YOU CAN QUIT ALCOHOL-

Harvestime Books
TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to Use this Book 6

Making Decisions 7
Quotations from the Liquor Industry
Some Facts about Alcohol
The Effects of Alcohol on the Body
How to Quit Alcohol-1
How to Quit Alcohol-2
How to Quit Alcohol-3
Quotations to Think About

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK-

MAKING DECISIONS
If you have a problem with alcohol, this may be one of the most important books
you have ever read. It will show you the problems and dangers in drinking liquor. But
more important, it will give you unusually complete information on how to quit.
In fact, you will find more worthwhile information on how to quit in this book-than
in most any other single book you can purchase at any price.
It is not difficult to become an alcoholic. Just keep drinking, and in the course of
time you are very likely to become one.
The only way out is to quit. But—first—you must want to stop. While living in
Illinois, we had a friend who was so affable that the entire farm community liked him. But
he was also an alcoholic. Once we had a long talk together with him, and he explained
that he would rather keep drinking. He said he liked drinking and he liked getting drunk. .
But years of drinking alcohol had weakened certain internal organs, and about a
year after that conversation we buried him. Yet he was only in his early forties and had a
fine wife and several sweet children. FIRST, you must want to stop. You are tired of
drinking, and you are tired of all the trouble it keeps bringing into your life. Yes, you may
have problems —but alcohol is the biggest one, and the cause of most of the others.
You know it. You admit it. You are ready now to break with it.
SECOND, you are going to read this booklet all the way to the end—and carry
your decision through. There is help in this little book; help that you need just now.—
Vance Ferrell
" 'Stop, I need your help!'
It was in Detroit, Michigan, several years ago.
 It was early evening and I was about to walk into the building where I was holding
revival meetings. A man walked up to me and said, 'Are you Mr. Pinney?'
" 'Yes,' I replied.
"'Please, when you get through tonight, —will you come home with me. I need to
talk to you. ' " 'All right, I will. You wait for me. ' I walked inside—and some of the men
stopped me.
" 'What does the man want?"
" He wants me to go home with him after the meeting tonight. "
" 'Don't do it. He's known to be dangerous. '
" I’m sorry, but I promised and I shall go with him.'
"When the service was over that evening, I went with the man three blocks down
the street and then into an alley, and stopped. The man unlocked the door and said',
'Come in.' Walking into the room, I found the man locking the door behind me, and then
reaching into his pocket he pulled out a revolver and held it in his hand.
" 'I don't intend to do you any harm,' he said. 'I just want to ask you a few
questions. Did you mean what you said in your sermon last night?'
" 'What did I say? I have forgotten. '
" 'You said, 'The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.'
" 'Yes, God says so. '
"Then he said to me, 'You see this revolver? It has killed four people. It is mine.
Two of them were killed by me, two of them by my bartender in a brawl in my saloon. Is
there hope for a man like me?'
" 'Yes. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Christ can forgive you
and help you obey the Commandments of God. '
"Then the man said, 'Brother Finney, another question. In the back of this
partition is a saloon. I own it, everything in it. We'll sell every kind of liquor to anybody
who comes along. Many times I have taken the last penny out of a man's pocket, letting
his wife and children go hungry. Many times women have brought their babies here and
pled with me not to sell any more booze to their husbands, but I have driven them out
and kept on with the whiskey selling. Is there hope for a man like me?'
" 'God says, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." [1
John 1:7].
" 'Another question, brother Finney. In back of this other partition is a gambling
joint and it is as crooked as sin and Satan. There isn't a decent wheel in the whole place.
It is all loaded and crooked. A man leaves the saloon with some money left in his pocket,
and we take his money away from him in our gambling hall. Men have gone out of that
gambling den to commit suicide when their money, and perhaps entrusted funds, were
all gone. Is there any hope for a man like me?'
" 'God says, "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.'
" 'One more question, and I will let you go. When you walk out of this alley you
turn to the right and you'll see a brown-stone house. It is my home. I own it. My wife is
there, and my eleven-year old child, Margaret. Thirteen years ago I went to New York on
business. I met a beautiful girl. I lied to her. I told her I was a stockbroker, and she
married me. " 'I brought her here, and when she found out my business it broke her
heart. I have made life a hell on earth for her. I have come home drunk, beaten her,
locked her out, made her life more miserable than that of any brute beast. About a
month ago I went home one night drunk, mean, miserable. My wife got in the way some
how, and I started beating her. My daughter threw herself between us. I slapped that girl
across the face and knocked her against a red-hot stove. Her arm is burned from
shoulder to wrist. It will never look like anything decent. Brother Finney, is there hope for
a man like me?'
"I took hold of the man's shoulders, shook him, and said, 'Oh, son, what a black
story you have to tell! But God says, 'The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us
from all sin!'
"The man saw it. He looked at me a long moment and then said, 'Thank you,
Brother Finney. Thank you very much. Now I know. Pray for me. I am coming to church
tomorrow night. And I am going to do some changing.'
"I left that back room and went home. The next morning, about seven o'clock, the
saloon man finally got finished with his business at his office and leaving it headed
across the street to his home. His necktie was awry. His face was dusty, sweaty, and
tearstained. He was shaking as though he were drunk.
"But let's go back to that room. That night he had taken the swivel chair in the
office and smashed the mirror, the fireplace, the desk and the other chairs. He had
smashed the partition on each side. Every bottle and barrel and bar mirror in that saloon
was shattered and broken up. The sawdust was swimming ankle deep in a terrible
mixture of beer, gin, whiskey, and wine. The stench that rose from that rotten mess was
terrific. In the gambling establishment on the other side the tables were smashed. The
dice and cards smoldered in the fireplace.
"And then he had cried for hours there alone on his knees with God.
"And so with it all over, he staggered across the street as the sun arose, walked
up the stairs of his home, and sat down heavily in the chair of his room. His wife called
the little girl, 'Maggie, run upstairs and tell daddy breakfast is ready.' The girl walked
slowly up the stairs. Half afraid, she stood in the door and said, 'Daddy, Mamma said
breakfast was ready; to come down.'
" 'Maggie, darling, daddy doesn't want any breakfast. ' "That little girl didn't walk;
she just flew down those stairs. 'Mamma, daddy said, "Maggie, darling, and he didn't—.'
"Maggie, you didn't understand. You go back upstairs and tell daddy to come down.'
Maggie went back upstairs with the mother following her. The man looked up as he
heard the child's step, spread his knees and said, 'Maggie, come here.'
"Shyly, frightened, in a tremble, the little girl walked slowly up to him. He began
crying as he lifted her up, placed her on his knee, pressed his face against her chest and
wept. The wife, standing in the door, didn't know what had happened. After awhile he
noticed her standing there and said, 'Wife, come here.'
"He sat her on his other knee, threw his large arms around those two whom he
loved, whom he had so fearfully abused, lowered his face between them, and sobbed
until the room almost shook with the impact of his feelings.
"After some minutes be began to control himself, looked up into the faces of his
wife and girl, and said to them:
 " 'Wife and daughter,—you needn't ever be afraid of me any more. God has
brought you a new man, a new daddy home today.'
"That same night that man, his wife, and child, walked down the aisle of the
church, gave their hearts to Christ and joined the church. He spent the remainder of his
life trying to help other people. Many were the young people that he warned to flee from
liquor and cigarettes and gambling—for he well knew the terrible hole that they would
bring a man into." —Charles G. Finney.
"I was at the top of my career. It happened in 1940. That was the year I won the
'most valuable player in American baseball' award. I was getting a salary of $40,000.00
a year at the time. But I started to drink heavily. I began arguing with my manager, Joe
McCarthy, and with the rest of the players. Then things began to happen.
"I spent the winter in taprooms. When spring training rolled around I was 20
pounds overweight. (Don't let them tell you that liquor takes off the pounds—it adds
them.) I couldn't stop drinking. I couldn't hit. That year most experts figured I'd break
Babe Ruth's record. But I ended up hitting only 13 home runs.
"I was suspended before the season was over. I drank more than ever. I got
booted from one minor league club to another. I worked at odd jobs. Spent all of my
money, most of it in bar rooms. Finally I got sick. While I was recuperating in that
hospital, I had a lot of time to think.
"There are kids in and out of baseball who imagine that because they have talent
they have the world by the tail. It isn't so. In life you need things like good advice and
common sense. Don't be so big that you can't accept advice. And if you've gotten into
liquor, be willing to let someone tell you how to get out. "
—Hank Wilson, in the Chicago Daily News.
"I tried to drink with extreme moderation, because I knew that alcohol is the worst
poison a man can take into his system,—but I found out that it was an impossibility to
drink moderately.
"The fact that I indulged at all compelled me to drink on every occasion it was
offered, or be considered absurd by my associates.
"For that reason, because moderate drinking is an absolute impossibility, I
became an absolute teetotaler—a crank, if you please. I will not allow it in my house.
"When a man can say, 'I never drink,' he never has to drink, is never urged to
drink, never offends by not drinking. —Just tell them, 'I never drink. '
"The fact is that the hard drinker was once a moderate drinker, and the chances
are all against the moderate drinker remaining such. —And I,—well, I, for one, don't
propose to take such a chance." —General Frederick D. Grant, son of President U.S.
Grant.
"Here is why I will never drink: 1. God never made a human being who in a
normal state needs alcohol. 2. God never made a human being strong enough to begin
the use of alcohol and be sure that he would not become its victim. 3. God never fixed a
day in a human life after which it is safe to begin the use of intoxicating liquors."
— William Jennings Bryan.
"Entering the office of a well-known businessman in New York City, I found a
placard nailed to a desk. Surprised at this, I read it:
 WHICH?
Wife or Whisky The Babes or the Bottles HEAVEN OR HELL "Seeing what I was
reading, the businessman, quite successful in his work, explained: " 'I wrote that myself.
Sometime back I found myself falling into the habit of drinking. It was just an occasional
glass with a friend. Soon my stomach got bad, my faculties became dulled, and a
constant craving for stimulants dominated me. I saw tears in my wife's eyes and wonder
on the faces of my children. One day I sat down and wrote that card and then looked at
it. And the more I looked at it, the awful message that it contained burst on me. So I
nailed it there and read it several times each day. I went home sober that night, and
have not touched a drop ever since.
" 'It was all a matter of what was most important in my life. Once I had settled that
in my mind, all the rest fell into place. And my decision was made. " —John Dyer.
"A fatal accident, involving the lives of four young people, took place upon one of
the nation's highways. The evidence that liquor was the culprit was found in the broken
whisky bottles among the debris and mangled bodies of the four youthful victims. The
father of one of the girls in frenzied anguish over the tragic death of his beautiful
daughter threatened to kill the one who had provided the four young people with liquor.
That evening he went to the shelf in his bedroom where he kept his own supply of choice
beverages, and there found a note written in his daughter's handwriting, 'Dad, we're
taking along some of your good liquor—I know you won't mind.' That was the last thing
she had ever written. " —James Kingman.
"One of the finest things that could have happened to the brewing industry was
the insistence by high-ranking Army officers to make beer available at Army camps. .
Here is a chance for brewers to cultivate a taste for beer in millions of young men who
will eventually constitute the largest beer-consuming section of our population. " — The
Brewer s Digest.
"A worker who was fond of beer told his wife and child one morning of a dream
he had had. He had seen four rats. The first was large, fat, and sleek; two were very,
very thin; and the last was blind. Neither he nor his wife could find any explanation for
the dream, but they were uneasy, having heard that rats brought bad luck.
"The little boy, however, had an idea.
" 'The big fat one, Daddy, was the tavern keeper on the comer who gets all your
money. The two thin rats are mother and me. And you are the blind one.' " —From a
French newspaper article, Montreal, Canada.
"Babe Ruth was offered a good sum of money if he would permit a photographer
to take his picture with a bottle of beer in his hand, for a national advertising campaign.
"The Babe said quietly: 'No, I have autographed too many baseballs for boys
who have trusted in me. I will do nothing to help advertise the sale of beer—by my
actions or my picture. Those boys see me as a hero, and I'll not do anything to lessen
their esteem of me.' " —Bob Appleton, in the Los Angeles Times.
"I am against alcohol: —Because I have known unborn babes to be cursed
through booze; little children to starve because of booze; young people to be stunted for
life through booze; gifted women to become imbeciles through booze; leaders in industry
to become beggars in the street because of booze; wedding rings to be sold for booze;
fortunes to be squandered for booze; girls to become prostitutes through booze; boys to
become criminals through booze; women to be hanged because of booze; men to go to
the electric chair because of booze!" —Catherine Booth.
"To put alcohol in the human system is like putting sand in the bearings of an
engine. " —Thomas A. Edison.
"Some one has said that alcohol will remove stains from summer clothes. This
may be true, but stains from summer clothes are not the only things alcohol will remove.
"Alcohol will remove the stain all right, but it will remove the summer clothes as
well. And it will remove the spring clothes and the autumn clothes and winter clothes.
"Alcohol will not only do this for the man who drinks it, but it will also do it for all
those for whom he is responsible.
"Alcohol will remove good food from the dinner table, and shoes from the baby's
feet.
"It will remove happiness from the home, and then remove the possibility of its
ever returning.
"It will remove smiles from the faces of those you love, and laughter from the lips
of your innocent children, and warm clothing from their backs.
"Yes, alcohol is a great remover! It can remove more things than most anything
else.
"—And while there is still time, just now, remove it from your life. You'll always
be thankful that you did. "
" 'Dear Ann,
" 'I'm sixteen, and have made up my mind not to drink, but people make it very
hard for me to refuse. . They keep on insisting and pressing, and some get scornful and
angry if I say, "I'm sorry, I'd rather have an orangeade." What's the best way to refuse?
" '(Signed) -M.'”
"Dear -M: No need to say, 'I'm sorry.' You invite them to persuade you if you
sound apologetic. All that is necessary is a 'Thank you; I only take soft drinks. Hit the
knack of being proud and glad and grateful for being able to hold on to your standards. I
know you can do it. Stick to it."
—Ann Temple, in her newspaper feature, "Human Case Book, " in the London
Daily Mail.
"Frederick Charrington was the young heir of Charrington, Head and Co., the
large international London-based brewery.
"One day on the street, he saw a woman with her little girl go into a bar and plead
with her husband for some money. The children were crying for bread. His reply was to
knock her and the child down. Looking up, Charrington saw his name, "Charrington,"
emblazoned in gold on the barroom door. 'I can't stay with liquor!' he said, and gave up a
million and a quarter dollars brewery inheritance." —Aberdeen Express.
"A traveler in Scotland found in a fisherman's home a striking picture of the
Saviour.
" 'How did you obtain possession of this picture?' he asked the man who lived
there. All about him he saw signs of a happy home, and he was surprised at the first
words he heard in reply.
 " 'I was a great drinker and spent a lot of time in the pubs. One night I was way
down with the drink and stumbled into a pub. —And there hung His picture! It made me
sober in an instant.
"I said to the bartender: 'Sell me that picture; this is no place for the Saviour.' I
gave him all the money I had in my pocket and took it home. I dropped on my knees and
cried, '0 Lord Jesus, pick me up again! Pick me up again out of my sin!'
" 'That prayer was answered and today I am the happiest man in the village.'
" 'But didn't you have a struggle to give it up?'
" 'When the heart is open to the Saviour, He can take out of it the love of drink. It
is crying to Christ and clinging to Christ that makes all the difference.' "
— Chappel Clovis

