The Spiritual Benefits of Fasting - Chapter 1 — Shane Idleman

Choosing Discipline Over Regret

Chapter 1, The Spiritual Benefits of Fasting. The pain of discipline over the pain of regret. You choose, will it be the pain of discipline or the pain of regret? One yields a sense of extreme fulfillment, the other a lingering sense of defeat.

Ironically, we pray for God to heal when we should also pray for self-discipline to change harmful habits. Fasting is hard because self-denial is hard. Discipline and overindulging the flesh is not rewarding, there's tons of regret.

It becomes a never-ending cycle of defeat unless we break the cycle by choosing to discipline ourselves over the lasting pain of regret. We will seek God's will like never before in this area because once you're disciplined and fasting, God's will is a pursuit.

Also, you don't want to beat yourself up. It's all about discipline. Discipline is a fruit of the Spirit, however, we are also trusting in God and relying on God and casting our cares upon Him so that He can better sustain us.

Discipline is, without a shadow of a doubt, a lost art these days, as is perseverance. You know, you're persevering, you're getting back up, you're falling forward. God teaches us through discipline because He loves us.

We are also encouraged to discipline our bodies. We cannot effectively be filled with the Spirit and lack discipline. Our faith is not passive, it's either active or it's not real faith. Faith is acting, it's acting upon what we believe about God, it can't be passive.

Biblical Discipline, Faith, and Self-Control

Romans 6 .16 in the NASB sheds much light on this topic. Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of that one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

Either way, we are slaves. We are either God's servant or we are a slave to our passions and desires. Self-discipline is a fruit of the Spirit, according to 2 Timothy 1 .7. Those who say that discipline is legalistic are just dead wrong.

We are actually called to yield to the Spirit and quench sin, but when we yield to sin, we quench the Spirit. Fleshly appetites are subdued when fasting. Fasting is challenging because the flesh always wants to negotiate with us.

It says, can't we meet in the middle? Don't completely remove food, that's too extreme. Or why don't we at least eat dinner tonight? How many of us have fallen off the train of procrastination enough to write a whole book on it?

It's challenging. So, self-control is also required for leadership. In Titus 1 .8 in the NIV, Paul adds that a leader must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

John Wesley required fasting so much so that his leaders were required to fast two days a week. Now, I don't know if that's getting a little bit too extreme, you know, I'll leave that up to the theologians to debate that, but we knew and we know that it is a mark of leadership.

Those who discipline their body and fasting is a really good way to gauge that. It's been said for centuries that no man who cannot command himself is fit to command another. Isn't that so true? And that's one of the things, at least for me personally, you know, I know some of us struggle with is being overweight as a pastor.

I don't want to ever cross that line of just letting my appetites control me. Now there are those who, you know, they suffer. I know there are those who have thyroid issues and metabolic syndrome and things that, you know, tons of grace is needed.

But for the majority of us, we can definitely make some changes and it will be reflected in our appearance too as well. It's been said for centuries, as I read already, that you cannot command others if you do not command yourself.

Paul even told the Corinthian church that he strikes a blow to his body and he makes it a slave so that he will not be disqualified for service. Check out 1 Corinthians 9 .27. He actually says that I discipline my body daily.

I bring it in under subjection so that way when I preach to others, I won't become disqualified. So an undisciplined leader is an oxymoron. Now again, some encouragement here. I'm not talking about perfection.

So many people, they get kind of bent out of shape and I can't do it all the time and I, you know, I fall sometimes and, you know, I understand that we're not talking about perfection on this side of heaven, but you got to be disciplined.

Fasting as a Call to Seek God

You know, you got to get back up and fight again and be a disciplined person, especially in the area of leadership. We also see the power of fasting in Joel 1 .14. Consecrate a fast, call the sacred assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of God and cry out to him.

So the magnitude of our situation determines our response. Let me say that again. The magnitude of our situation and what we're going through determines the response. God's people had departed from him and the call was to return to him through fasting, prayer and brokenness.

If they needed it then, how much more now? Fasting is depriving the flesh of its appetite as we pray and seek God's will and mercy. Basically, you're exchanging one appetite that can be good, you know, God-given obviously gave us an appetite so we would feed ourselves and not die.

But we have to exchange it for a greater appetite and that is seeking the heart of God. We are basically saying, the flesh got me into this predicament, now it's time to seek God's mercy and humble myself before him.

