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VISITING PROGRAM
TRAINING CLASS
Sixteenth
Class
April 27, 1969
FORMAT:
1. Open with prayer.
2. World news discussion and drill (5 - 8
nimutes).
3. Difficult scripture drill (30
minutes).
4. Sermonettes and evaluations (30
minutes).
5. Recess (10 minutes).
6. Lecture (one hour).
7. Assignments for next class.
DIFFICULT
SCRIPTURES
I. Disprove:
Since the time of John the Baptist, the Law and the prophets
have been done away (Luke 16:16).
A. This verse does not say that the Law and
the prophets were done away.
This meaning has been
read into it by those who believe in grace with-
out obedience. Verse 17 shows that it is easier for heaven
and earth
to pass away than for
any of God's law to fail. God's law
stands
forever (Ps.
111:7-8).
B.
The term "the Law and the prophets" refers to the Old
Testament scriptures.
Luke 24:44 shows the
three-fold division of the Old Testament:
the Law,
the prophets and the
psalms.
C.
Christ said that the Old Testament scriptures (the Law and the
prophets)
were preached as such,
until the coming of John the Baptist.
Matthew
3:1-3 shows that John
came before Jesus preparing the way. He preached
the Gospel of the Kingdom
of God, "Repent you:
for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand"
(Verse 2). This was new. Even many prophets and
righteous men of old
had not been privileged to hear what John and
Christ preached (Matt. 13:10-11, 17).
Thus we see that until
John, all that the people heard preached were
the Old Testament
scriptures. But when John came, he
added something
new -- the good news of
the Kingdom of God. And in Verse 17,
Christ
showed, in context,
that God's LAW was an integral part of this message.
II. Disprove:
Christians should avoid wealth because money is the source of
all evil (I Tim. 6:10).
A. This scripture does not say money is
evil. It says the love of money
is the root of all
evil, not that money is evil. Those
who desire to
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be rich fall into temptation
and a snare (Verse 9). They become
lustful. The more they get the more than want. Soon much of their
energy is spent on obtaining
riches. This leads to evil.
B. Money is not the root of all evil. Any good interlinear Greek-English
text such as the Greek
Englishman's New Testament shows that "the root"
should be rendered "a
root." The love of money then, is
a root of all
evil. There are other roots of evil besides this
one, such as the
lust for power, unbridled
sex lust, etc.
C. God is not opposed to wealth. His desire is that we prosper (III John 2).
Many of God's servants were
wealthy. Joseph was a prosperous man
(Gen.
39:2). Job was the greatest man in the East (Job
1:3). Abram was
rich in cattle, silver and
gold (Gen. 13:2). But these men did
not
make the pursuit of material
possessions their aim or goal in life.
God prospered them as they
obeyed HIM.
III.
Why did Elisha curse little children and cause them to be killed?
(II Kings 2:23-24.)
A. Elisha was, at this time, in the office of
Elijah, who had been taken
in a whirlwind to another
location (Verse 11). He was God's
prophet.
His office was one that must
be respected.
B. The Hebrew words here rendered
"little children" have caused many to
misunderstand what actually
happened. These were not small
children.
The Hebrew word translated
children is "naar." It can
refer to a
lad, servant or young
man. See Strong's Concordance. The same word
is translated as
"children" in I Samuel 16:11, where it refers to
Jesse's grown sons. It was also used to describe Joseph when he
was
seventeen years old (Gen.
37:2). In fact, not less than seventy
times
this word has been
translated "young man."
The Hebrew word rendered
"little" is "kawtone."
It means "little,
small, or young." This word is used to describe Benjamin,
Jacob's
son, when he was past twenty
years old (Gen. 44:20).
These were not little
children. They were young men --
juvenile
delinquents. There must have been quite a crowd of these
jeering
teen-agers because forty-two
of them were torn by the bears.
C. They said, "Go up, thou bald
head." By this they expressed
their
disdain for God's
prophet. "Bald (or empty)
head" was an expression
of contempt in the
East.
D. Then the Bible says that Elisha cursed
them in the name of the Lord.
He merely turned and, as a
minister and prophet of God, pronounced
God's judgment upon
them. We must remember that it was God
who sent
the bears upon them, not
Elisha. He only pronounced what God
was going
to do, just as God's
ministers today have to tell the world what is
going to happen to them if
they do not repent.