QUOTATIONS FROM THE LIQUOR INDUSTRY-

When you buy liquor, you are financially supporting an industry. But you need to
know that they are not as much your friends as you might think. As the quotations below
indicate, intentionally or unintentionally, they appear to be working to ruin not only you,
but your children as well:
"We must not forget that our business is dependent upon the sufferance [
permission] of the public. We are not in a position like the shoe business, clothing
business, flour business or the steel business." "The Brewer's Digest, " February 1944
(the journal of the beer-manufacturing industry).
"We believe a teenage moderation program [to get more teenagers drinking]
should be adopted with some real strength behind it. We're told this is too 'ticklish.' We
don't agree. "—"Spirits," November 1955, page 44 (the magazine of wine and liquor
manufacturing executives).
"Beer must compete with coffee, tea, milk, and a whole array of carbonated
beverages. The brewing industry has not found a satisfactory answer to the problem of
introducing beer to a high percentage of the younger generation that is coming along.
This is particularly true of the civilian element, which, after all is the big percentage of the
people. "—"The Brewer's Digest," February 1952, page 65 (accompanying this
statement was a large picture, filling one-fourth of the page, of a child, not over five
years of age, playing with a toy beer truck).
"Here's a chance for brewers to cultivate a taste for beer in millions of young men
who will eventually constitute the largest beer-consuming section of our population. "—
"The Brewer's Digest." May, 1941 (speaking about the increasing number of military
personnel, on the eve of World War II. As you can see, they were quite patriotic: it is
more important that we get our soldiers drunk, than that we win the war).
(Statement made following World War II:) "Beer has come into its own and more
people have an appetite for beer today since the war, because our recruits were
furnished with plenty of beer!'—"The Brewers Bulletin, " June 13, 1946.
"Show young people how to enjoy liquor." "Train your publicity to catch the eye
and develop the interest of the younger generation." "Make youth liquor conscious. "—
Stated objectives of the liquor industry at a liquor dealers convention, held in the
Stevens Hotel, Chicago, 1935.
"Sociological studies give evidence that more and more teenagers are drinking. .
and are drinking greater quantities than ever before. "—Editorial, in "Tavern Topics," the
Journal of the Washington State License Beverage Association" June 1954.
"Brewers were among the first to realize that television could play a big part in
increasing the consumption of beer, especially in the home, and many of them hopped
on the TV bandwagon as quickly as commuters hop on a rush hour subway. .
"In relation to all other types of products, beer is a strongly advertised product,
holding a prominent position second to foods—in television advertising. .
"Brewers were quick to jump on the TV sports bandwagon at the very outset. By
doing so they were able to dominate TV's most natural entertainment, and came up with
good audience ratings without the talent and production costs of dramatic and variety
shows.
"Television has offered the brewers a unique advantage. It has opened a vast
new market, almost untapped—the American home."—"The Brewer's Digest, September
1950, pages 60-61.

SOME FACTS ABOUT ALCOHOL-

Medical research has proven that the taking of alcohol into the body in any form
or quantity impairs the judgment, normal restraint, and the performance of skilled
movements. This means that it matters not whether it be beer, wine, or hard liquor —it is
equally dangerous—and the use of it can equally turn you into an alcoholic.
Ten to twenty-five teaspoons of pure alcohol will cause obvious drunkenness. A
bottle of 4% beer (360 c.c.) contains 4 teaspoons of alcohol. Four ounces (120 c.c.) of
wine (14% alcohol) contains 4 teaspoons of alcohol. Three ounces of fortified wine (21%
alcohol) contains 5 teaspoons of alcohol. Eight teaspoons (32 c.c.) of whisky contains 4
teaspoons of alcohol.
Statistics indicate that one person in every seven that begins drinking ends up as
a confirmed alcoholic. The only answer that medical science knows for avoiding the
addictive properties of alcohol is total abstinence.
Here is a medical definition of alcohol:
Alcohol, from a medical point of view, is an intoxicating, hypnotic, analgesic,
anesthetic, narcotic, poisonous, habit-forming, craving-producing, and addiction-
producing drug.
1. Alcohol is intoxicating because drunkenness is created by its use.
2. Alcohol is hypnotic, because it tends to put people to sleep.
3. Alcohol is analgesic, because in certain doses it stops pain.
4. Alcohol is anesthetic, because in higher doses it induces sound sleep so that a
person can undergo an operation.
5. Alcohol is a narcotic, because in large doses it stupifies. .
6. Alcohol is a depressant, because it depresses (slows down) the central
nervous system and a number of body functions.,
 7. Alcohol is a poison, because in large doses it will kill a human being, an
animal, or a plant that has been exposed to it.
8. Alcohol is habit-forming because with continued use a fixed desire will be
created to repeatedly drink it. Alcohol is addiction-producing in that its continued use as
a habit cannot easily be set aside.
Here are some problems that alcohol has brought to America: Juvenile
Delinquency—From 25-75 percent of juvenile delinquency is directly or indirectly due to
alcoholic beverages, according to various reports. Divorce—From 25-75 percent of all
divorces are directly or indirectly due to alcohol. Crime-Felonies and misdemeanors are
reported to be due to alcohol in at least 50 percent of the cases. Arrests for drunkenness
—In a recent year, over 7,000,000 arrests for drunkenness occurred in the United
States. It is estimated that less than 10 percent of the people actually drunk that year
were arrested.
Economic loss —It is estimated that the economic loss costs America more than
$10,000,000,000 yearly.
Sense of values —In the United States there are 537,303 schools and churches,
and 582,033 retail liquor stores and saloons. In a recent year, 12,500,000,000 was spent
on all religious and educational purposes, whereas 18,250,000,000 was spent on
alcoholic beverages.
Alcohol does some things that the liquor ads never mention: It destroys brain
cells, fatty tissue, and body heat balance. It seriously damages the nervous system. It
lessens disease resistance, hearing, nerve sensitivities, good judgment, and vision. It
deadens one's sense of fatigue. It slows physical reactions. It scars liver tissue. It ruins
the brain.
Scores of tests reveal the same thing: alcohol always reduces efficiency and
safety: When you take 1 ½ shots of whiskey, or 1 ½ bottles of beer, or 1 ½ glasses of
wine,—your reaction time is slowed 6 percent. When you take 3 ½ shots of whisky, or 3
½ bottIes of beer, or 3 ½ glasses of wine, your reaction time is slowed 34 percent. To
an automobile driver this would mean that, at a speed of 50 miles per hour, it would
require 17 additional feet to bring a car to a stop. But this problem is compounded by the
fact that "loaded" drivers are more confident, take more risks, and have far less
coordination and good judgment.
In any given year, a drinking driver is generally involved in about one-half of all
fatal accidents. Some experts place it as high as 60 percent.
Alcoholic beverages contain ethyl alcohol, which is an anesthetic—not a
stimulant. Its effects are inevitable. It undermines power of decision, distorts judgment,
impairs eyesight, retards muscular reaction, and increases accidents.
Six out of every ten arrests in the United States are related to alcohol. Two thirds
of today's alcoholics began drinking when of high school age. A few years ago one out of
every six alcoholics was a woman; now it is one in four. This means over a million
women alcoholics. In Los Angeles County, three out of every four applications for
divorce or separate maintenance during 1955 resulted because of a liquor problem.
More than 40,000 people are killed each year because of a liquor-induced accidents.
The former alcoholic knows that his only safeguard is total abstinence for the rest
of his life. He must stay away entirely from liquor in every form. Even to take one gulp
will awaken a demon of craving within him.
 There is only one answer: leave it totally alone. Alcoholism usually begins with a
social drink or two with friends. Sometimes it begins with a "business drink" or two, with
a boss or client. It is easy to start, not so easy to stop. The pressures are there to
conform, but it takes a man to say "No, I choose not to; thank you."
Case histories of all kinds are to be found in books and magazines. Newspapers
run stories on them. But at the heart of them all is the simple fact that it all began with
one drink.
If you have never had that first drink; don't take it. If you are having trouble
keeping it under control; stop and never again take that "first drink."
You are done with it and you are glad you are done with it, and you thank the
God of heaven every day that you are done with it.
At the present time over half the adult population of our nation drink alcoholic
beverages. Some eight to nine million of these are known alcoholics. But there are also
those who are secret alcoholics. A surprising number of women fall into this category.
Not long ago, Harvey Fiske of the National Council on Alcoholism was quoted by the
Associated Press as saying, "Today there are probably as many women alcoholics as
men, and they may be doing more damage and be even farther away from help than
men." —Because so many won't admit that they have a real problem.
We cannot solve a problem we deny that we have. No one ever stopped smoking
or drinking until he came to the point of admitting that he had a problem and dared not
continue any longer.
In 1970, the Rutgers Center for Alcohol Studies made what was probably the
largest single study of American drinking practices. A total of 2,746 adult Americans
were picked at random and interviewed by a George Washington University research
team. Funded by a federal grant of $400,000, the study findings were later placed in a
book, "American Drinking Practices." This is what they discovered: Drinkers compose 68
percent of the population, and abstainers (non-drinkers) comprise 32 percent.
The heavy drinkers (12 percent) usually drink nearly every day, but some drink
less frequently, taking five or more drinks each time they do.
The moderate drinkers (13 percent) drink from once to several times a month,
taking an average of three to four drinks each time.
The light drinkers (28 percent) drink at least once a month, and at each time take
one or two drinks.
Infrequent drinkers (15 percent) drink varying amounts less frequently than once
a month.
More men drink than women, but the number of drinking women is steadily
increasing. Of the men surveyed, 77 percent drink at least occasionally; of the women
60 percent drink. Yet ten years earlier, only 45 percent of the women were drinking.
Classified by nationality groups, 91 percent of the Italian-Americans drink, 80
percent of Russian, Polish, or Baltic origins. Irish immigrants were the highest: 93
percent, with 31 percent heavy drinkers. The Rutgers study also revealed that those who
attend church regularly are 50 percent less likely to be heavy drinkers than those who
have no church affiliation. Yet there was drinking among church members: At the top of
the list were Jews, Episcopalians, and Roman Catholics, in that order.
The highest percentage of drinkers live in the Northeast (79 percent), and the
second highest on the Pacific Coast (73 percent). The lowest was found in the Southern
States, and the average (about 35 percent) was in the South Central States.
The heaviest drinkers (1) come from families where the parents drank also, (2)
their origin is in ethnic groups, such as the Irish, where drinking is quite common, (3)
their religion (Roman Catholic, for example) places little or no restraint on drinking, and
(4) they live in large cities where heavy drinking is prevalent.
Here are two interesting statements:
Addiction to alcohol is "the number one health problem in the nation."—Dr. Roger
O. Egeberg, Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs, Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare, Washington D.C.
"The provision of adequate manpower and facilities to treat all alcoholics with
presently known methods on a one-to-one basis would in itself utilize the full time of
every physician and fill every hospital bed in the nation. "—The National Institute of
Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