Obviously, people have overcome challenges without fasting. But fasting adds extra strength, especially when overcoming addictions. One addiction may end but others can continue. The alcoholic switches to caffeine, the nicotine addict switches to sugar and the opiate user switches to food.

It's a never-ending cycle if we don't break it. Fasting can break that cycle. However, fasting is not a cure-all or a magic wand. It's a spiritual discipline designed to aid in victory. Again, choose the pain of discipline over the pain of regret.

Fasting the physical affects the spiritual. Through fasting, our body becomes a servant instead of a master. When Jesus directs us to do something, the outcome is always beneficial, spiritually and in this case, physically.

Notice, Jesus said, when you fast in Matthew 6 .16, he didn't say, if you fast. It's funny, some people, they try to say, well, we don't have to fast, it's not commanded. But he said, when you give, when you pray and when you fast.

We kind of put it backwards, when I sin and if I fast. But the Bible says, no, when you fast and if you sin. That's a key there for sure. Now the obvious goal and benefit of fasting is spiritual. But there are physical benefits as well that I will cover in this audio recording.

Can we pray and seek God with all of our heart with a headache, tight pants and a sluggish lethargic body strung out on our favorite addictive substance? No, of course not. I often tell younger pastors too or even older pastors, try going a couple nights of four hours of sleep, eating tons of junk food and then preaching your heart out on Sunday, the next day.

It's not going to happen. We know that the way that we feel affects our productivity and the quality of our life. Even though physical exercise, physical things aren't as important as spiritual things, of course, they do play a huge role in our energy levels and how we feel, how we live, how we lead, what kind of parent we are, what kind of father or, in my case, pastor or leader or businessman.

It affects how you take care of your body, affects a lot more than you think. So be careful when you make that distinction, say, oh, it's not that big a deal. Well, it's not that big a deal in the big scope of things spiritually, where are we going to spend eternity?

That's what he's talking about. But let's put this in context. How we take care of our body is very, very important. Our diet affects key hormones such as serotonin for relaxation, dopamine for pleasure, glutamate for healthy thinking, and noradrenaline for handling stress.

All of these things are so important and yet we neglect them. If we allow junk food and addictions to control our attitude and our productivity, it will hinder what we do for God. When we're always dealing with stress, anxiety, and sickness, can we do much for God?

No. We will be limited. Granted, there are those who, through no fault of their own, have a debilitating illness. I'm assuming that the listener understands that I'm talking to those who can make changes.

Stewarding the Body and Spiritual Well-Being

Now I've also noticed over the years where people who can make changes but they're convicted they don't want to, they begin to blame genetics and different things. Let me tell you something right now about genes and genetics.

Yes, genes load the gun, but your lifestyle pulls the trigger. Did you catch that? So our DNA, d-ribonucleic acid, that's actually different than your genetic makeup, your genetic codes. That's a whole different podcast.

But suffice it to say, yes, your genes will play a role in how you look, how you live, but your lifestyle, your diet, things like that actually pull the trigger of the gun. Genes load it, but lifestyle pulls the trigger.

For example, when I was working out, when I grew up in the 1990s, names such as Dorian Yates or Flex Wheeler or Ronnie Coleman, you know, all the top of their game, and you could tell these guys, no matter how hard some of us train, we're not going to look like that.

Of course, performance enhancing drugs play a role, but there are genes where when you look 17 like this Olympic athlete and you're not doing too much, genes definitely play a role in that. But hard work is important, discipline is important.

Those guys would have never reached those levels, a Schwarzenegger, you know, without training. I actually now obviously don't agree with that lifestyle. I think it's completely over the top. It's actually not healthy, very, very, very self-focused.

It is probably one of the highest forms of idolatry that I've seen when it's, you know, well, look at my calf. What's my calf measuring? What's my biceps measuring? Is this proportionate? It's self-worship and it's very damning and deadly.

Got to be very careful. What you put in your mouth, in your body, and what you put in your mind, the soul, affect the spirit. And when you feed the spirit, it affects the body and the soul. These things run parallel, they are interwoven.

And I'm often asked, for example, to pray for panic attacks and people want me to pray for angry outbursts, they have a problem with anger and anxiety. That can be done. And I pray for those people and I know God heals regardless of what we do.

God will honor prayers. But we do have to ask the question, are we opening the door to these things by not stopping highly addictive things such as caffeine, lots of sugar, are we taking opiates, are we hooked to nicotine, and do we have alcohol, which will definitely affect sleep and mood?

