Oct
15
Written by:
Pastor Doug
10/15/2009 6:08 AM
It doesn’t get more personal than our health, does it?
Even Satan recognizes how important it is. After he wiped out Job’s bank account, he then went after the man’s health. That’s why he told the Lord, “Stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” (Job 2:5).
So regardless of how the healthcare debate in the United States ultimately plays out, I clearly see that the health crisis isn’t going to be solved by the politicians! The answer is not better insurance, bigger hospitals, cheaper drugs, or even better doctors.
The answer is better health!
And more than that, Amazing Facts believes very seriously in the counsel that the health message is the “right arm” of evangelism ministry. This is how Jesus did evangelism. He healed people’s bodies — then He reached their hearts.
That’s why Amazing Facts has a powerful vision for proclaiming the biblical principles of health and salvation through global media!
The 80-percent Solution
Think with me for a moment. How big of a national healthcare crisis would there really be if 80 percent of the people now bedridden in hospitals across the country could be released in good health?
Sound unreasonable? Well, studies show that 80 percent of all disease is lifestyle related. More healthful living means less disease. And that remaining 20 percent of disease, linked to other causes, can be much better managed by living a healthy lifestyle too.
A Slow Suicide
For example, a 2006 California-sponsored study revealed that the estimated annual cost to that state for the overweight, obese, and physically inactive is $41.2 billion!
If people in California would just live a little more healthfully, it would immediately solve that state’s entire budget crisis.
But this is not just a California problem. On April 30 this year, George Washington University Medical Center announced: “Healthcare costs for employees with alcohol problems are about twice as high as for the average employee, totaling about $26 billion annually nationwide.” In addition, “U.S. employees with alcohol problems take a combined 51 million extra sick days annually.”
Can you see what is at the heart of the healthcare crisis? Many Americans don’t realize that they are bringing on sickness and slowly killing themselves with these destructive lifestyle habits. This is helping to drive healthcare costs into the stratosphere!
There is no question that we have room for improvement in our current health system. But you don’t use a chainsaw to remove a splinter.
If 80 percent of our national medical costs are related to people’s bad health habits, the Bible’s simple but effective health message is precisely what can help make those 80 percent healthier … and greatly improve the health of the other 20 percent. So you see, friend, we don’t even need to be having this healthcare crisis, do we?
Of course not!
And a healthy lifestyle is a major part of the message that Amazing Facts has been preaching for nearly 45 years!
Long-term Health Insurance
In a real sense, we are already sharing the miracle cure to the nation’s healthcare dilemma. That’s how powerful our health message is.
Think of the potential for good it can do. That’s why Amazing Facts has been working so hard to produce quality materials that help people learn how to regain their health, while at the same time pointing them to Jesus, the Great Physician — the One who offers them an eternal health insurance policy!
And the great news is … it’s working! Through our health publications, evangelistic meetings, and our partnership with Weimar Center of Health & Education, we have seen amazing, even miraculous reversals of many of these crippling lifestyle ailments, such as heart disease and diabetes. And people are finding Jesus in the process!
Sharing the Cure
In the first three months since its publication, we’ve distributed more than 160,000 copies of our Amazing Health! magazine. It’s filled with the simple principles of health that we have known for so long, and yet for many people, these are not just health-changing truths — they are, literally, life-saving!
“This is a wonderful, good quality, well written way to introduce people to the benefits of better health, while introducing them to our Creator. Congratulations on a very fine magazine and witnessing tool. God bless your ministry.” —Jean
Yet one of our challenges is this: We want to get more copies out there, but we need help in keeping the costs down so that we can sell them as affordably as possible. We’re stepping out in faith to produce more of these wonderful publications, which are making a profound difference in people’s lives.
The bottom line? The more you support Amazing Facts, the more we can distribute these life-changing publications. It’s that simple. You matter that much!
Another example: This year we’ve sent out more than 27,000 copies of God’s Free Health Plan Study Guide to people responding to our television and Bible school programs, a 64-percent increase over last year! But think of how many millions more could benefit from the wonderful light we’ve been given on the lifestyle changes that could bring people back from the brink of death.
Amazing Health! DVD
Yes, together we have done a lot. But I believe there is so much more we can and must do through new TV programs and special DVDs on better health.
That’s why we need your help; we can’t do it without you. You are a vital part of helping us share the healing truth of Jesus.
My question is this: If people like you — who believe in this message — don’t help us to spread it, then who will? (We aren’t expecting a government stimulus check anytime soon!)
So much sickness in America is unnecessary! Together, you and I can help.
Which is why I want to produce a 60 to 90 minute DVD called Amazing Health! In this new outreach resource, I will not only talk about the problems, but also point people to the Bible-based way, using the principles of health we have been given to help viewers realize a longer, stronger life! — a journey that ideally will lead them to the cross of Christ.
This is going to be a big project. I’m going to have information from the best physicians helping us with it too. We are serious. We will use modern illustrations and graphics to help people understand what a biblically sound lifestyle can do for them.
With the typical Western lifestyle such a deadly problem, this DVD can be a powerful bridge for evangelism.
I’ve been in the ministry now for more than 25 years. I’ve seen miraculous answers to prayer, healings that could have been only from God. But what continues to be the biggest miracle of all is when hearts are radically changed for Christ.
And that’s the ultimate mission of Amazing Facts: to change lives … and if that change starts with the arteries, that’s just fine — because we know that could be the first step to a new heart and a new life in Jesus.
So, please, help us make this possible. Your donations do save lives. And together, we can bring relief to those that are suffering!
Yours in the Lord,
Pastor Doug Batchelor