The Effects of Alcohol on the Body

Alcohol fools people. They think it has done one thing for them when in reality it
has accomplished quite the opposite. Drinking some of it, a person imagines that he has
become strong, when he is becoming weakened; he thinks he is becoming warmer,
when his body is actually becoming colder. It appears that he is being energized by the
alcohol, when in reality his coordination, nutrition and strength are being lessened. He
thinks that the alcohol is stimulating him, when actually it is depressing his entire
physical system.
Alcohol first increases stomach acid secretions, and then slows them down. Then
the alcohol irritates the stomach lining, resulting in congestion, inflammation, and
ulceration. A chronically-inflamed stomach is the result of regularly using liquor.
Alcohol also develops in alcoholics a disease known as cirrhosis of the liver.
Many small areas of it are destroyed and replaced by scar tissue. As the destruction of
liver cells continues, the liver tries to make new ones, but scar tissue keeps building up
where the dead cells once were. These scar nodules give the liver an appearance of
being "hob-nailed."
The damage and scarring reduces proper blood circulation through this, the
largest organ inside the body. Impaired circulation to the liver equally affects the
stomach, intestines, and spleen, and those organs also suffer.
The back pressure, of blood held back from entering the liver, begins to cause
blood plasma to flow out from the peritoneal veins into the abdominal cavity behind the
liver. There it accumulates, sometimes in such large quantities that it must be drawn off
repeatedly in order to relieve the alcoholic of severe distention and discomfort.
We call this nightmare cirrhosis of the liver. It is progressive, and generally ends
in death. Yet it could be entirely avoided. Drinking-liquor was the indirect cause of the
problem. And stopping the alcohol was the only real way to solve it.
Drinking alcohol produces warm, flushed skin. The drinker feels warmer because
more blood is flowing through the skin vessels. But the blood is being drawn from inside
the body, which becomes gradually cooler. Body temperature keeps falling. Some
people think that drinking liquor will "warm" them up in cold weather. But this is not really
true.
Alcohol lowers resistance to disease (especially pneumonia). Medical reports
have dealt with this fact in detail. Here is an example of this: The Cook County Hospital,
in Chicago, summarized the death rates among 3,422 cases of pneumonia as follows:
49.87% of them were excessive drinkers; 34.40% were moderate drinkers;
22.45% were occasional drinkers.
Drinking alcohol shortens the life span drastically. The death records of
2,000,000 policyholders in 43 American life insurance companies are summarized for
the 20-year period from 1885 to 1905, as follows:
People drinking 2 glasses of beer or 1 of whisky per day—were 18% more likely
to die than the average American.
Of those with a past record of heavy drinking, but with present apparent cure—
50% higher.
Among those using over 2 glasses of beer or 1 of whisky daily—86% higher.
Alcohol, when it enters the blood stream and is carried to the liver, it begins being
slowly converted into carbon dioxide and water. This oxidation is quite slow, amounting
to about 2 teaspoons of alcohol an hour. (If it were food, it would be equal to the body
using up two cubes of sugar each hour—and that is slow!)
Alcohol is not a food, and cannot be stored in the body. Also it remains in the
same form until converted into oxygen and water, so it provides no nourishment of any
kind. It aids in neither growth nor repair. It is a useless fluid in the body, as far as help is
concerned; it is a dangerous fluid in the body, when all the damage that it does is
considered.
It neither builds up nor energizes any part of the body. Instead it depresses the
system and causes a vicious addiction that is difficult to break.
Drinking alcohol greatly hinders proper nutrition for the body. Chronic alcoholics
are always quite malnourished. This is due to decreased food intake (because they lose
their appetite for food), decreased absorption and utilization of the food eaten (because
of changes in the liver and digestive tract), and increased food requirements (because
liquor-drinking increases body requirements for calories and certain vitamins, especially
those of the B complex).
Two malnutrition diseases that alcoholics are most likely to develop are these:
Beriberi, with its characteristic damage to the nerves controlling the legs and arms,—
or—damage to the general circulation, with weakness and enlargement of the heart.
Pellagra, with a sore tongue; rash over the hands, ankles and neck; abdominal pain,
diarrhea, and serious mental changes.
Alcoholic consumption directly leads to several mental diseases. A study of over
56,000 patients in Massachusetts, resulted in the fact, as stated by Dr. Neil Dayton of
Boston, that chronic alcoholism was a prominent cause of one fifth of all admissions to
mental hospitals in that state.
HOW TO QUIT ALCOHOL -1
Dr. Roger T. Williams of the University of Texas, a leading biochemist, declares
that not only do alcoholics have a poor diet, —but a poor diet tends to create alcoholics.
In support of this, he says that drinking alcohol causes a deficiency of the B
complex vitamins. But a lack of these vitamins tends to increase the appetite for
carbohydrates (sugars and starches). Alcohol, itself, being only a carbohydrate and a
robber of B vitamins, starts a vicious cycle within the human body of both removing
vitamins and creating an artificial alcohol thirst.
Then there is Dr. U.D. Register of Loma Linda University in Loma Linda,
California. In 1967 he conducted a series of studies in which he fed a normal, American
diet to rats.
The diet consisted of hot dogs, spaghetti, meat balls, sweet rolls, and soft drinks.
A control set of rats was given a diet of milk and vegetables. In addition, both sets of rats
were given the choice of 10 percent alcohol (about as much as in wine), or pure water.
The rats that were fed the popular junk diet began turning to more and more
alcohol, until they were imbibing 12.8 ml. of it per 100 gm. of body weight per week. The
control group never went above 2.3 ml. of alcohol.
Then Dr. Register added coffee to the popular diet—and the alcohol consumption
shot up to 46 ml. per week!
It is of high significance, that after 10 weeks, the popular—diet rats were
switched over to the nutritious diet—and within the first week their alcohol intake had
gone down to 3.8 mI., and within three weeks, most of the rats had quit alcohol entirely!
This is very important information. If you want to quit alcohol, you need to
accompany your other quitting activities with an upgrading of your diet. Dr. Register says
that it was a lack of the B vitamins that made the difference in the two sets of rats.
A third research group was headed by Dr. Abram Hoffer of (Saskatchewan,
Canada, and Dr. Humphrey Osmond of Princeton, N.J. They contend that the mental
disorder, schizophrenia, is closely related to alcoholism, and that both can be nutritional-
ly treated in the same manner. Then they did it.
The American Schizophrenia Foundation has discovered that from 20 to 40
percent of alcoholics are partially schizophrenic. What Drs. Hoffer and Osmond did was
to give massive doses of niacin (B3), vitamin C, B6, and other vitamins. The results of
this megavitamin therapy were reported in the July, 1968 issue of the "British Journal of
Psychiatry."
The therapy program was originally planned only for schizophrenics, but since
40% of those who were to receive the treatment were alcoholics, the therapy was
extended to them —and to other alcoholics who did not show signs of schizophrenia.
The results were dramatically successful.
A fourth research group, headed by Dr. Russell F. Smith, medical director of
Michigan State Boy's Training School, conducted a study in which 507 alcoholics were
given massive vitamin B3 therapy. As he later reported, An average of 6 grams, of this
well known, common, cheap vitamin a day, was given to them. Concluding his report in
the October 1968 issue of the American Schizophrenia Foundation "Newsletter," he
said, "Eighty-seven percent of our group of hard core, treatment resistant, difficult
alcoholics derived benefit."
 Comparing his vitamin therapy with methods,used elsewhere, he said, "B3 far
surpassed them in effectiveness. This comparison becomes more effective when we
remember that many drugs today used in the treatment of alcoholism have a high
potential for abuse and for suicide. When the niacin [vitamin B3] is used instead, these
serious risks become virtually nonexistent —great advantage indeed. B3 far surpasses
other therapeutic agents commonly used in the treatment of alcoholics."
Probably the most significant factor in this study has been the large group who
undertook it that have stayed permanently off alcohol after the testing was completed.
Part way through his study, Dr. Smith made the discovery that vitamin C must be
used in conjunction with niacin. He was alerted to the matter when some of the patients
complained of sustained weakness, dry skin, occasional rashes or odd dietary cravings.
Realizing that the large doses of niacin were tending to deplete vitamin C in the body, he
began adding good-sized doses of the latter. (Urine tests have revealed that no vitamin
C was being excreted, indicating that the patients on the high-niacin diet were lacking in
it.) But average doses of 1000 mg. per patient daily solved the problem, and all the side
effects disappeared.
Dr. David Ramon Hawkins, director of the North Nassau Mental Health Center,
provides us with a fifth study into ways to nutritionally stop alcoholism. Seventy of his
315 schizophrenic patients were confirmed alcoholics, many of whom had previously
been hospitalized because of their problem. Some had undergone psychotherapy or
psychoanalysis for periods ranging up to 20 years. "Some of the patients' families had
spent up to $150,000 on years of expensive treatment which had been to no avail," he
said.
All of the patients were given massive doses of vitamins B3 (niacin) and C, plus
sizable amounts of B6 (pyridoxine). They were also put on a hypoglycemic diet (low
carbohydrates, high protein, medium fats, frequent very small meals). The patients were
encouraged to keep coffee drinking to a minimum, and exercise frequently.
It should be noted here that people that have both alcoholism and schizophrenia
are the ones most unlikely to be helped out of their problem. But the results of Dr.
Hawkin's approach were spectacular, to say the least.
He said, "By treating their schizophrenia with megavitamin therapy and
simultaneously pushing them into Alcoholics Anonymous, our results were extremely
good. Since we started using this new approach we have closed our out-patient shock
unit. Hardly any of these patients needs to be hospitalized any more. The whole attitude
of the patients and their families is so overwhelmingly different [that] there is no
comparison with the previous situation." In order to effect proper results the vitamins
were given in large doses, sometimes a thousand times larger than "minimum daily
requirements."
In addition to B3, several other vitamins are used in the megavitamin therapy:
vitamin C, pyridoxine (B6), B1, B12, and vitamin E.
A sixth study, that was to prove quite revealing, was undertaken by Dr. Edmund
G. Flink, chairman of medicine at West Virginia University's medical school worked for
some time with alcholics, and concluded that their alcohol-developed deficiencies
included a serious lack of magnesium.
Efforts to stop drinking bring on "delirium tremens" symptoms —which are
identical to those exhibited by one who is seriously deficient in the trace mineral,
magnesium. So unendurable are these symptoms that they make it impossible for some
to continue with their withdrawal from the alcohol.
But Dr. Flink discovered that all that was needed was for those coming off
alcohol to simply take more magnesium in their diet. It did not even need to be injected.
Just taking dolomite tablets, obtainable at any health food store, would provide all the
magnesium that they required.
Dr. Flink's findings were later confirmed by Dr. John E. Jones of the West Virginia
University Medical Center.
There are answers; there is help available. The simple, nourishing foods, which
God has given to mankind, can solve so many of our problems. Let us thank our
heavenly Father for them, and use the blessings He has bestowed. Forever dispense
with the poisons and only partake of nutritious food and drink. And you will be happy that
you did so.