And are we renewing our mind by meditating on the word of God and are we spending time in prayer? I mean, these things make a huge difference. The physical affects the spiritual. There's just no way around that.

And the spiritual affects the physical. Again, they're interwoven. Much of the healing that I've witnessed over the years was a result of people renewing their stewardship of how they take care of their body.

So for example, let's say I pray for, in the course of a year, 100 people for type 2 diabetes, not type 1. Type 2 diabetes, which is health related, it's directly related to the choices we make, our lifestyle, our diet, in the majority of the cases.

So I can pray for 100 of those people. Let's say God heals 2, 3, 4 of them. It's amazing, right? But if all 100 of them made lifestyle changes, how many of them would be healed of type 2 diabetes? Usually all of them.

So while it's important to pray, it's also important to take care of the gift that God has given us. So if I'm not taking care of this gift, and I'm in rebellion to the things that God is prompting me, nope, I'm not going to give up that, nope, I'm not going to put my eating in control, and I'm in rebellion, but yet I'm going to pray to be healed when it's actually the rebellion causing my symptoms, causing my ailment, causing my disease.

And that's why the big term right now is metabolic syndrome, and how top killers in America are diet related. So I don't know guys, I think we need to take a deeper look at exactly what we're doing. I love praying for people.

I will continue praying for people. God is healed despite what we do. Even if we don't make changes, he'll heal of heart disease. But you've got to look at the numbers too and realize that, gosh, a lot of our sickness is related to what we're consuming and fasting or not fasting.

And we also know that many emotions such as anger, bitterness, and jealousy are toxic to the body. Health also involves healthy emotions. Having a forgiving, loving, joy-filled heart does wonders for the body.

It's incredible what it does. Serotonin, for example, is increased when the heart is right. This crucial chemical also is affected by our diet and exercise. Think about this, serotonin, which makes you feel better, and it is a biblical principle when you forgive and when there's joy, you can feel better, and serotonin is increased.

And also, it is affected by your diet and exercise, and it affects your mood at a very deep level, and it contributes to an overall state of well-being. So obviously, one cure doesn't fit all, but if somebody's struggling with anxiety and all these things and depression, let's start with what we do know.

Let's look at the lifestyle. Let's look at the choices. Let's look at your sleep pattern. Let's look at your daily devotional life. Let's look at these things because often they play a bigger role than we think of.

Now, again, I'm not suggesting that health should replace God and prayer should not be something we consider. Of course not. God and prayer are at the forefront of the discussion. However, we cannot ignore the importance of stewarding this wonderful gift that God has given us.

No one is perfect. We are all called to discipline our bodies and use wisdom, even when we fail, even when we fall. We're called to get back up. God does heal miraculously, even in our ignorance, but that shouldn't cause us to neglect our health.

Nutrition, Children, and Public Health

With more than 12 million U .S. children being obese, yes, you heard that right, and this is probably statistics before 2018. This is probably statistics from 2016, 17. And where are we at now? I'm recording this at the end of 2023 or going into 2024.

We might be tipping 13 million now. Children? Wow. And millions more are being malnourished. Now we won't even get into other countries, but just America, you can eat a lot and still be malnourished. If you're feeding your kids, they get up and give them some chips and crackers, a little bit later some cheesy crackers or those little fishy crackers that are shaped like fish, and then a little while later, let's have some Captain Crunch or a Pop-Tart, a little while later, let's have a Popsicle.

They're not getting the nutrients they need. It's very damaging to their bodies as they get older and parents, I would make some major changes soon, ASAP. As a parent, I know we're held responsible. We determine what goes in the pantry and the refrigerator, not the little stinkers, right?

Hey, I'm hungry. Okay, here's a cut up organic apple with some almond butter. I don't want that. Well, that's all we have, you know, and you got to learn to take care of their body. And the irony is you can change their taste buds.

Their palate can change. They'll begin to crave things that are good for the body, and it makes sense because they're good for the body. The body wants those things. But when we give them addictive substances, I'm surprised at how many parents give their kids caffeine.

Oh, here's a Coke at six. No, no, no, no, no. I mean, think about a 50-pound child having as much caffeine as you. Their body, no wonder ADD, ADHD, and all this is skyrocketing. You look at the chemicals in the food, the food coloring.

It's just amazing. We've got to take some big steps soon, people, because the healthcare crisis, financial burden can't sustain it either. The need to address this topic has never been greater. Caffeine, soft drinks, and junk food are fueling the disease epidemic.

