74
Pastoral Ministry
self-denial and retain the blessings of active muscles and unoppressed
brains. Overeating stupefies the entire being by diverting the energies
from the other organs to do the work of the stomach.—
Testimonies
for the Church 3:310
.
Replace flesh foods with fruits and grains in proper quanti-
ties—As God’s messengers, shall we not bear a decided testimony
against the indulgence of perverted appetite? Will those who claim
to be ministers of the gospel, proclaiming the most solemn truth ever
given to mortals, make the stomach a cesspool? God has provided
an abundance of fruits and grains, which may be healthfully prepared
and used in proper quantities. Why, then, do men continue to choose
flesh-meats? Can we possibly have confidence in ministers who at
tables where flesh is served join with others in eating it?—
Pacific
Union Recorder, October 9, 1902
.
Health Reform
Preachers should teach health reform, but they should not
make it their leading theme—The health reform is closely connected
with the work of the third message, yet it is not the message. Our
preachers should teach the health reform, yet they should not make
[72]
this the leading theme in the place of the message. Its place is among
those subjects which set forth the preparatory work to meet the events
brought to view by the message; among these it is prominent.—
The
Review and Herald, May 7, 1914
.
Some ministers have little interest in health reform because
it opposes their self-indulgence—Why do some of our ministering
brethren manifest so little interest in health reform? It is because
instruction on temperance in all things is opposed to their practice
of self-indulgence. In some places this has been the great stumbling
block in the way of our bringing the people to investigate and practice
and teach health reform. No man should be set apart as a teacher of the
people while his own teaching or example contradicts the testimony
God has given His servants to bear in regard to diet, for this will bring
confusion. His disregard of health reform unfits him to stand as the
Lord’s messenger.—
Counsels on Diet and Foods, 453
.
Pale-faced ministers cause a stigma to rest on the cause of
health reform—Because of imprudence in eating, the senses of some