HOW TO QUIT ALCOHOL -2

As we mentioned at the beginning of this book, a person cannot stop alcohol
unless he wants to and knows that he must.
If you are not in very deep, you may be able to quit without the encouragement or
help of others. But you may find that having a friend to go through the withdrawal is
something you need. You may wish to talk it over with a loved one or close
acquaintance. You may want to discuss it with your physician. If there is a pastor of a
church nearby that you can talk and pray with, all the better.
Then there is Alcoholics Anonymous. This group has helped thousands. They do
it by encouraging one another, and by helping one another admit that they cannot do it
alone,—and that they need a Higher Power—God—to help them do it.
There are physicians and special hospitals for the recovery of alcoholics. First
comes the immediate withdrawal. Often they will attempt to relieve the withdrawal
symptoms by administering synthetic tranquilizers such as chlordizepoxide, chlorproma-
zine, meprobamate, promazine hydrochloride, or reserpine. The use of tranquilizers
coupled with other therapeutic aids can be effective in prompt recovery from delirium
tremens and hallucinations. Other forms of treatment can then begin. In alcoholic
recovery hospitals, the later treatment generally is based on additional tranquilizing
drugs. These quiet him and make him manageable during the time needed to withdraw
from the powerful cravings for alcohol.
Most physicians, many church pastors, and organizations such as Alcoholics
Anonymous can advise an alcoholic or his family where the most effective help may be
found within a given community, whether in a hospital or not.
But there is danger in becoming addicted to the tranquilizers, if they are
continued over too long a time at too heavy a dosage. And, it should be noted, that
severe complications may result if tranquilizers are later placed in a body that has
returned to alcohol. It is considered best, by professionals in the field, that the use of
tranquilizers should be given under the careful control and frequent observation of a
physician.
Many alcoholics are found to be suffering from other physical problems. One of
these is frequently vitamin deficiency. Another can be liver or circulatory damage.
Some physicians shun the continued use of tranquilizers and instead use what is
termed "aversion therapy." A measured amount of an alcoholic beverage is given. But
into that beverage a certain amount of a nausea-producing agent has been mixed. Two
such agents are apomorphine and emetine. In this treatment, the alcoholic receives that
which he craves, the alcohol, but in a short time it produces nausea. This is intended to
develop a loathing for alcohol. Aversion therapy should also be accompanied by close
medical supervision. Why? Because of the severe physical reactions.
The above withdrawal therapies are different types of drug therapy. Frequently,
the relief obtained from them is temporary.
What is needed is a plan of action that can carry through to a successful
termination of alcohol—without a later return to it.
The help of God and the encouragement of understanding friends can do that
which nothing else can accomplish.
Alcoholics Anonymous was started in 1935 by an alcoholic who solved his
massive problems with liquor—simply by trying to help another get off of alcohol. He
became so concerned to help another that he quit himself. Why? Because now he had
something worthwhile to live for, something important to do. The effort to help others is
ennobling and strengthening to the mind and the willpower.
Thousands of reformed alcoholics can testify to the help they have received from
Alcoholics Anonymous. It presently has a membership of several hundred thousand all
over the world. They hold regular meetings in cities and towns wherever you go.
Many cannot understand how AA can help so effectively when it has so little
organization to it. It has no officers, requires no dues. It has no constitution or bylaws.
Each local group is autonomous, and not under outside control.
Its only purpose is to help alcoholics stop drinking and stay stopped. That is all it
does, but it, does it remarkably well.
Upon arriving for the first time at an AA meeting, an alcoholic is surprised with
the reception. He walks in, well aware of his physical weakness, emotional conflicts, guilt
feelings, and social isolation. Often he arrives weakened in every way, and without
hardly one solid friend anywhere.
There he discovers that many of the happy, cheerful people have had far worse
experiences than he lives with daily. They are recovered alcoholics. Hearing their
stories, seeing their return to emotional stability, successful employment, happy social
life, he takes courage that perhaps there is hope for him.
The AA members do not condemn him; they just want to help him get off liquor.
They do not try to sell him anything but friendship and lots of free encouragement. He
finds himself totally accepted by the group, and this brings him back to forthcoming
meetings. Whenever he wishes, he can call another AA member on the phone and talk
to him. He will frequently be given a "buddy" to especially encourage and help him.
At the heart of the Alcoholics Anonymous program is a firm acceptance of the
belief that the help of a Higher Power the help of God—is needed in order to receive the
strength and resisting, overcoming help that is needed.
Friends at AA encourage him to keep at it. He may fully leave alcohol
immediately; he may fail sometimes. But he has friends to give him a lift.
 Yes, he receives the most help—and the most quickly—when he admits that he
is an alcoholic, that he cannot stop by himself, and that only God can do it—and that,
moment by moment, he must thereafter rely upon God for the needed help.
In order to part company with alcohol, you must pray to God for help. And He will
give that help to the degree that you are serious about having nothing more to do with
liquor.
Here is the twelve-point program of Alcoholics Anonymous:
STEP 1. We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol; our lives had
become unmanageable.
STEP 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to
sanity.
STEP 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as
we understood Him.
STEP 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
STEP 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to other human beings the exact
nature of our wrongs.
STEP 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
STEP 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our short comings.
STEP 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make
amends to them all.
STEP 9. Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to
do so would injure them or others.
STEP 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong
promptly admitted it.
STEP 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious
contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us
and the power to carry that out.
STEP 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried
to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
At the meetings and informal discussions members of AA discuss how they were
helplessly in the grip of alcohol, and how through the encouragement of friends and the
help of God, they left it. During the meetings they learn how alcohol acts on the body
and they consider possible reasons why people get into alcohol to start with. They
discuss personality problems, marital difficulties caused by drinking, and how they can
get problems straightened out. They testify to their own victories, with the help of God,
over the terrible habit, and they share experiences in successfully helping someone else
to get off alcohol. Alcoholics Anonymous is people helping people. And this is what the
alcoholic wanted in the first place. He started on the wrong path while in search of
acceptance, love and appreciation.
Now he discovers that he finds it by giving it to others.
Two other organizations have sprung up to aid alcoholics and their families: Al-
Anon has as its objective the helping of wives and husbands of alcoholics. Al-Ateen
attempts to help young people to understand the problems of alcoholic parents and to
withstand the social and emotional pressures they themselves may be encountering
because of those problems.
Local branches of AA could help put you in contact with Al-Anon or AI-Ateen, so
that you could work with them, or obtain help in starting a branch in your area.
Reformed alcoholics frequently continue attending for AA weekly meetings for
years to come. But whether they do or not, they know for a certainty that they must
continue their close connection with God, and their efforts to help others find God so
they can recover also.
Recently, a new group therapy approach has been started that many will find to
be very helpful: It is called the 4 DK Plan (Four-Dimensional Key to the Cause of
Alcoholism). It is a plan of basic alcohol education.
The 4 DK Plan looks at both alcohol and man—in relation to life's four
dimensions — physical, mental, social, and spiritual. It explains and implements the
latest research on the causes of alcoholism, the effects of alcohol consumption, and the
latest rehabilitation methods.
This Plan consists primarily of four group sessions, showing what alcohol can do
to each of these four parts of a human life. Following this, those in attendance learn how
to combat drinking habits through each dimension. Much of the mystery is thus taken out
of the "how to conquer alcohol" problem. Visual aids, forums, and general discussion is
supplemented with motion picture films. The two specialists who developed the 4 DK
Plan are E.H.J. Steed, executive director of the International Commission for the
Prevention of Alcoholism, and L.A. Senseman, M.D., longtime chairman of the Rhode
Island Advisory Committee on Alcoholism. The Plan is usually made available through
local hospitals and non-profit organizations.
Four features of the 4 DK Plan render it especially flexible and helpful: (1) The
plan is educational and is valuable to anyone concerned with alcoholism, whether or not
he drinks. (2) The plan can be instituted in any community, using local resources. (3)
The plan appears to be as helpful to alcoholics as the well-known Five-Day Plan to Stop
Smoking has been to smokers. (4) The plan is positive. It emphasizes good health and
wholesome living.
Information on already-scheduled community presentations of the 4 DK Plan in
your area (or having them come to your locality) may be obtained by writing to the
International Commission for the Prevention of Alcoholism, 6840 Eastern Avenue, N.W.,
Washington D.C. 20012.
"In the treatment of alcoholic patients there are two stages to be considered—
one is the recovery from the acute alcoholism, and the other is the hang-over. The
essential thing in the treatment of the former is the withdrawal of alcohol and
encouraging a good sleep. Hang-over represents a sudden fall from the supposed
pleasurable or at least painless non-reality of acute alcohol intoxication into a new reality
more threatening than that of the period preceding the bout. The loss of self-esteem
characterizes the over-all feelings of the alcoholic hang-over. Headache is common,
especially in those whose livers become enlarged and tender due to acute inflammation
of the liver. Thirst is one of the main features, and it is due to perspiration and the loss of
water through excessive action of the kidneys. Fatigue is expressive of both the
emotional tension and the exceptional demands during the episode of acute alcoholic
intoxication.
 "The first thing which must be done is the prompt and total withdrawal of alcohol,
as more alcohol in ever-increasing doses is not a remedy for the psychological
disturbances caused by its excessive use, and at times it is difficult for alcoholic patients
to accept this view. The patient will soon learn that his mental and physical pain can be
relieved by means other than by the use of alcohol. One of the important things, which
must be done, is to allay the patient's fears, as many times he worries about the
irreparable damage done to the body over the long-continued use of alcohol.
Sleep is essential, and one of the best means of producing sleep is by the use of
prolonged baths with the temperature maintained at around 92 degrees to 94 degrees.
Quiet surroundings are absolutely essential. The diet is important, as it should not
contain anything of a stimulating nature, such as coffee, spices, and condiments. Milk,
eggs, fruits, and vegetables is the ideal diet, with liberal use of orange juice and other
fruit and vegetable juices to combat loss of fluids in the body.
"In many instances the only way to properly control the patient is to have him
placed in an institution where careful supervision can be carried out. One of the
distressing things with those who have to deal with habitual alcoholics is to see them
struggling with themselves, remorseful because of their repeated falls, always declaring
that they will never drink again, but invariably returning to the use of alcohol.
"The alcoholic patient has to separate himself from his old companions, for they
frequently lead him to drink again. A complete change of life is essential, and the best
change of all is a change of heart that comes from accepting Christ as a personal
Saviour. With His help the alcoholic can obtain freedom which can be gained in no other
way. "—The Problem of Alcohol, pages 7-8.