I'm going to go into this later, but seed oils, you know, canola oil, safflower oil, those seed oils are not good for the body either. And then processed food is not good. There's no nutrient value. And then we're overweight, but we're malnourished.

It's interesting to see that. Yet we pray for God to heal us rather than ask God for help with self-discipline to change harmful habits. What is wrong with this picture? And a doctor I quoted in the book said this, there are multitudes of diseases which have their origin in fullness, and they might have their end in fasting.

I believe that is actually from James Morrison's book. James Morrison, he was quoted by Arthur Wallace in his book, God's Chosen Faith. Think about that again. There are multitudes of diseases which have their origin in fullness and might have their end in fasting.

Wow, so true. The myth that fasting is bad for you is unfounded and has been disproved numerous times. Be careful where you get your counsel from and who is profiting from the advice that they are giving you.

It's big out there now, big pharma. Where are you getting your information from? And many times your physician, the only way they know how to treat diabetes is to give you a pill, and that will not treat diabetes.

That actually hides some of the symptoms, but it's a progressive disease if you don't type two, again I'm talking about, if you don't change that lifestyle. And now is the time to do it, folks, where I'm going to give you some tools here.

The myth that fasting is bad for you is not true. It's been disproven many times. And so you have to be careful where you get this information from. And I vividly recall the story of a man who had colon surgery, yet may not have needed it if he had just changed his diet.

The hospital even fed him greasy, sloppy food, actually it was a greasy, sloppy Joe, after he awoke from surgery. Oh my goodness, a lack of wisdom has been our downfall. If you want more information on how the physical is affected by the spiritual, you can search for a message I gave, The Doctrine of Man, Sin and the Curse, I believe it's probably on Vimeo or YouTube and Rumble.

The Doctrine of Man, Sin and the Curse by Shane Eidelman. It's been estimated that nearly 75 of US clinical trials and medicine, clinical trials when they do a study and then they release the results.

Is this safe? Is this good? Is it something we should be using? So an estimated 75 of all US clinical trials in medicine are paid for by private companies who benefit. Amazing. For example, the headline, statins are good for you.

And it's often paid for by pharmaceutical companies that make them. Or take this drug to feel better, never mind the fact that side effects include internal bleeding, seizures and panic attacks. Or eat this children's cereal.

Just ignore the harmful GMOs, genetically modified way of producing the food. Ignore the food coloring. Ignore the additives. Ignore the preservatives and the toxins that are in the food. America, wake up, wake up.

You are what you eat. There's just no way around it. Fasting doesn't kill us. Over consumption and consuming empty food is what is killing us. Companies are often driven by revenue, but no one profits from fasting except the faster.

Processed food is cheap and convenient. That's the bottom line. That's the bottom line. There's no money. There's no money in fasting. There's no money in the body healing itself and getting away from medication and things like that.

Processed food, again, like I said, is cheap and convenient, but it contains so many things that are bad for you from stimulants to addictive ingredients to flavor enhancing chemicals to hydrogenated oils and you name it.

It's just not good. For example, when was the last time you saw an advertisement for broccoli, blueberries or kale? Not very often. Disease is often a problem of toxicity created by what we consume, ingest or breathe.

And fasting is the detox solution. Granted, spiritual health and wholeness, again, are the goals, but the physical benefits are worthwhile. And I love what Dr. J. H. Tilden said, after 55 years of sojourning in the wilderness of medical therapeutics, I am forced to declare, fasting is the only reliable, specific, therapeutic eliminate known to man.

Paraphrase that. After 55 years of being in the medical field, he has to admit that fasting is the only real solution to the medical issues that we are facing today in regard to illnesses and diseases that are diet related.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman, he's another good one, he said, the body's wondrous ability to self-digest and destroy needless tissue, such as fat, tumors, blood vessel plaque, and other non-essentials and disease tissues, while conserving essential tissue, gives fast the ability to restore youth to the system.

And what he's talking about is autophagy, where your body will begin to break down tissue and blood plaque and different things before it begins to break down muscle and organs and things like that. You are wonderfully designed by a creator who knows how to handle this.

We weren't designed to eat all the time, we were actually designed, you know, we eat some, we store on some fat, then we use the fat for energy, ketosis, when we're out and about, and then we eat again later and we store a little bit, and then the fat is a reserve, a minimal reserve, it should be, but we've made it a maximum capacity Hoover Dam.

So many of us can go easily 40 days without eating. But as always, check with your physician, gotta throw that disclaimer in there. And did you know that most research on cancer and fasting supports the healing process of fasting as well?