God sent the bears to teach
them a lesson in the only way that some
people seem to be able to
understand, by forcefully showing His power
and shutting their
mouths. This is an example which shows
us what
God means in Hebrews 10:31,
where He says: "It is a fearful
thing to
fall into the hands of the living
God."
HOW TO DEAL WITH
HEALTH AND MEDICAL PROBLEMS
I.
ADVISING ON HEALTH PROBLEMS
Caution must always be exercised
in advising on a person's health problems,
lest you be found to be
practicing medicine. Don't put people
on diets
and fasts.' What constitutes the "practice of
medicine" is much broader
than one would ordinarily
think. Some of the general definitions
given by
the courts are as follows:
"The 'practice of
medicine' as contemplated and defined by
law, is not restricted
to treatment of diseases and disorders
of the human body by use
of drugs or surgery."
"The practice of
medicine may be said to consist of three
things; first, in
judging the nature, character, and
symptoms of the disease;
second, in determining the proper
remedy for the disease;
and third, in giving or prescribing
the application of the
remedy to the disease."
"It is not limited
to attempts to treat by medicine or
surgery, but includes
those who practice neither medicine
nor surgery in any of
its departments, but who profess to
cure, and who treat or
attempt to treat the sick by means
other than medicine or
surgery."
Some cases of practicing medicine
even touch upon the realm of divine
healing and anointing with
oil. In New York, it was stated, "A Christian
Science healer who holds himself
as able to heal diseases by prayers to
God and accepts compensation for
his services is engaged in the practice
of medicine."
But merely praying for the sick
is permissible. "Prayer for those
suffering
from disease, or words of
encouragement, or the teaching that disease will
disappear and physical perfection
be attained as a result of prayer, or
that humanity will be brought
into harmony with God and the fixed determina-
tion to look on the bright side
of life, does not constitute the practice
of medicine in the popular
sense."
"Faith healer,
treating patients by laying on of hands
without diagnosis or promise of
cure, held not engaged
in the practice of
medicine and surgery."
What is the penalty for
practicing medicine" Is it merely
a matter of a
few dollars fine? No, it is much more than that. If a person practices
medicine without a license, and
the patient should die, the wrongdoer could
be prosecuted for manslaughter or
murder!
Now you can see why extreme
caution must be exercised in advising brethren
in God's Church concerning their
health problems.
You can and should teach them to
study and live by the seven laws of radiant
health. You can teach them the truth of the Bible
concerning faith and
healing. But, don't put them on diets or fasts. Let them decide that.
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You could recommend they go to
a good doctor or specialist for a physical
check-up if they want detailed
advice on their physical health problems.
Sometimes this is advisable and
helpful.
Never tell a member not to go
to a doctor or hospital. Don't tell
them not
to take their sick children. And also, don't tell them to stop taking a
medicine they might be relying
upon. It is their decision to
make.
You can anoint (if you are an
elder) and pray for them. You can try to
strengthen their faith and
encourage them to trust God. But don't
tell
them what to do. You could be held legally responsible and prosecuted if
they die.
II.
HOW PROSECUTION BEGINS IN CASE OF DEATH
In order to act wisely in a
case where a person dies, it is helpful to
know how such cases come to be
prosecuted. How does the District
Attorney's
office even become acquainted
with information? Such information can
come
to them through a complaint by
anyone that knew a doctor was not called
or medical aid refused, such as
a neighbor who was previously told about
the parents' religious beliefs,
a relative who happened to be visiting or
from any other similar
source. It may also come through more
official
channels, such as facts gleaned
by police or fire officials called in as
members of a respiratory
squad. Also, if no doctor signs the
death certifi-
cate, generally speaking the
Coroner's Department will hold an inquest to
determine the cause of
death. This will most likely bring out
the fact
that no doctor was called. Such a fact would be a "red
light" to the District
Attorney.
Generally speaking, when these
cases come before the District Attorney,
he has the discretion as to whether or
not he will prosecute. As this type
of case is not so well known as
the obvious type of crime such as murder or
robbery, there is always the
possibility that he might choose not to prose-
cute. This is the type of circumstance where a
"contact" is invaluable.
The prosecutor might easily be
persuaded by a friend to drop the matter so
long as the newspapers have not
made major news of it.
The fear along this line is
that the case will fall into the hands of a
newly-appointed Assistant
District Attorney. Such men are
customarily
extremely zealous. They want to make a "name" for
themselves.
III.
SUGGESTIONS FOR AVOIDING PROSECUTION
The following suggestions,
although by no means a guarantee, will definitely
aid in avoiding prosecutions
and notoriety in the event a death should ensue
from other than natural
means.