HOW TO QUIT ALCOHOL -3

Alcohol is a problem that CAN be overcome. Others have done it and you can do
it also. Carefully read the following information and do exactly what it says. It can mean
the beginning of a new way of life for you.
FIRST, you must accept the fact that you do have a problem. If you are just
toying with the whole idea and have no real conviction that you MUST quit, then you are
not likely to accomplish much. You must feel strongly that you HAVE to quit, for your
own sake and for the sake of your loved ones, whether they be near or far off. You
realize that you dare not wait longer. There may not be another opportunity as the one
you now have before you. You have to do it now.
SECOND, you must accept the fact that you can not do it by yourself. Only in the
strength of God can it be done. And you can only receive that strength through earnest
prayer for help. Get on your knees alone—all by yourself—and cry to God over the
whole thing. Tell Him everything you've done wrong and ask Him to forgive you. And
mean it. Tell Him that you are going to dedicate to Him the rest of your life. And mean it.
Tell Him you are willing to sacrifice anything that such a dedication requires. And mean
it. Then ask Him for strength to break from this terrible habit. Ask Him to help you do it
by yourself or provide you with friends that will help you do it.
THIRD, accept the fact that you are not going to stay close to God unless you
read His Written Word every day, and every day send up your prayers for forgiveness
and for help. Each day is a new one. And you must start it with God. There are no short-
cuts for they only lead to detours. You must start every day with God and then walk with
Him all day long.
FOURTH, accept the fact that continued prayer for help must be mixed with
continued praise. Thankfulness is powerful. BELIEVE God. Believe that He is there;
believe that He will help. And believe it all day long, and at night too. —And you will have
that help when you need it. Believe that He will forgive you and accept you again —even
when you make mistakes. And believe that He loves you deeply, more deeply than you
have every thought possible. Keep thinking about that fact. He has tried to help you for
years but your stubborn ways have hindered Him. Let Him give you the help now that He
wants to give you. And thank Him continually for it. Thank Him even when things look
black and you seem to have no one on your side.
FIFTH, you must make some changes in your life. You will have to get more
exercise in the open air, and more rest at night. You will have to put away the things that
tend to separate you from God. If television and radio and the music and magazines you
are used to are pulling you away from God, then throw them out. You may find that you
have to make some new friends and avoid some old ones. They don't care for your new
way of life and want your company in doing things you are no longer interested in doing.
The best solution is to find new friends. Go to church regularly. That's where you are
more likely to find better ones.
SIXTH, you may find it necessary to go on an initial cleansing program. This will
help expel the alcohol from your system more quickly. As with nicotine, the more quickly
alcohol is out of your body, the more quickly the old cravings will subside. And such a
program will also help you over the initial tremors. As you know, one must stop these
dangerous practices all at once; they cannot be put away simply by gradually cutting
down. This is where the following information may be helpful.
In order to carry out this program, you will need some one to help you. The baths
mentioned below will help expel impurities from your body and help overcome the
alcohol habit. Continue them on in the years that follow. An HERBAL TEA should be pre-
pared from the following powdered herbs: Equal parts of Skullcap, Catnip, and Blue
Vervain with no sweetening. Combine them, and place 2 tablespoons in a quart of water
that has been brought to a boil and then turned off. (Two quarts should last a day and a
half, and can be kept refrigerated until used up.) An eight-ounce glass of tea should be
taken every two hours, except when sleeping at night.
FIRST DAY: Glass of water at 7 a.m. 8 oz., tea at 8. This is a relaxant tea and
will help you sleep. The idea here is the more sleep during withdrawal the less problem
with the withdrawal symptoms. And it works. Stay in bed and rest. Sleep all you can.
Every two hours another glass of tea should be brought to you. At 6 p.m. each evening,
take a hot and cold shower.
SECOND DAY: Same as the first day, but that evening you can have a glass of
tomato juice with a teaspoon of cayenne in it. (The stomach is used to the bite of alcohol
and the red pepper helps take its place just now. Don't use black pepper.)
THIRD DAY: Same as preceding days, but now you can add a meal in the
evening of sliced tomato, or if you prefer, stay with the tomato juice and cayenne.
FOURTH DAY: The usual pattern, except as follows: In the morning, a small
meal of fresh fruit or soaked dried fruit. At noon a medium-sized salad—but not too
much.
 FIFTH DAY: Eat normally. The program is over.
The above four-day program was developed by an herbalist, now in her eighties,
who has used it successfully with many people. She has seen it work repeatedly for both
those coming off of alcohol and those trying to quit tobacco.
During the initial withdrawal and immediately thereafter, sleep is essential. One
method of obtaining this is by the use of prolonged baths (with the temperature
maintained at around 92° to 94° . Quiet surroundings during this time are absolutely
essential. The diet should not include coffee, spices and condiments—and they should
be permanently stopped. It is now known that these only whet the appetite for a return to
alcohol. Fruit, vegetables and grains are needed along with water to replace body
losses.
SEVENTH, the following recently discovered nutritional information may prove of
great value in helping you to eliminate this problem:
MAGNESIUM, a trace mineral, is now known to greatly reduce the withdrawal
symptoms called delirium tremens or the D.T.'s. This was discovered by Dr. Edmund G.
Flink, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the West Virginia University Medical
School in 1967. The severity of withdrawal symptoms is almost identical to the lack of
magnesium in the body.
NIACIN (B3) is now considered by many researchers to be the most important
single vitamin in overcoming the alcohol habit. Dr. Russell F. Smith of Michigan says,
"B3 far surpasses other therapeutic agents commonly used in the treatment of
alcoholics. " A dose of 12 grams of niacin each day, and onward for several years
thereafter, has been suggested.
OTHER VITAMINS are also considered important. Here are several that are
used in megavitamin therapy, in addition to niacin: Vitamin C, Pyridoxine (B6), B1, B12,
and Vitamin E. The entire B Complex works together and increased amounts of all the B
vitamins should also be supplied. It should be mentioned here that massive B3 therapy
depletes the amount of Vitamin C in the body, so more Vitamin C is needed when on a
megavitamin program. (An average dose of 1000 mg. of Vitamin C daily is frequently
used.)
CERTAIN FOODS that are NOT helpful should not be used—now or later.
Studies have revealed that poor food (such as hot dogs, spaghetti, meat balls, sweet
rolls and soft drinks) and/or narcotics (such as coffee, tea, cigarettes or hard drugs),
and/or irritating foods (such as spices, condiments, and the sauces, catsups and gravies
rich in them) all increase the craving for alcohol in the individual who is using it or who is
trying to stop using it.
A HYPOGLYCEMIC DIET is very helpful in many instances. This is a diet that is
high in fruit and protein, quite low in carbohydrates (such as potatoes, bread and cereal),
and absolutely no coffee or cigarettes. For some reason, people who regularly drink
alcohol become overly sensitive to the things that the alcoholic beverage was derived
from. Dr. Theron G. Randolph summarizes the problem: "Sensitivity to corn, malt-wheat-
rye, grape and potato were encountered [in alcoholics] in that order of frequency. It is
well known that alcoholic beverages consumed in this country are derived from foods in
approximately the same order."
BUT MORE IMPORTANT than all else is a personal surrender to Jesus Christ
and a strict obedience, by faith in Him, to all Ten of the Commandments. God will help
you. Write me and I will send you Bible studies that will help you in your daily walk with
your Lord. Ask for "Stopping the Habit" tracts. There is no charge.