For example, the goal of chemotherapy is to stop or slow the growth of cancer, but it's been said that the body has a natural, God-given way to do this without the harmful effects of chemotherapy, and it can help the healthy cells as well, and that is fasting.

Fasting is not a cure-all, again, it simply provides an environment for healing. And Dr. Yuri, he was a psychiatrist out of the University of Moscow years ago, he treated those with mental illness, psychotic, that's where that term comes from, schizophrenics, with water fasting for 25 to 30 days.

This was followed by eating healthy foods for another 30 days, and about 70%, not 7, 70 of his patients remained free from the symptoms for the duration of the six-year study. The health benefits of fasting are incredible.

Fasting, Healing, and Medical Wisdom

Just think about what we might be missing because King's stomach is sitting on the throne, it is alarming. And like I stated earlier, type 2 diabetes is nearly eliminated when we feed our body a proper diet and when we get some exercise in.

Basically, when we stop fueling the disease and start fasting, you begin to see some huge changes. Now, diabetes, at least type 2, again, it doesn't have to be a progressive disease. There is hope for those people who have it.

If you starve the fuel source and incorporate fasting, you will begin to see some immediate results and also change your diet to something that is more healthy and God-given. I'm going to talk about that later.

And the reason you may find it nearly impossible to fast is because you are withdrawing from poisons and addictive substances. So the processed foods, the chemicals, the caffeine, all of that is why fasting is so difficult because it's like a drug addict withdrawing from a poisonous substance.

That's just the bottom line. But you can begin now by eliminating junk food. Begin to wean off of these things. Educate yourself by the recommended reading at the end of this book. In the introduction, I mentioned a lot of the books as well.

Seek medical support and consult your physician. But keep in mind that most physicians are not supportive when it comes to fasting simply because they're not trained in the area of health and longevity.

They're trained in, let's take this pill or let's do this, let's do the surgery in order to fix a problem instead of getting really to the root of the problem. Drugs don't cure the underlying problem and often they are toxic so you have to be careful in this area.

There are times for medication, nobody's really denying that, but these are a last resort. These times are. They're not a first resort. For example, antibiotics. Did you know that they wipe out the harmful bacteria but they also kill the good bacteria as well?

And some antibiotics can even be harmful. For instance, you need to check out the side effects and look into black box warnings. You look into things, use wisdom. I remember on WebMD, Cipro, they call it Ciprofloxacin, it even has a black box warning or two.

It's the strictest labeling requirements by the FDA and it still is being used by a lot of people. And I know people who have suffered from this particular prescription. Not only is it prescribed, it's over-prescribed and given to kids and the elderly.

Yes, all antibiotics have side effects, for sure. There's no way around that. But doesn't that tell us something? You know? Because people say, well, everything has side effects. Yeah, but you've got to weigh the side effects on a scale.

I mean, I don't want to take something that's going to make me worse than I already am. But if the underlying problem of poor health isn't dealt with, then illness will return with vengeance. And you see that happen a lot of times.

I've seen it with cancer patients. They'll make some radical good changes. Years will go by and they'll go back to their old lifestyle and then here comes that cancer back. And many are finding, obviously, the cancer is often fueled with glucose, sugar will fuel that.

Cancer cells seem to really like sugar. They don't really like ketosis. When your body's in ketosis, it's burning keto bodies. Cancer cells really don't like that. Ketones is a better term. At this point, questions often arise about the jab or any jab.

But do your own research. Read what the CDC even says about the results and the toxicity levels of these jabs and some of the ingredients. They include alumina, mercury, formaldehyde, not to mention other toxic ingredients.

And they are neurotoxins that are harmful for the brain. And that's what they're thinking. A neurotoxin, see there's a blood-brain barrier that stops a lot of things from going into the brain. But these things are neurotoxins.

They are toxic to the brain because they can pass through that blood-brain barrier. And that's why I believe they're finding a lot of these things have to do with causing some of the mind-related illnesses that I can't say here because the little bots on YouTube go and remove these videos.

But do some research. You will be absolutely shocked. Is it wise to take these things? You be the judge. You do your homework. And for those desiring more information, read books that are pro the jab.

I mean there was one out there, The Sanctity of Human Blood, that talks about the different studies and what the FDA and the CDC actually found. It's good to do your research. This is a big deal. What we're putting in our body, how we're taking care of our body is a big deal.

