil Miracle . You can also watch some of his video interviews on You Tube or visit iHealthTube.com.

Cancer fighting foods

Vegetables:

Broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, eggplant and green beans, red grapes, kale, onions (red), peppers, garlic, radishes, soy, squash (pumpkin), sweet potatoes, tomatoes and yams ( including Jamaica's yellow and renta yam)

Fruits:

Apricots, blueberries, grapefruit, tangerines, grapes, lemons, mangoes, oranges, papayas, peaches, persimmons, strawberries,

Beta carotene

Beta carotene fights against cancer by both boosting the immune system and releasing a specific chemical called tumor necrosis factor . Beta carotene can block the growth of potentially cancerous cells. Best sources of beta carotene are sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupe, pumpkins, butternut and other types of winter squash, spinach, broccoli, mango, and papaya. Eating pink grapefruit (which contains beta carotene) instead of white grapefruit gives you a beta carotene boost.

Vitamin C

Studies have shown that persons with the highest intake of vitamin C have the lowest incidence of intestinal cancers. Vitamin C blocks the formation of nitrosamines in the gut. These are potent carcinogens made from nitrates and nitrites found in food, especially processed meats. Vitamin C also boosts the immune system by increasing the production of lymphocytes. Best sources of vitamin C are fresh fruits and vegetables. Taking 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily may have anticancer benefits.

Selenium

People taking selenium supplements in the range of 100 to 200 mcg a day have shown a reduced incidence in colon cancer. Other studies have shown that persons who have lower levels of selenium in their blood are more likely to have colon polyps, and those with higher levels of selenium have much less of a chance of getting cancer. Selenium is most effective when taken along with foods or supplements that are high in vitamin E. The anti-cancer properties in vitamin E are similar to vitamin C. Some of the best sources of selenium in food are fish (especially red snapper) whole grains, and vegetables, depending on the selenium content of the soil they're grown in. Other sources of selenium include brown rice, sunflower seeds and garlic.

Exercise and cancer

Scientists are now seeing the connection between regular sustained workouts and the prevention of several types of cancers. Some of these include intestinal, endometrial, colon, breast and lung.

A survey based on information collected over a 23-year period in a research project called the Copenhagen Male Study found that regular exercise can help prevent intestinal cancer. The study comprised 5,000 men divided into four separate groups ranging from those who exercise very little to those who exercise a lot. Doctors examining the results from the survey's material believed that moderate physical activity strengthens the immune system and therefore helps prevent the cancer from developing.

Another study showed that just walking or cycling regularly can prevent this very serious and very common form of cancer. Several other studies have had similar results. Increased physical activity does increase intestinal function and movement. As a result the harmful contents that constitute a cancer risk in a person, stay in the intestines for a much shorter period of time and therefore lessen the risk of cancer developing.

Anything that is worth doing is worth doing well. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work nor device, nor knowledge or wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest”. (Eccl. 9:10)

There is no exception to this truth when it comes to the care of our bodies. If we really want to maximize our personal cancer protection effort, we must choose a lifestyle, which includes the choice of foods that will work for our benefit and eliminate the foods that are working against us. Much of the food available to us today is of poor quality and unhealthy but as educated customers we are able to make better choice. It is always easier to give up than to try, but that is not the approach to take with respect to the care of our bodies. Yes sickness will come and we all will die at some point (except for the righteous living at Christ's second coming), but there are some diseases that can be prevented simply by the choices we make in our daily habits and consumption of food. Far too many people feel that all they can do is hope that they never get cancer, not realizing that the degree of risk of any individual to develop cancer is largely a matter of personal lifestyle decisions.

 

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