QUOTATIONS TO THINK ABOUT-

"In this country 16 percent of all murders and a larger proportion of other serious
crimes of violence are committed by persons under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol is
also an important cause of social disorder and disease, which leads either directly or
indirectly to delinquency, ill health, and death. Counting all the deaths in which alcohol is
a factor gives a rate of 10.2 per hundred thousand of the population, which stands
alcohol as a major cause of death. . From 2,000,000 to 2,400,000 persons are arrested
for drunkenness each year in this country . . As a preventable measure we need to build
up a conscience (against alcohol) among all groups of the population. Proper education
in school, church, and home to the real effect of alcohol would constitute a potent
preventative measure. Young people. . can be made to look upon it as a dangerous
practice that may lead where expected, to tragic addiction, with serious moral, social,
and physical consequences. .
"The United States Crime Commission once reported that 50 percent of the
prison inmates in the United States were induced to commit crimes by alcoholism. The
1930 report of the United States Department of Justice asserted that alcohol is respon-
sible for 80 percent of those antisocial tendencies necessitating the maintenance of jails
and corrective institutions. .
"Alcoholism is fourth in the list of reasons why people are sent to hospitals for
mental diseases in this country, and it is rapidly becoming one of the major causes of
death in America. "—"Journal of the American Medical Association. "
Judge William McKay, Superior Court, Los Angeles County:
"During 1949, I presided over one of the civil departments of the Superior Court
of Los Angeles. Day after day, an endless stream appeared before me. In 75% of the
cases that were brought before me, liquor had played an important part in the
disturbance that had made necessary an action for divorce."
Judge Stanley N. Barnes, Criminal Court, Los Angeles County:
"In 80% of the cases coming into my court, liquor is involved in the crime. In nine
times out of ten, alcohol is the reason for a person getting into trouble the second time."
Judge Matthew Hill, Justice of Washington State Supreme Court:
"Alcohol played a role in at least 90% of those hardened delinquency cases in
which youths of sixteen or seventeen were turned over to us by the juvenile court. And in
nearly every instance a youngster's drinking had been started because he saw liquor
being used at home and sometimes was allowed to have a cocktail. "
Bob Mathias, two-time Olympic decathlon champion and California sports star:
"I do not use alcoholic beverages. During my stay in London with the best
athletes of the world, I found that all of them definitely did not believe in alcohol. This
seems to prove that athletics and alcohol do not mix. "
Sonja Heini, world-famous figure skater: "Cigarettes and alcohol were things
which had to be avoided, then as now. They tear down immediately all accumulated
training."
 Dr. Andrew C. Ivy, distinguished professor of Physiology and head of the
Department of Clinical Science, University of Illinois, is the authority for the statement
that "alcohol is the cause of alcoholism." He continues, "If alcohol is not the cause, the
term 'alcoholism' should be discarded as a misnomer." He thus refutes those who would
have the public believe that alcohol is not the cause of alcoholism. Furthermore, if
alcohol is not the cause, why will an abstainer never suffer from acute or chronic
alcoholism?
"The guest who has to be drugged with alcohol to make him interesting is hardly
worth inviting in the first place. "—Dr. Roy L. Smith.
"In the Prohibition days when there were no liquor taxes to support the
Government, surpluses occurred in Federal finances in 11 of the 13 years. "Since
Repeal, in spite of the fact that we have had liquor taxes, there has been a deficit in
each of the 25 years except three. "—"Pertinent Paragraphs," Volume VI/(13), No. 1,
1958.
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; and whoever is led astray by it is not
wise. Proverbs 20: 1.
Abstain from every form of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22.
Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother's falling, I will never eat meat, lest I
cause my brother to fall. 1 Corinthians 8: 13.
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him, for God's temple is holy,
and that temple you are. 1 Corinthians 3:17.
"No Christian home ever starts serving liquor on its dining table without
abandoning some conviction. "—Dr. Roy L. Smith.
"Alcohol: that 'cup that cheers' can wash away the sparkle and laughter of
Christmas Cheer. "—Traffic Safety—October 1957.
Sweden abolished liquor rationing in October 1955. According to U.S. News &
World Report, a year later drunkenness had increased 125%. Per capita consumption of
liquor went from 5 quarts to 7 quarts per person. Weakened regulations tend to increase
the use of alcohol.
The FBI reports: "59% of the arrests across the nation were due to drunkenness
and liquor law violations. "
The California State Department of Corrections reports: "It is costing the State of
California $26 million annually to care for its 16,000 prisoners, 80% of whom committed
their offenses under the influence of alcohol. "
A California State Assemblyman reports: "600, 000 alcoholics are costing the
State of California $300,000,000.00 a year. But the State received only $20,893,492 in
total taxes on alcoholic beverages for the year ending June 30, 1955."
"It costs the American people $20 for every $1 received from the liquor business.
"—Roger Babson, Economist and Statistician.
Dr. Andrew C. Ivy, vice president of University of Illinois, answers the question—
"Is alcohol a food?" He says
"A food is a substance which nourishes the body in four ways: 1. It supplies
energy or calories when burned or oxidized. 2. It provides materials for building and
upkeep of body tissues. 3. It furnishes means by which body processes are regulated. 4.
It provides material, which may be stored as glycogen, fat or protein, or normal body
structure, and is non-toxic in nutritionally significant amounts.
"Alcohol supplies only calories, and it causes intoxication when taken, as
ordinary food is taken, namely, in amounts sufficient to produce enough calories to be
nutritionally significant. So, alcohol is not a food and is not a good nutrient.
"If alcohol is a food, or a good nutrient we are not treating babies, children and
dogs rightly. Also the authors of our textbooks on nutrition are seriously at fault because
they do not even list alcohol in their tables of contents.”
The effects of alcohol are subtractive. Alcohol takes away, but it never adds or
supplements. An exchange says: "Alcohol will remove the stains from summer clothes;
which is correct. It will do even better than that. It will remove:
The summer clothes
The winter clothes
The spring clothes
The fall clothes
Not only from the back of the man who drinks, but from his wife and children as
well.
"Alcohol will also subtract from you:
A good reputation,
A thriving business,
A man's best friends,
A happy look from children's faces,
Prosperity from a prosperous man,
A man from respectable society,
A man from the highway to heaven, and make a wildcat out of an otherwise
inoffensive citizen.
"As a subtractor of things—alcohol has no equal. "
"Whether or not the world would be vastly benefited by a total and final
banishment from it of all intoxicating drinks seems to me not now open to question.
Three-fourths of mankind confirm the affirmative with their tongues, and I believe the rest
acknowledge it in their hearts. "—Abraham Lincoln, 1842, Springfield, Illinois..
On the last day of Lincoln's life, the great emancipator said: "We have cleared up
a colossal job. Slavery is abolished. After reconstruction the next great question will be
the overthrow and suppression of the legalized liquor traffic."
That evening Mr. Booth stopped in a saloon, filled himself with liquor to nerve
himself for his planned tragedy. That night Lincoln's bodyguard left the theater for a drink
of liquor at the same saloon. While he was away Booth shot Lincoln. Those two drinks
were the most costly drinks in American history. Liquor is the greatest enemy of
mankind.
Sir Philip Snowdon of England said, "Alcohol does not produce wealth. It
destroys wealth to manufacture pauperism, crime, lunacy, disease, poverty, and death."
 William E. Gladstone, the great English commoner, said, while he was Premier of
England, "Give me a sober people who do not waste their substance in drink, and I will
find a ready means of raising the necessary revenue for the government."
Justice Grier of the U.S. Supreme Court, said in 1847, "If a loss of revenue
should accrue to the United States from a diminished consumption of ardent spirits, she
will be the gainer a thousand fold in the health, wealth and happiness of the people."
ROBS REASON—"The cerebral cortex is the most sensitive portion of the brain
having to do with its highest possible function. It is in this area of the brain that relative
values are compared thus enabling the individual to make decisions: It is the first portion
of the brain affected by alcohol. "—Drug Addiction Committee, World Health
Organization.
POISON—"Alcohol is the major cause of insanity and poisoning, for it causes
more deaths than all of our most infectious diseases. "—Dr. Parran, Surgeon General. .
ALCOHOL—"Alcohol constitutes the country's greatest mental health problem.
"—Dr. Karl Menninger, Menninger Clinic.
HARMS CELLS —"Alcohol never, under any condition, increases the vital energy
of the body, but on the contrary, decreases it in a marked and uniform manner through
the poisonous influence upon the living cells. Alcohol increases liability to infectious
diseases, and prevents the development of immunity. " —Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Head of
Battle Creek Sanitarium, Member Michigan State Board of Health.
MODERATION FALLACY—"As a brain surgeon I have yet to meet a moderate
drinking colleague who would like to have me operate on his son after I 'have had a few.'
No one does his best after drinking. He may think he does, but his judgment is defective
. . moderation is a terrible fallacy, "—Richard E. Strain, M.D..
IMMUNE—"It takes some people longer than others to attain addiction, but no
human being can be regarded as immune. "—Dr. Robert Fleming, Harvard Medical
School.
DEADLY—"It has been my fate to live among drinking people: novelists, poets,
playwrights and stars of stage and screen. I have seen two-score of them go to their
doom, eleven as suicides. I say it is a frightful thing that so much of the talent and genius
of America should have been distorted by alcoholic poisoning. . Most of them started
with vision and courage, but in the end the example they give us is of sickness of mind
and soul. "—Upton Sinclair (Pulitzer Prize Winner) in The Cup of Fury.
CELLS LOST—"It is safe to say that in many people, heavy drinking causes a
gradual dropping out of brain cells. It is also logical to assume that the first cells to be
affected would be those that are first anesthetized by alcohol, namely, those subserving
the higher cerebral levels of will power and judgment. The brain reserve is gradually and
insidiously whittled away until the stage is reached where any alcohol in the system will
immediately paralyze the patient's will power and judgment.. Brain cells once lost are
never replaced. "—Federick Lemere, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, University of
Washington School of Medicine, and the Shadel Hospital of Seattle.
YOU DIE—"Every time you take a drink you die a little. Up to now you may have
thought of yourself as a moderate drinker, and therefore safe. But, for one thing, the idea
that you are safe is a flat lie. . . Taking even the kindliest definition of 'moderation,' you
are doing yourself progressive physical harm. . Although the body has great
regenerative powers, the cells of the brain and nervous system, once destroyed, are lost
forever and we know these are the cells affected, first and most potently, by ethyl
alcohol. Habitual drinking will cause lasting impairment to brain, nervous system and
liver. . More and more, physicians are revising their easy-going attitude toward
'moderate' imbibing. . Every time we over-imbibe, science believes, a certain amount of
brain damage results. Even one drink affects the uppermost level of the brain, which is
the center of restraint, inhibitions and judgment. ."— 'The Big Lie About Moderate
Drinking, " Pageant Magazine.
DISASTER—"Habitual use of alcohol, even in moderation, tends to produce
dependency on it as a drug, medically. . Alcohol diminishes the acuteness of sensory
perception. It delays or weakens motor performance and physical coordination. . it is well
known that alcohol, through its dulling effect on the higher brain centers, may set free
underlying emotional drives, with, usually, disastrous consequences. Many varied
crimes, indiscretions, and accidents are directly traceable to the influence of alcohol." —
Robert V. Seliger, M.D., of Johns Hopkins and Chief Psychiatrist, The Neuropsychiatric
Institute of Baltimore. .
SHRINKAGE—" A newly recognized type of excessive tippler, called the
intermediate alcoholic, has started to appear on the national scene.
"Such imbibers have moved from the social drinking stage and are heading for
"chronicity" in their bouts with the bottle.
"Doctor A. E. Bennett, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of
California, Berkeley, said there are approximately a million such borderline addicts in
many of whom X-ray evidence of mental deterioration in the form of brain shrinkage is
being observed. .
"This study clarifies the cause of mysterious brain shrinkage observed in
approximately 500 persons who underwent autopsy after death in California, he
reported.
"Because alcoholism is a disease of progressive brain damage, with uncontrolled
drinking the chief symptom, the treatment goal is complete abstinence, he said. "—
Science Digest.
LIQUOR SICK—"You can get along with a wooden leg, but you can't get along
with a wooden head. It is the brain that counts. But in order that your brain may be kept
clear, you must keep your body fit and well. That cannot be done if one drinks liquor."—
Dr. Charles Mayo, Mayo Brother's Clinic.
RUINOUS—"There is no disease in the world for which alcohol is a cure. . It does
undeniably cause thousands of cases of disease. . Its use is ruinous to the kidneys, liver,
heart, and smaller blood vessels, and gives rise to that most common fatality, high blood
pressure."—Dr. Howard A. Kelly, Surgeon, John Hopkins University.
DRUGS MIND—"Alcohol is from first to last a narcotic drug. Its chief action is
upon the nervous system. . alcohol successively weakens the hierarchy of the brain, and
therefore of the mind, in the order from above downwards, that is to say in the inverse
order of their development."—The British Medical Association s Advisory Committee.
3.2 BEER—"Certainly 3.2% beer by weight is intoxicating. Beer contains alcohol
in potentially habit-forming amounts; there is no harmless alcoholic beverage."—A. C
Ivy, Ph.D., M.D., D.Sc., LL.D., Head Department, Clinical Science, University of Illinois.
 THE SOLUTION IS SOMETHING BETTER—
This book has provided you with one of the most complete collections of
information on how to quit alcohol that you can find in printed form anywhere. But getting
a problem stopped is not the full solution; you also want to add a better way of life in its
place. This present chapter is going to tell you how there can be brought into your life a
far deeper happiness than you may ever have experienced before. The information
below is just as solid and useful as that which you have already studied. You will want to
read it carefully.
All about us we see abundant evidence of the love of God. It is shown in the,
beautiful things He has made, and how carefully they have been adapted to supply the
needs and happiness of all His earthly creatures. Nature teaches us that it is God. Who
provides for us, and that, as we come to Him, He can give us that which we need in
order to love and obey Him. Back in the beginning, man was perfectly happy, holy, and
in harmony with God. There was no blight on nature, and man talked face to face with
His Maker.
Then sin entered, as man, tempted by Satan, ate the forbidden fruit in the
Garden of Eden. It may seem a little thing, but it was disobedience to the express will of
God. Yet our heavenly Father continues to seek us. If you will but stop a moment and
