Dear Readers of this Blog, please note that Google advertisements may appear in this blog post. They were not solicited by me and I do not profit from them. I did request particularly in several of my previous posts that Google not place them within scriptures which I often use in my blog posts. It appears they have honored that request of mine. Thank you Google!
I discovered recently an add that was placed in a scripture I used in a previous blog. I respectfully withdraw my previous "Thank you."
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TODAY'S THEME
The Prophet Alma the Younger Prayerfully Meditates -Artist Unknown
The Lord, Jesus Christ, assisted His people during the days of the Prophet Alma the Younger in Ancient America in or about 72 B.C. by teaching them through His prophets to use health promoting plants and roots:
Strange as it may seem to you, a good number of members of His Church today overlook that part of His Word of Wisdom that has to do with eating the right kinds of food! Please pay particular attention to that which the Lord tells us in verses 10 through 16 of Section 89 of the book of Scriptures, entitled: Doctrine and Covenants.
"The Word of Wisdom" From The Book of Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
(Book of Mormon) Alma 46:40 And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land—but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate—The Lord Jesus Christ now teaches similarly. On February 27, 1833 in a revelation given through His Prophet, Joseph Smith for His people who are members of His Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; are given a guide for living through a revelation of inspired scripture I have copied in full just below this next paragraph.
Strange as it may seem to you, a good number of members of His Church today overlook that part of His Word of Wisdom that has to do with eating the right kinds of food! Please pay particular attention to that which the Lord tells us in verses 10 through 16 of Section 89 of the book of Scriptures, entitled: Doctrine and Covenants.
"The Word of Wisdom" From The Book of Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
SECTION 89
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, February 27, 1833. HC 1:327–329. As a consequence of the early brethren using tobacco in their meetings, the Prophet was led to ponder upon the matter; consequently he inquired of the Lord concerning it. This revelation, known as the Word of Wisdom, was the result. The first three verses were originally written as an inspired introduction and description by the Prophet.
1–9, Use of wine, strong drinks, tobacco, and hot drinks proscribed;10–17, Herbs, fruits, flesh, and grain are ordained for the use of man and of animals;18–21, Obedience to gospel law, including the Word of Wisdom, brings temporal and spiritual blessings.
1 A WORD OF WISDOM, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion—
2 To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—
3 Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.
4 Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation—
5 That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him.
6 And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make.
7 And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies.
8 And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill.
9 And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.
10 And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man—
11 Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.
12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; (see definition of the word, sparingly, below, just after verse 21, the last verse.)
13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.
14 All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;
15 And these (the animals listed above) hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.
16 All grain is good for the food of man; as also the fruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground—
17 Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.
18 And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;
19 And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;
20 And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.
21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen. (emphasis added by Neil Birch)
Here is a Webster's Dictionary definition for an important word the Lord uses in the scripture above: sparing and its adverb sparingly: "That spares; hence, careful; provident. In Roget's College Thesaurus: "spare, v.t., abstain, forbear, withhold; exempt; give up, surrender, forego... "
About twenty years ago my wife, Melva Giles Birch bought a very interesting book without my realizing that she had so done. It is entitled:
Realizing that my personal diet was close to being very much like her new diet which she was describing to me it didn't take long for me to make the diet she was living by, my own personal diet.
Jane helped me by loaning me about fifteen books/videos she has used which helped her implement the diet that she was following very avidly and successfully. She lost about 33 pounds after making that diet her own. She is about 5' 9'' tall and now weighs about 133 lbs. I am also 5' 9" tall and weigh 152 lbs.
One of the books she loaned me was the one mentioned above which was written by Dr. Kenneth E. Johnson, M.D. If I had found our copy of it by searching the shelf where it had been laying for several decades I would have been benefited much earlier than I eventually was. I wish I had found it much earlier!
I now quote from pages 14 and 15 of the above mentioned book written by Dr. Johnson. (By the way, I was given permission over the telephone by a female employee of its publishers, Cedar Fort, Inc.: 73 W. 700 S. Springville, UT 84663 that I could quote a total of only four paragraphs from it. She didn't specify which four paragraphs I could quote.)
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Here is an Internet device you may want to use to determine how your personal biologic inheritance and personal living habits are effecting how long you will live. I received it through the Internet from friends of mine and of my wife, Melva; who live in Alaska. When I used the Longevity Calculator (which was produced by Northwestern Mutual Life) by answering all the questions asked in it, I was informed
that I should live until I am 105 years of age. I also noticed several things that I could work on which would
perhaps extend my life a little longer!
Just a brief footnote to the video or videos, you have just viewed: "The Lord Jesus Christ Doesn't Ever Need to View videos such as Dr. McDougall's Very Truthful Videos. Our Savior already is the source of all truth! However, I believe our viewing those two videos helps us see that the Lord's Word of Wisdom is right on target.
