An Unbeatable Combination
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. Ps. 18:30, NIV.
On September 5, 1866, the first Seventh-day Adventist health-care facility, the Western Health Reform Institute (later Battle Creek Sanitarium), opened to the public.
On September 5, 1966, the president of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, and the president of the American Medical Association, Charles L. Hudson, M.D., met in Battle Creek, Michigan. There they participated in the centennial celebration commemorating 100 years of Seventh-day Adventist medical emphasis. On that day Hudson delivered a speech entitled "Medicine and Religion, an Unbeatable Combination."
Ironically, it had been this same combination of medicine and religion that had nearly prevented the founding of the denominationally operated medical school. The school's leaders had been told that the American Medical Association was not prepared to recognize a church-operated school of medicine. Yet those struggling to establish the school found in Scripture those general counsels, and in the messages given through Ellen White those timely and specific counsels that gave them the faith to overcome every obstacle. George I. Butler, longtime president of the church, attributed the success of the church and its medical program to following these instructions. He wrote: "We have found in a long, varied, and in some instances, sad experience the value of their counsel. When we have heeded them, we have prospered; when we have slighted them, we have suffered a great loss" (Review and Herald, Aug. 14, 1883).
Ellen White herself, speaking of the results of following God's counsels, said, "In reviewing our past history, . . . I can say, Praise God! As I see what the Lord has wrought, I am filled with astonishment, and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history" (Life Sketches, p. 196).
As we continue the health program we must remember George Butler's words: "When we have heeded [God's instructions], we have prospered. When we have slighted them, we have suffered a great loss."
Lord, help me never to forget the way You have led me in the past. Thank You.
On September 5, 1866, the first Seventh-day Adventist health-care facility, the Western Health Reform Institute (later Battle Creek Sanitarium), opened to the public.
On September 5, 1966, the president of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, and the president of the American Medical Association, Charles L. Hudson, M.D., met in Battle Creek, Michigan. There they participated in the centennial celebration commemorating 100 years of Seventh-day Adventist medical emphasis. On that day Hudson delivered a speech entitled "Medicine and Religion, an Unbeatable Combination."
Ironically, it had been this same combination of medicine and religion that had nearly prevented the founding of the denominationally operated medical school. The school's leaders had been told that the American Medical Association was not prepared to recognize a church-operated school of medicine. Yet those struggling to establish the school found in Scripture those general counsels, and in the messages given through Ellen White those timely and specific counsels that gave them the faith to overcome every obstacle. George I. Butler, longtime president of the church, attributed the success of the church and its medical program to following these instructions. He wrote: "We have found in a long, varied, and in some instances, sad experience the value of their counsel. When we have heeded them, we have prospered; when we have slighted them, we have suffered a great loss" (Review and Herald, Aug. 14, 1883).
Ellen White herself, speaking of the results of following God's counsels, said, "In reviewing our past history, . . . I can say, Praise God! As I see what the Lord has wrought, I am filled with astonishment, and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history" (Life Sketches, p. 196).
As we continue the health program we must remember George Butler's words: "When we have heeded [God's instructions], we have prospered. When we have slighted them, we have suffered a great loss."
Lord, help me never to forget the way You have led me in the past. Thank You.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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