think about it; He has been trying to reach you for years.
The problem is that Satan tempts men to think that God is severe, harsh, and
cruel. Yet this is not true. Your heavenly Father loves you with the deepest love. For
years He has guarded you, though you did not know it.
It was to reveal His love to man that God sent His own Son into the world.
Encouraging, healing, and helping people find a better life: this was the earthly life of
Jesus—a life obedient to the Will of His Father and continually revealing the character of
God to mankind. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," He said (John 14:8-9).
Love, mercy, and compassion were revealed in every act of His life, for His heart
went out in tender sympathy to the children of men. He took man's nature that He might
reach man's wants. The poorest: humblest, and most sinful were not afraid to come to
Him. Even little children loved to be near Him.
His life was one of, self-denial and thoughtful care for others; because every soul
was precious in His eyes, He bowed with the tenderest regard to every member of the
family of God. In all men He saw fallen souls whose it was, His mission to save.
Take a Bible and open to one of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or
John), and begin reading. There you will find the character of Christ revealed in His daily
life. His godliness and kindliness is the character of God. The Bible contains the
principles of godliness, the pathway to heaven.
It was to redeem us that Jesus lived and suffered and was Crucified. He became
"a Man of Sorrows," that He might be made partakers of everlasting joy. God permitted
His beloved Son to come from a world of indescribable glory—to this dark world blighted
with sin—so that we could be delivered from sin and enabled, by His grace, to obey the
laws of God.
As YOU begin reading in the Bible, behold, Him in the wilderness, in
Gethsemane, upon the cross. The spotless Son of God took upon Himself the burden of
sin. He who had been one with God, felt in His soul the awful separation that sin makes
between God and man. This separation, and the burden of sin, broke His heart.
 Yet this great sacrifice was not made in order to create in the Father's heart a
love for man, so He would be willing to save us. No, no! "For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son." John 3:16, The Father loves us, not because of the
great sacrifice, —but He provided the sacrifice of His Son on Calvary because He loves
us! Through Christ, God poured His love upon mankind. To Christ we can come and
seek forgiveness of sin, and enabling power to obey. And by remaining with Him, day by
day, we can look forward to eternal life with Him in the glories of heaven.
Was it worth it for God to do this? Yes, it was worth it—even if only one person
would have accepted the great salvation. Though many others may refuse it, just now
you can come to Him and receive forgiveness, peace with God, and strength to obey His
Inspired Word, the Holy Scriptures.
Only Jesus could accomplish our redemption, but many do not realize why: For
only One equal to the Law of God—the Ten Commandments—could die to meet its
claims and enable man to obey it. Jesus is fully God, and equal with the Father. He died
so that you could live in eternal ages with Him. The Father loves Him the more because
He did it. And, beholding the depth of that love, men and women down through history
have wept as they found it. Coming to God, they have found peace with God as they had
their sins forgiven, have put away their bad habits, and become servants of God. That
love has enabled them not only to live clean, honest lives, but to remain loyal to their
God in the face of ridicule, persecution, and even death.
It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin in which we are
sunken. Our hearts are evil and, without the help of God, we cannot change them. There
must be a power from above to work inside of us and strengthen our resolves and our
will. That power is Christ. His forgiving, enabling grace alone can awaken the lifeless
faculties of the soul, and attract them to God and godlike living. Only He can strengthen
us to stop sinning. But only we can make the choice to come to Him day by day and let
Him give us that strength.
This new life begins with the New Birth. Jesus said, "Except a man be born from
above, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3. This means that unless he shall
receive a new heart, new desires, purposes, and motives, all leading to a new life, a
person cannot find peace with God, deliverance from sin, and eternal life.
It is not enough to see our condition, and even the love of God; we must bow in
agony of sorrow over our sins and how they cost the life of God's own Son. We must
come to Jesus in heartfelt grief—and plead with Him for forgiveness, acceptance, and
purity of heart.
Many resist the love of Christ and are lost. They are content with their own
condition. But if we do not resist the drawing power of that love, we will be convicted of
our own sinful condition—and will be drawn in love and sorrow for sin, to the One who
died and liveth again—that we might have eternal life. You who in heart long for
something better than this world can give, recognize this longing as the voice of God to
your soul. Ask Him to give you repentance, to reveal Christ, in all His love and purity, to
you. It is as we behold Him that we see the sinfulness of our own hearts and come to
Him in true repentance for sin and a turning away from it.
But do not make the mistake of many: If you see your sinfulness, do not wait to
make yourself better before coming to Christ! Come to Him now, just as you are. In Him
you will find the, answer to all your problems. Begin walking the journey of life with
Him— and you will be continually astounded at the courage; comfort, and help that He
can give you day by day. But do not delay in coming. Satan will tempt you to think that
you need to wait a day or two; yet during the delay he will present all kinds of reasons
why you should not give your life to Christ.
But if you are tired of your past life of sin and failure, if you want peace with God.
and forgiveness of sin, if you would rather serve God than live for yourself,—then you
will come, now, to Jesus. And you will find that you have entered upon a life of the
deepest happiness you have ever experienced. There is nothing on earth that can bring
you the peace of heart that God can give you.
Do not imagine that you will not have problems. Satan will continue to bring them
through circumstances, friends, and associates, just as he has done before. But you will
find that you now have new help in coping with difficulties, definite guidance in meeting
them, fresh strength in recognizing and resisting the approach of sin.
And let no one tell you that it is all right to disobey God. It is never right and it is
never safe. Cling to Him, by faith, all through the day. The secret is in finding Him in the
morning, in prayer and study of the Sacred Scriptures. And then in walking, hand in
hand, with Him all through the day. The Bible says to "pray without ceasing." That is a
habit worth developing. But, again, begin each day by coming anew to God,
surrendering your life to Him, and dedicating yourself and all you have and are to Him.
Sometimes Satan will come arid tell you that you are a great sinner,—but tell him
that Christ Jesus died to save' sinners! Apart from Christ, you are lost; but clinging to His
hand, moment by moment, you can make it safely along the path of life, strewn as it is
with so many temptations.
We come to God with a genuine sorrow for sin, and this sincere repentance is
followed by a reformation in the life. Many changes are made as we study God's Word
and bring our lives into conformity to it. For in giving ourselves to God, we must
necessarily give up all that would separate us from Him. But it is really no sacrifice to
yield our plans, our habits, our desires, and our lives to Christ. Just think of the sacrifice
that He made for you! And the only things that we have to give up are things that can
hurt us. God does not require us to give up anything that it is for our best interest to
retain. We do ourselves the greatest injury when we think and act contrary to the will of
God. Following paths forbidden by Him can never bring joy or peace.
The important question is this: How am I to make the surrender of my life to
God? You desire to give yourself to Him, but you are week in moral power, in slavery to
doubt, and controlled by the habits of your life of sin. Your promises and resolutions are
like ropes of sand. You cannot control your thoughts, your impulses; your affections. The
knowledge of your broken promises and forfeited pledges weakens your confidence in
your own sincerity and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you. But you need not
despair. What you need to understand is the true force of the will. This is the power of
decision, the power of choice. It is the governing power in the nature of man. Everything
depends on the right action of the will. God has given you this power of the will; you
must use it. But you must realize that, without the help of God, you cannot use your will
aright.
But you can choose to give your life, your affections, and your will to God. He will
then work in you, to strengthen you to resist Satan's temptations.
He will enable you to overcome sin and come off conqueror, for He "is able to
keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the throne of His glory with
exceeding joy." Jude 24.
 God will, by His Holy Spirit, work in you to will and to do according to His good
pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Submitting to God and resisting sin in His strength will bring
your whole nature under the control of His Spirit, and your affections will be centered
upon Him, and your thoughts will be in harmony with Him. This is what you want for your
life, is it not?
Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as they go; but if you stop
here, they will avail nothing. Many will be lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians.
They do not come to the point of yielding the will to God. They do not now choose to be
Christians.
Through the right exercise of the will, an entire change may be made in your life.
By yielding up your will to Christ, you ally yourself with the power that is above all
principalities and powers. You will have strength from above to hold you steadfast, and
through constant surrender to God you will be enabled to live the new life, even the life
of faith.
The New Birth is a dying to sin and a living to Christ. The Apostle Paul died anew
every day ("I die daily" 1 Corinthians 15:31). Every morning he rededicated His life to
God and died anew to sin.
The New Birth is experienced as you come to God. You cannot atone for your
past sins; you cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to
do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess your sins and
give yourself to God. You will to serve Him. Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfill
His word to you. If you believe the promise,—believe that you are forgiven and
cleansed,—God supplies the fact; you are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic
power to walk when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it.
Do not wait to feel that you are made whole, but say, "I believe it; it is so, not
because I feel it but because God has promised."
Henceforth you are not your own; you are bought with a price,—the precious
blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19). Through this simple act of surrendering and believing,
the Holy Spirit has begotten a new life in your heart. You are as a child born into the
family of God, and He loves you as He loves His Son.
Now that you have given yourself to Jesus, do not draw back, do not take
yourself away from Him, but day by day say, "I am Christ's; I have given myself to Him;"
and ask Him to give you His Spirit and keep you by His grace. As you first found Him, so
live in Him.
Thousands fail because they do not believe that Jesus will pardon them
personally, individually. They do not take God at His Word. But it is the privilege of all
who comply with the conditions to know for themselves that pardon is freely extended for
every sin.
Do not yield to doubt. Read the rich promises of Scripture and believe them.
Memorize them; repeat them to yourself and others through the day. Do not doubt and
tremble, but look up —for Jesus is making intercession for you in the Sanctuary in
heaven. Resist doubt with thanksgiving and an active helping of others. Thank God
every day for the gift of His dear Son. Come to Him continually, cling to Him, praise Him.
Share all your sorrows and joys with Him. And obey Him.
Whom do we love the most? If we love Jesus above every earthly thing, He will
have our sweetest thoughts, our warmest affections, and our best energies. We will
desire to speak to Him and speak about Him to others. He will have become the center
of our life.
When we are with Jesus, every burden becomes light, duty becomes a delight,
and sacrifice a pleasure. We love to obey Him.
The Bible reveals God's laws of right-living for mankind. Written with the finger of
God are the Ten Commandments. (Read Exodus 20:3-17.) Love is the principle of
action, and the concern of the heart is to obey the will of God.
It is an error to trust in our own works for salvation, but the opposite and no less
dangerous error is that belief in Christ releases men from keeping the law of God; that
our works have nothing to do with our redemption.
When we obey from the heart —because we love God, —our obedience
becomes the fruit of the New Birth. It. is a service of love to our God. God writes His
laws in the hearts of those who have experienced the New Birth (Hebrews 10:16), and
that law, written in the heart, will change the whole life. Obedience to God is the true
sign of discipleship. If we will not obey Him, we are not really His. "This is the love of
God, that we keep His commandments." "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His
commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 5:3; 2:4. Genuine faith in
God does not release us from obedience to Him. The truth is that it is faith alone that can
enable us to be partakers of the grace of Christ,—and it is His grace that enables us to
render Him genuine, heartfelt obedience!
That so—called faith in Christ Which professes to release men from obeying
God—is not real faith, but presumption. "I have kept My Father's commandments, and
abide in His love" (John 15:10) is what Jesus said. And He is our example. We are to
walk as He walked, and follow in His steps (1 John 2:3-6; 1 Peter 2:21).
The condition of eternal life is just what it always has been, —just what it was in
the Garden of Eden before the fall of our first parents,—perfect obedience to the law of
God. If eternal life were granted on any condition short of this; then the happiness of the
whole universe would be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of
woe and misery, to be immortalized.
Christ died on Calvary in order to become our great High Priest in the Sanctuary
in heaven. There He ministers to all who come unto God by Him. "We have such an
High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens."
"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,
seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." Hebrews 8:1; 7:25. It is the
concern of Jesus, right now in heaven, to forgive you and enable you to obey the
physical, moral, and health laws given in the Bible. He wants you to partake of the divine
nature as you grasp the promises, for it is by faith in His promises that you are enabled,
by His Spirit, to render Him perfect obedience. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises [of Scripture] ; that by these ye might be partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Peter
1:4.
"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an High Priest
which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:14-15. That is a powerful promise for you just
now, as you seek to learn more about God's plan for your life. And look at this wonderful
promise that goes with it:
 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16. We have been looking into
the depths of the rich, enabling grace of Christ, given 10 forgive us and enable us to
obey the Law of God. But now we want to understand more of that Law itself. Everything
that God gives is perfect.
Here is the MoraI Law of God —the Ten Commandments: 1- "Thou shalt have no