Please Re-read and also this time, please listen to:
Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be reassured of that truth:
However, if you are short of time please read the following newspaper article before you read and listen to the scripture linked for you just above! You may then want to come back later to review that scripture more carefully!
____________
Just as I had thought I had finished putting together this blog post, I found this very pertinent article in the Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A.) published today : June 4, 2012. Please take the time to read it. It is written by Linda and Richard Eyre whose column entitled: "Why the Family?" is known nationally!
"WE WENT TO dinner the other night in Poland with John and Kaisa, a couple we enjoyed meeting at one of our parenting events. The conversation turned to nutrition, weight gain and obesity.
They had visited the U.S. and were amazed at how many people seemed to be overweight.
We were sitting at a sidewalk café in a busy square,and they asked us to watch the people walking by and see how many of them were fat. Essentially there were none, and we asked them why.
It turns out it is a cultural thing as much as a dietary one. Kids grow up eating a lot of vegetables and fruits and fast food is essentially nonexistent unless you travel into a city center for the novelty of trying a McDonald's hamburger.
Kaisa told us of her Polish friend who had sent her child to school with a sack lunch that contained a candy bar and received a letter of reprimand from the school, which did not allow kids to have sweets on school grounds. We told her that was quite a far cry from our schools where there are candy and soda vending machines around every corner.
John, who was raised in New Jersey before he moved to Poland, told us he was now the only member of his extended family that was not overweight.
We mentioned that his family back home certainly represented the American norm and told him about a recent U.S.survey that showed a third of adult Americans are obese and another third are merely "overweight."
Kaisa suggested it is all about what kids get used to. Growing up in Poland, she said, meant that when she wanted a snack, her mother sent her out to pull up a carrot or down to the root cellar to find an apple. She says that to this day, she starts salivating when she sees a nice turnip. (And she wasn't kidding!)
Intrigued by Kaisa's bluntness, we asked, "But what if all your kids will eat is French fries or sugared cereal or fast food?"
Wide-eyed, as though she could not imagine something that horrible, she said, "Then the parent must forbid it!" She went on to make the compellingly logical point that if the only options kids have are fruits and veggies, they will pretty quickly learn to like them.
We told her and John we agreed, and that in fact our daughter from Ogden was proof of her point. Saren, our eldest daughter and the mother of five of our cutest grand kids, has fed them healthful food from Day 1, and there is something quite wonderful about hearing a 7-year-old say,"Oh, I just love lentils!"
John wondered how much it must cost the United States to have two-thirds of its adults overweight. "The medical costs of that must be huge," he said.
Kaisa was quick to point out that while it might be a financial problem and a medical problem, it was, at its root, a parenting problem. "I think," she said, "that American parents are making their kids fat."
Then, worrying that she might have offended us, she went on, "Or maybe a better way to it is that only the parents can fix this problem."
Neither John nor Kaisa was saying anything we hadn't heard before, but there was something wonderfully blunt and truthful about hearing them just tell it like it is.
They were not being critical or judgmental -- in fact, they were very sympathetic. They just felt bad for the problem we have in our country and were a little incredulous about how we Americans allowed it to happen and about why we aren't doing more to fix it.
Before our conversation changed directions, we tried to provide a little summary statement. It went something like this: "Like so many other problems in the world, there is only one way to change America's obesity problem' and that is one family at a time, one child at a time."
Richard and Linda Eyre are New York Times No.1 best-selling authors who lecture throughout the world on family-related topics. Read Linda's blog at www.deseretnews.com/blog/81/A-World-of Good.html and visit the Eyres anytime at www.TheEyres.com.
Just an afterthought right at the end of this post's message: Perhaps some of you may have wondered why the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not require that members of that church live faithfully by that portion of the "Word of Wisdom" that has to do with the foods we eat as they do in requiring members to abstain from the use of nicotine and alcohol when judging whether or not they are worthy of a temple recommend? After all the Lord, in His Word of Wisdom advises strongly regarding both items. Please carefully and prayerfully, if you will, study the following words of our Savior, Jesus Christ and then decide how you might respond to the question I pose at the beginning of this paragraph.
The Word of Wisdom Food Plan (a Medical Review of the Mormon Doctrine)
I never even noticed a book by that name which was written by: Kenneth E. Johnson, M.D. (who is a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.) lying on shelf of a hinged two door cabinet in our kitchen which stands right next to our refrigerator! -Until!In about January of this year (2012) my oldest daughter, Jane who has been employed for many years as a Trainer of new faculty members of the Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah introduced me to a new style of eating she has made a part of her life.
Realizing that my personal diet was close to being very much like her new diet which she was describing to me it didn't take long for me to make the diet she was living by, my own personal diet.