One thing is certain, children are receiving far, far too many jabs. If the immune system is already taxed because of poor health and bad eating, well then injecting harmful things into the body is not going to help whatsoever.

Fasting also increases blood pressure and sugar levels. Fasting you have to keep that in mind, especially if you're taking high blood pressure medication and things like that because it can mess you up.

And that's why you do want to look to your physician to monitor those types of things because we need physicians and they need us. Let me just talk about that for just another minute. If you're taking medication, talk to your physician.

Even if you're not, let them know. Maybe they can do some blood work and keep an eye on you. Fasting does not heal the body. What it does is it gives the body the optimal environment for healing. Fasting is a process that God created.

God-Given Food and Practical Stewardship

Additionally, God-given food promotes life. Man-created food does not. A recent example of this, back when I wrote this book, involved my youngest daughter. She was not breathing well at night and the physician said her tonsils and adenoids were inflamed and they need to be removed ASAP.

And me, knowing that tonsils and adenoids help with immunity, we tried a different course. We completely changed her diet ASAP, removing all sugar except light fruit and minimal dark honey. We focused on life-giving food and a daily nap.

I would take her every day at naptime and get in my truck and she would just conk out. She was breathing well within about five days. I wrote one week here in the book, but I remember about a five-day period or so.

And an ear infection that had been lingering in her healed as well. The right nutrition along with deep sleep creates a powerful environment for healing. Are you receiving both? Deep sleep and right nutrition.

Now, did we pray? Yes. Is it possible that nothing we did would have mattered and that prayer and God healed her? Absolutely. But again, we've got to use wisdom. We know that we can take better care of the body.

A few months later, another daughter was advised to take amoxicillin, it's an antibiotic, for a tooth infection. The dentist said he would remove the tooth and install a metal brace for her to wear for a year.

A quick diet change also resulted in her body healing itself, eliminating the need for any dental intervention. Again, there may be a time for medication and dental intervention, but use wisdom. I have friends who are doctors and I deeply respect them.

They are highly trained in easing symptoms, but most of them and most in the healthcare industry are not educated in fixing the cause. See here, this is the line in the sand. This is where the big difference is.

Doctors are trained to ease the symptoms, but not fix necessarily what is causing the problem in the first place. For example, it's been, you know, Edselson, I think Dr. Edselson and others, you know, they've done research on people that, hey, they go in and have heart surgery here soon, they get them on a plant-based diet, they start exercising, losing weight and the need for surgery is gone, it's vanished.

Now, there's a time and a place for it possibly, but use wisdom, do your research, take it to prayer and ask God to show you what is the best course for your life. For example, many men are told to take androgel or replacement testosterone therapy because of low testosterone levels and that may be the case now and then, that might be wise, but the majority of the time, did you know that they can increase testosterone levels naturally by avoiding alcohol, exercising, eating healthy food, eliminating sugar, lowering stress, fasting and taking key vitamins such as vitamin D and not being overweight.

I knew a man who went from testosterone of 225 to well over 500 within an eight-month period by changing his lifestyle. Also, the side effects of testosterone therapy should be motivation enough to make changes and what I mean by that is when you take testosterone injections usually or they can implant some pills or there's different ways of doing it.

Because it's synthetic and because you're taking the testosterone, the testicles will stop producing natural testosterone and so it can impact men later on in life when their natural testosterone is depleted.

Again, look into that if you want more information on that. I remember a few years ago, here's another example, a doctor wanted to send me home with two different high blood pressure medications. Before leaving, I asked him if he used a large cuff for men to measure my blood pressure.

He said, no, I don't think we did and when they did, the pressure reading came back fine. Almost went on two blood pressure medications there for no reason and I can list many more examples of inconsistencies such as a sign in a doctor's office that said in big letters right above the coffee pot, do not consume this before a stress test.

Hello folks, let's wake up, our health is on the line. We need more physicians who understand how the body works and can help the patient from the inside out. They need us and we need them. But I cringe at the number of type 2 diabetes patients who are sent home from their doctor's office with even more medication or the countless overweight individuals who leave with high blood pressure drugs instead of real solutions that work.

And sadly, we often prefer the quick fix approach. But please don't misunderstand, I'm not suggesting that we bypass prayer nor am I suggesting that we disregard the advice of physicians or that we don't need medication from time to time.

We must use wisdom. I've seen God heal primarily through fixing the toxic state of the body with our participation. How can we pray, Lord, please heal my heart disease while driving to McDonald's. Folks, this is a no-brainer, no-brainer.

We can make changes.