other gods before Me." Exodus 20:3. Only God is entitled to our supreme reverence and
worship. Nothing else is to have first place in our affections or service. Anything else that
lessens our love for and obedience to God—becomes a god more important to us than
our heavenly Father.
2— "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of
anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." Exodus 20:4-
5. We are not to worship God by images or similitudes. Representing Him by material
objects lowers our conception of God, and can only result in the degradation of
ourselves.
3— "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will
nothold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain." Exodus 20:7.This commandment
forbids false legal oaths and common swearing, and it also forbids using His name in a
light or careless manner. He is holy and reverend (Psalm 119:19), and His faithful
children will ever keep this in mind. His person and name should be thought of and
spoken of with reverence and solemnity.'
4— "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and
do all thy work, but the Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt
not do any work; thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy
maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the Seventh
day. Wherefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11.
The importance of the Sabbath is here shown to date back to the Creation of the
world, at which time God first gave the Seventh-day Sabbath to mankind as a day set
apart for divine worship. “And on the Seventh day God ended His work which He had
made; and He rested on the Seventh day from all His work which He had made. And
God blessed the Seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from all
His work which God created and made." Genesis 2: 2-3. After creating this world and
everything in it in six days, our God set aside the seventh day as a day of rest. He
rested, on it, blessed it, and sanctified it, that is, set it apart for our worship of Him.
The Sabbath is a sign that we love Him, obey Him, and are sanctified by Him. It
is a sign of His creatorship and our sanctification and redemption. The Bible Sabbath is
a sign that God is our Creator (Exodus 31:17), that He is the Lord our God (Ezekiel
20:20), and that He is the One who alone can sanctify us (Exodus 31:13). It is the sign or
seal of the law. The only true Sabbath is the Bible Sabbath—the one given us in the
Bible, the one kept on the day of the week that God set aside for us as the Sabbath day.
This is the seventh day of the week, Saturday. Astronomers tell us that, throughout
history, time has never been lost. Historians tells us that the weekly cycle can be traced
back thousands of years. The languages of man attest to' the fact that the Seventh day
is the true Sabbath. (More information on this is available free from this publisher: Write
for it.) But astounding evidence of the true Sabbath is the Jewish people. Of all the
ancient races of mankind, only the Jews remain a distinct people—in spite of the fact
that they have not had a homeland for most of two thousand years. Through the Jews
we can trace back to the Sabbath that Jesus (Luke 4:16), his disciples (Luke 23:56), and
the apostles (Acts 13:14,42; 16: 13; 17 :1-2) kept. Jesus said that, after His deatb, His
followers must continue to keep the Sabbath (Matthew 24:20), and this they did (Luke
23:56, Acts 13: 14, 42; 16:13; 17:1-2). But also, through the Jews, we can trace the
weekly cycle and the true Sabbath all the way back to Moses, at which time Gad gave
the Ten-Commandments in written form.
There is no doubt as to which day is the true Sabbath, and there is no doubt that
Gad wants us to keep it. He never did away with His Moral Law, and we should not try to
do so either. It is true that the "shadow laws" (Hebrews 10:1) were abolished at the
cross. These were the laws of animal sacrifices in the earthly sanctuary. Type met
antitype at the death of Christ on Calvary, and the statutes and ordinances of the
ceremonial law were taken away at that time. But the Moral Law, contained in the Ten
Commandments, is for us to reverently obey today. And we are to do it in the strength of
Christ. By grace we are saved (delivered from sin), and by grace we are empowered to
obey all that God has commanded in Holy Scripture.
What many do not understand is that “sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John
3:4), and that in order to be "saved from sin," we must be enabled to keep that law. And
this can be done alone in the strength of Christ's enabling merits. Christ is our
Righteousness: He alone is our Forgiver and our Enabler. Christ died to uphold the law
and make it possible far you to obey it; He did not die, as some preach, in order to
destroy the Moral Law! Christ did not die to destroy morality, but to guard and uphold it.
He died to enable sinners to be forgiven and live godly, obedient lives (for godly living is
what the Ten Commandments is all about). He did not die to destroy right living—Ten
Commandment living,—and immortalize sin and take incorrigible sinners to heaven,
there to defile it forever. But all this must be so if Christ died to do away with the Ten
Commandments.
Jesus said in the Sermon an the Mount, "Think not that I am came to destroy the
law, or the prophets. I am not came to destroy, but to fulfill. Far verily I say unto you, Till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
fulfilled." Matthew 5:17-18. The original Greek ward for "fulfill" here is pleroo, which
means "to make full." It does not mean "to destroy or abolish." This same word is used in
1 John 1:4; John 15:11; 16:24; 2 John 12 in the sense .of "bringing to the fullest
measure." Jesus said that He was sending the Holy Spirit "that your joy may be full." He
did not mean that it would be abolished. This same Greek root ward is found in "fulfill
joy" (Philippians 2:2; John 17,:13), "preach fully" (Colossians 1:25), and "obey fully" (2
Corinthians 10:6). Jesus concludes the above statement With a powerful warning not to
disobey the Law of God: "Whosever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of
heaven; but whosoever, shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:19.
The truth of the matter is that the Seventh day Sabbath is the only weekly sacred
day given in the Bible. It was kept all through Bible times, and afterward for many
centuries. But in the fourth century, A.D., the first Sunday Law was enacted, requiring
the worship of God on Sunday, the first day of the week. Sunday sacredness began in
Persia about 200 years before the time of Christ. Worshipers of the Persian god, Mithra,
gave Sunday its name, "The venerable day of the Sun," and worshiped on that day.
Because Mithra was the sungod, they worshiped him by gathering on Sunday morning,
and face east—toward the sun—as they prayed. Very evangelistic, the Mithraites spread
their faith all through the vast Roman Empire (Europe, the Near East, and North Africa).
By the end of the third century, A.D., the majority of the people had been won to
Mithraism or Christianity. Early in the fourth century, Constantine became emperor.
Recognizing that the empire greatly needed strengthening, he counseled with the
leaders of the Christian church at Rome—and, with them, developed the plan of uniting
both religions into one—by having the people worship the God of the Christians, but do it
on the sacred day of the Mithraites.
The plan of uniting the majority of the people into one religion succeeded
dramatically as a single State Church was formed. Now everyone could ,easily become
a Christian, and it was good politics to do so. Within a century the Christian churches in
the cities were corrupted. It was really paganism that conquered, and the persecution of
Bible-obeying Christians began in earnest. For centuries, Sabbath keepers were
proscribed, hunted, and slain.
That, in brief, is where Sunday keeping came from, and why we have it today.
Yet God predicted that this attempt would be made by the little horn power of Rome to
challenge God's holy law: "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and
shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws." Daniel 7
:25. In one brief verse, we are warned of the amazing blasphemies, persecutions,
martyrdoms, and efforts to change God's law—that would be attempted by this power.
And time laws are specifically mentioned. Any Catholic catechism will tell you that it was
the Roman Catholic Church which changed the Seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday. And,
elsewhere in the catechism [Catholic lesson book], you will learn that the second com-
mandment was taken out (forbidding image worship), the fourth was changed (removing
the "seventh-day" from the Sabbath Commandment), and the tenth was then split in two
(making two "covet commandments") in an effort to preserve the number ten.
God also predicted that people would arise who would repair the torn-out place in
the law by again keeping the Sabbath Commandment. Carefully read Isaiah 58:12-14.
And it was predicted that God's faithful believers in the last days would keep God's law.
The persecution of the true church by the apostate church during the dark ages is
predicted in Revelation 12:13-16, and then, in the last days, would come the remnant—
or last part—of the true church: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and
have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:1.7.
Revelation 14:12 provides additional identification of this final group of faithful
believers, just before the end of time: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they
that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." By faith in Jesus they are
enabled to obey the law of God. In the midst of a law-breaking generation, they will
uphold obedience to God, and will stand faithful to the Ten Commandments.
Revelation 22:14 describes the entrance of His people into the City of God:
"Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and enter in through the gates into the city." Precious promise for those who now are
ridiculed and derided for keeping God's commandments by faith in Christ.
But the future is bright for those who will stand loyal to God and His law—for that
future is full of Jesus. Through eternal ages the people of God will worship Him on the
Bible Sabbath: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall
remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall
come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another,
shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isaiah 66:22—23.
 5— "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Exodus 20:12.
This is the fifth commandment. Parents are entitled to a degree of love and
respect which is due to no other person. We are not to reject the rightful authority of our
parents, and we are to give them love and tender care all through their lives, even to old
age. We should also respect other authorities, as long as their rules do not conflict with
the laws of God.
6— "Thou shalt not kill” Exodus 20:1,3. All acts of injustice that shorten life; the
spirit of hatred and revenge, or the indulgence of any passion that leads to injurious acts
toward others, or causes us to even wish them harm is a violation of the sixth
commandment. It also includes a selfish neglect of caring for the needy and suffering,
and all self-indulgence and intemperance that injures the health of ourselves or others.
7— "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Exodus 20:14. This commandment forbids
not only impure actions, but also sensual thoughts and desires, and any practice which
tends to excite them. Christ taught that the evil thought or look is as truly sin as is the
unlawful action.
8— "Thou shalt not steal." Exodus 20:15. This commandment forbids man-
stealing, slave-dealing, and wars of conquest. It not only condemns theft and robbery,
but demands strict integrity in the minutest details of life. It forbids overreaching in
business and trade, and requires the payment of Just debts or wages. No one is to
advantage himself by the ignorance, weakness, or misfortune of another.
9— "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Exodus 20:16:
Included here is false speaking: every attempt or purpose to deceive another person.
Falsehood is not only the act of misleading; it is also the intention to deceive. This can
be done by a glance of the eye, a motion of the hand, or an expression of the face. All
intentional over statement, and even stating facts in such a manner as to mislead, is
falsehood". Also included is every effort to injure thee reputation of another by
misrepresentation, evil surmising, slander, tale bearing, or intentional suppression of the
truth.
10—."Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor
anything that is thy neighbor’s." Exodus 20:17.
The tenth commandment strikes at the very root of all sins, and prohibits the
selfish desire, from which springs the sinful act. Covetousness lies at the heart of many
of the iniquities of mankind.
The old song says, "Grace, grace, God's grace; grace greater than all our sins."
And how truly great is the grace of God, for it is powerful enough to enable us to
overcome all our sins and live anew life in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour. The law of
God, written on our heart, means obedience to it in the whole life. And this is not only
what we want; it is also God's plan for us. As we live noble, godly lives, we are prepared
for heaven, for we have heaven in our hearts. Matthew 1:21 predicted the objective of
Jesus' life: "She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name. Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. The word "Jesus" means "deliverer." Jesus came to
earth to deliver us—remove us from—our sins. He did not live and die to save us in our
sins, but, as the Bible says, from our sins.
The Lord would have all His children happy, peaceful, and obedient. As we live
and work with Jesus in ministering to the needs of others, our own trials are forgotten.
There is joy in, the service of God; the Christian has no vain regrets and
disappointments. There is an eternity of happiness in the life beyond, and even in this
life we may have the comfort of Christ's presence. Every step in life may bring us closer
to Jesus, .may give us a deeper experience of His love, and may bring us one step
nearer to our eternal home where everyone will be peaceful and happy. No more pain,
no more sorrow; that is what is in store for us.
Then let us not cast away our confidence and our precious Bible-based faith. But
with firmer assurance, let us recall to mind the many times our God has gone before us
and protected and guided us in the way. Let us keep fresh in memory all the tender
mercies He has shown us in our past. We still have farther to walk before life's
pilgrimage will close. But we can walk it with Jesus, and rejoice at each step at the bright
future in store for us in the land beyond.
We cannot but look forward to new perplexities, but we may look on what is past
as well as what is to come, and say, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us," and "as thy
days, so shall thy strength be." Deuteronomy 33:25. The trial will not exceed the strength
given to bear it. Then let us take up our duties and tasks where we find them, believing
that whatever may come, God will be with us all the way to the end.
And by and by the gates of heaven will be thrown open to admit God's children,
and they will "inherit the kingdom prepared" for them "from the foundation of the world."
Matthew 25:34. Then the redeemed will be welcomed to the home that Jesus has been
preparing for them. There they will associate with those who, like themselves, have
overcome sin in the strength of Christ and have formed pure, holy characters. Amid the
glories of heaven, they stand with Jesus before the great white throne, sharing the
dignities and privileges of heaven.
In view of such an inheritance, soon to be ours, what shall we say? You may be
poor in this world's goods; you may be despised and hated,—but you possess a wealth
and dignity that the world can never know. For you have the peace of God's presence
with you now, and you look forward to an eternity in heaven serving Him.
God bless and keep you. Stand true to God to the end. I want to meet you on the
other side. Remember: when things look dark, cry to Him in prayer. He will comfort and
help. If you fall, run right back to Him.— Vance Ferrell
The above chapter includes adapted material from "Steps to Christ," "Patriarchs
and Prophets," and "Great Controversy. "