Jane helped me by loaning me about fifteen books/videos she has used which helped her implement the diet that she was following very avidly and successfully. She lost about 33 pounds after making that diet her own. She is about 5' 9'' tall and now weighs about 133 lbs. I am also 5' 9" tall and weigh 152 lbs.
One of the books she loaned me was the one mentioned above which was written by Dr. Kenneth E. Johnson, M.D. If I had found our copy of it by searching the shelf where it had been laying for several decades I would have been benefited much earlier than I eventually was. I wish I had found it much earlier!
I now quote from pages 14 and 15 of the above mentioned book written by Dr. Johnson. (By the way, I was given permission over the telephone by a female employee of its publishers, Cedar Fort, Inc.: 73 W. 700 S. Springville, UT 84663 that I could quote a total of only four paragraphs from it. She didn't specify which four paragraphs I could quote.)
 |
Eliza R. Snow Young (I wish she were smiling in this photo, but I realize in those days that didn't often happen in photos. I'm very sure she had a wonderful smile!
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Here are those four paragraphs I chose to quote from "The Word of Wisdom Food Plan, A Medical Review of the Mormon Doctrine":
"Eliza R. Snow was the most fascinating and dominant Mormon woman in the nineteenth century. Baptized in 1835, she became the wife of two prophets and was the sister of a third. Among her many accomplishments, she wrote the words for ten lovely hymns that still appear in LDS song books today. One of the hymns, "in Our lovely Deseret," was written more than a hundred years ago, but carries a vital message for us today. The second verse reads,
That the children may live long,And be beautiful and strong,Tea and coffee and tobacco they despise,Drink no liquor, and they eatBut a very little meat;They are seeking to be great and good and wise. ( Neil's note: emphasis was added in the official LDS Song Book itself by double spacing the key words: very little meat)
How often do we and our children sing this hymn with gusto, but fail to obey one of its tenets?Unfortunately the book I'm referring you to is out of print now, but it is possible that copies are still available in some book stores and you should check your local library to see if they have copies of it there. I would be happy to ask Melva if she would loan her book to anyone in the ward wants to read it. In most of the book medical evidence is presented by Dr. Johnson and other physicians proving how the word of wisdom and true medical information agree. Dr. Johnson and other physicians he quotes document their findings very professionally and very interestingly!
Eliza's brother, Apostle Lorenzo Snow, discussed the Word of Wisdom in a meeting of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve in May, 1893. After reading D. and C. 89:10-16 and drawing "special attention to that part which relates to the use of meat, which he considered just as strong as that which related to the use of liquors and hot drinks," Apostle Snow "was convinced that the killing of animals when unnecessary was wrong and sinful, and that it was not right to neglect one part of the word of Wisdom and be too strenuous in regard to other parts. (Apostle Snow became the fifth president of the church in 1898."
____________
Here is an Internet device you may want to use to determine how your personal biologic inheritance and personal living habits are effecting how long you will live. I received it through the Internet from friends of mine and of my wife, Melva; who live in Alaska. When I used the Longevity Calculator (which was produced by Northwestern Mutual Life) by answering all the questions asked in it, I was informed
that I should live until I am 105 years of age. I also noticed several things that I could work on which would
perhaps extend my life a little longer!
Watch your age in the upper right corner!
Kinda fun to watch your age go up and down as you answer the questions!
Now this is interesting, give it a try....
How long will you live? This is a calculator that estimates your life expectancy.
It was developed by Northwestern Mutual Life.
Now I have the pleasure of inviting you to enjoy and learn from one or actually, two very intriguing and compelling videos which will help educate you in living by what I like to call: The Word of Wisdom Food Plan (using part of the title of the book to which I referred you to earlier in this post which I hope you can find in your local library.)
I thank my dear daughter Jane whom I mentioned above in this post for providing the two Internet links several paragraphs below which present an intriguing and compelling medical perspective on the subject of this blog post of mine:Because you will surely find evidence in Dr. McDougall's (who is not a member of the LDS Church) video, or videos if you choose to view both of them, that there is sure medical evidence that that which the Lord tells us in the following verse of the Word of Wisdom is is true, I now remind you of Verse 4 of Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants:
4. . . In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation— (emphasis added by Neil Birch)
In these two videos you will be told that persons in the food industry perhaps could be about the Lord warned us about in the verse just above. I believe strongly that true findings of medical science should match that which the Lord tells us about how to live healthy lives! After viewing either one of these similar videos, but differing in length, I believe you will agree with me that you have viewed very good evidence that at least one very expert medical professional supports that which is told us in "the Word of Wisdom"! You can make a choice as to which one of these two very similar videos you choose to view. Maybe watching the shortest video first may lead you to take what extra time you may possibly have, to view the other also!
