Ministry of Healing: The Co-Working of the Divine and the Human

In the ministry of healing the physician is to be a co-worker with Christ. The Saviour ministered to both the soul and the body. The gospel which He taught was a message of spiritual life and of physical restoration. Deliverance from sin and the healing of disease were linked together. The same ministry is committed to the Christian physician. He is to unite with Christ in relieving both the physical and spiritual needs of his fellow men. He is to be to the sick a messenger of mercy, bringing to them a remedy for the diseased body and for the sin-sick soul.

Christ is the true head of the medical profession. The chief Physician, He is at the side of every God-fearing practitioner who works to relieve human suffering. While the physician uses nature's remedies for physical disease, he should point his patients to Him who can relieve the maladies of both the soul and the body. That which physicians can only aid in doing, Christ accomplishes. They endeavor to assist nature's work of healing; Christ Himself is the healer. The physician seeks to preserve life; Christ imparts life. [112]

Steps to Christ: The Work and the Life

God is the source of life and light and joy to the universe. Like rays of light from the sun, like the streams of water bursting from a living spring, blessings flow out from Him to all His creatures. And wherever the life of God is in the hearts of men, it will flow out to others in love and blessing.

Our Saviour's joy was in the uplifting and redemption of fallen men. For this He counted not His life dear unto Himself, but endured the cross, despising the shame. So angels are ever engaged in working for the happiness of others. This is their joy. That which selfish hearts would regard as humiliating service, ministering to those who are wretched and in every way inferior in character and rank, is the work of sinless angels. The spirit of Christ's self-sacrificing love is the spirit that pervades heaven and is the very essence of its bliss. This is the spirit that Christ's followers will possess, the work that they will do.

How Excitotoxins Hijack Taste and Harm the Mind

What Are Excitotoxins?

Most people don’t realize that some of the “flavour enhancers” in everyday foods may affect more than just taste, they can overstimulate the brain. These compounds, called excitotoxins, include additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), aspartame, hydrolyzed proteins, and certain “natural flavours.”

Excitotoxins work by over-activating neurons, especially receptors for glutamate and aspartate, two powerful excitatory neurotransmitters. When these brain pathways are overstimulated, nerve cells fire excessively until they become exhausted and die. This process, known as excitotoxicity, is a well-documented cause of brain inflammation and neurodegeneration.

The Hidden Side of Halloween and All Saints’ Day

When something cute and “harmless” masks a deeper danger

What often appears cute, harmless, or simply “fun” can, in truth, be a kind of spiritual Trojan horse, a disguise for something far more dangerous. Halloween, and even its more “Christianized” counterpart, All Saints’ Day, are now celebrated with smiling pumpkins, playful costumes, and light-hearted talk of ghosts and spirits.

Yet beneath their innocent surface lies a legacy rooted in pagan ritual and spiritual practices that stand in direct opposition to the truth of God’s Word. Just as the enemy cloaks deception in charm and familiarity, these festivals can dull our sensitivity to the reality of evil and the seriousness of dabbling in the spiritual realm apart from Christ.

What begins as harmless cultural fun can, over time, open hearts and homes to influences that draw people away from the purity of biblical faith and toward a growing tolerance, even fascination, with the occult.

Ministry of Healing: Saved to Serve

It is morning on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus and His disciples have come to shore after a tempestuous night on the water, and the light of the rising sun touches sea and land as with the benediction of peace. But as they step upon the beach they are greeted with a sight more terrible than the storm-tossed sea. From some hiding place among the tombs two madmen rush upon them as if to tear them in pieces. Hanging about these men are parts of chains which they have broken in escaping from confinement. Their flesh is torn and bleeding, their eyes glare out from their long and matted hair, the very likeness of humanity seems to have been blotted out. They look more like wild beasts than like men.

The disciples and their companions flee in terror; but presently they notice that Jesus is not with them, and they turn to look for Him. He is standing where they left Him. He who stilled the tempest, who has before met Satan and conquered him, does not flee before these demons. When the men, gnashing their teeth and foaming at the mouth, approach Him, Jesus raises that hand which has beckoned the waves to rest, [96] and the men can come no nearer. They stand before Him, raging but helpless.