Dr. John McDougall's 10 Minute Video
Just a brief footnote to the video or videos, you have just viewed: "The Lord Jesus Christ Doesn't Ever Need to View videos such as Dr. McDougall's Very Truthful Videos. Our Savior already is the source of all truth! However, I believe our viewing those two videos helps us see that the Lord's Word of Wisdom is right on target.
Please Re-read and also this time, please listen to:
Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be reassured of that truth:
However, if you are short of time please read the following newspaper article before you read and listen to the scripture linked for you just above! You may then want to come back later to review that scripture more carefully!
____________
Just as I had thought I had finished putting together this blog post, I found this very pertinent article in the Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A.) published today : June 4, 2012. Please take the time to read it. It is written by Linda and Richard Eyre whose column entitled: "Why the Family?" is known nationally!
"WE WENT TO dinner the other night in Poland with John and Kaisa, a couple we enjoyed meeting at one of our parenting events. The conversation turned to nutrition, weight gain and obesity.
They had visited the U.S. and were amazed at how many people seemed to be overweight.
We were sitting at a sidewalk café in a busy square,and they asked us to watch the people walking by and see how many of them were fat. Essentially there were none, and we asked them why.
It turns out it is a cultural thing as much as a dietary one. Kids grow up eating a lot of vegetables and fruits and fast food is essentially nonexistent unless you travel into a city center for the novelty of trying a McDonald's hamburger.
Kaisa told us of her Polish friend who had sent her child to school with a sack lunch that contained a candy bar and received a letter of reprimand from the school, which did not allow kids to have sweets on school grounds. We told her that was quite a far cry from our schools where there are candy and soda vending machines around every corner.
John, who was raised in New Jersey before he moved to Poland, told us he was now the only member of his extended family that was not overweight.
We mentioned that his family back home certainly represented the American norm and told him about a recent U.S.survey that showed a third of adult Americans are obese and another third are merely "overweight."
Kaisa suggested it is all about what kids get used to. Growing up in Poland, she said, meant that when she wanted a snack, her mother sent her out to pull up a carrot or down to the root cellar to find an apple. She says that to this day, she starts salivating when she sees a nice turnip. (And she wasn't kidding!)
Intrigued by Kaisa's bluntness, we asked, "But what if all your kids will eat is French fries or sugared cereal or fast food?"
Wide-eyed, as though she could not imagine something that horrible, she said, "Then the parent must forbid it!" She went on to make the compellingly logical point that if the only options kids have are fruits and veggies, they will pretty quickly learn to like them.
We told her and John we agreed, and that in fact our daughter from Ogden was proof of her point. Saren, our eldest daughter and the mother of five of our cutest grand kids, has fed them healthful food from Day 1, and there is something quite wonderful about hearing a 7-year-old say,"Oh, I just love lentils!"
John wondered how much it must cost the United States to have two-thirds of its adults overweight. "The medical costs of that must be huge," he said.
Kaisa was quick to point out that while it might be a financial problem and a medical problem, it was, at its root, a parenting problem. "I think," she said, "that American parents are making their kids fat."
Then, worrying that she might have offended us, she went on, "Or maybe a better way to it is that only the parents can fix this problem."
Neither John nor Kaisa was saying anything we hadn't heard before, but there was something wonderfully blunt and truthful about hearing them just tell it like it is.
They were not being critical or judgmental -- in fact, they were very sympathetic. They just felt bad for the problem we have in our country and were a little incredulous about how we Americans allowed it to happen and about why we aren't doing more to fix it.
Before our conversation changed directions, we tried to provide a little summary statement. It went something like this: "Like so many other problems in the world, there is only one way to change America's obesity problem' and that is one family at a time, one child at a time."
Richard and Linda Eyre are New York Times No.1 best-selling authors who lecture throughout the world on family-related topics. Read Linda's blog at www.deseretnews.com/blog/81/A-World-of Good.html and visit the Eyres anytime at www.TheEyres.com.
Just an afterthought right at the end of this post's message: Perhaps some of you may have wondered why the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not require that members of that church live faithfully by that portion of the "Word of Wisdom" that has to do with the foods we eat as they do in requiring members to abstain from the use of nicotine and alcohol when judging whether or not they are worthy of a temple recommend? After all the Lord, in His Word of Wisdom advises strongly regarding both items. Please carefully and prayerfully, if you will, study the following words of our Savior, Jesus Christ and then decide how you might respond to the question I pose at the beginning of this paragraph.
____________Doctrine and Covenants 58: 26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.29 But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned. (emphasis added by Neil Birch)
DISCLAIMER
This Blog is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.
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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following: The Word of Wisdom, Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants Contains a Food Plan Which Guides Our Eating (a medical video is included along with a Deseret News Article.) -Post 44y When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).
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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.
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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.
If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.
I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: Its content is translated from the English in this blog.
Neil Birch