1. Don't say anything:
This is the first and
foremost rule in every criminal case.
The importance
of this one rule cannot be
overemphasized.
Avoid telling anyone how
long the person was sick. Avoid
telling anyone
that you knew the person was
seriously ill. Avoid telling anyone
when
the illness first became
serious. Don't mention divine
healing.
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This general rule of not saying
anything, like all others, has its
qualifications. If a person would absolutely refuse to
answer every
casual question of inquiry, it
could result in a full-blown investigation.
But is this so bad? Even if an investigation is held, if it can
turn
up no detrimental facts, there is
no problem.
On the other hand, if the person
does speak, and does give the right
answer, you can perhaps ward off
an investigation. But if you do speak
and say the wrong thing, then
your statements could be the very basis
of a successful prosecution.
Remember, there is absolutely
nothing that a State Official is going to
be asking about that is going to
be to your benefit. The only informa-
tion he is going to be seeking,
is not information to free you, but
information to prosecute
you. Always keep in mind that
everything you
say that is detrimental will be
fed right back to you in court.
In the initial investigation of
the case, a little tact in refusing to
answer these questions would be
highly beneficial. To state, "I'm
not going to answer any
questions; I don't have to; I know my consti-
tutional rights," would
obviously only serve to clash with the carnal
mind. Some practical reasons should be thought of
such as the parent
merely saying. "Please, sir,
I'm just in no mood to talk to anyone or
answer any questions. Please just leave my wife and me
alone." If
you are just a witness, there is
no better way out than the old time-
worn cliche, "Look, I just
don't want to get involved."
Remember, if circumstances become
pressing and time is needed, never
forget the famous statement,
"I'm sorry, but my attorney has instructed
me never to say anything under
circumstances like this until I've had
a chance to talk to him
first."
2.
If legal circumstances or wisdom demands that you answer, then be
succinct and discreet.
Keep in mind that the officials
don't know everything you know, and
the little they do know, they
really don't fully comprehend. Too
often
an investigator will just strike
out blindly, acting as though he has
all the facts, and the victim
will just "spill the beans."
If the investigator should know
something about anointing with oil,
there is no need to assume that
he knows that the practice of medicine
is held in disrepute. It might be good to draw an analogy to the
Catholic
Church, and the fact that,
"We, as they, anoint with oil."
When one minister at the scene of
a death was abruptly asked by an
investigating officer, "Who
are you?" he simply replied, "A friend."
No further questions were
asked.
If you are known to be a
minister, and asked why you are there, a general
answer that might suffice would
be: "I just came to perform my
general
ministerial duties of offering
spiritual encouragement and as a family
friend."
Do not mention faith healing
under any circumstances. It cannot be
introduced during the trial as a
defense. It will only serve to
raise
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antagonisms at the time of the
inquiry and make the whole case newspaper-
worthy. It can always be brought up later if it is
to the person's
advantage.
Deny any knowledge that the
ailment was serious. Or if this cannot
be
done) then: (a) Place the time when the seriousness
first became
apparent as close to the time of
death as possible. (b) Take the
shortest
period of time possible for the
length of the illness. (c) If the
question of a doctor should
arise, it might be met with, "If I had any
idea that she was that sick and that
a doctor could have healed her,
I certainly would have called him
immediately."
3.
Befriend a doctor with at least
an affinity for our religious beliefs.
The calling of a doctor, during
the last stages of a very serious illness,
could work for good or for evil
from the legal point of view. On the
one hand, if he were called in
soon enough to ascertain the cause of
death, and was of a friendly
attitude, he might sign the death certifi-
cate and thereby avoid any
Coroner's inquest.
On the other hand, a doctor might
recommend some course of medical
treatment that he feels would
absolutely save the person's life, but
which we would consider
absolutely inimical to God's laws. If
the
person died, then the doctor
would be a powerful witness for the
prosecution not only to prove
gross neglect but proximate cause as well.
Also, unless the doctor held an
affinity for our religious beliefs,
he could contact the District
Attorney if the patient was a minor and
request that a court-appointed
guardian be named. The court could
then
take custody of the child, and
the guardian consent to such a course
of medical treatment.
The worthwhile physical knowledge
that a doctor does have to offer should
be taken into consideration and,
depending upon the circumstances, weigh
heavily in favor of consulting or
calling one in.
4.
When rejecting inedical service on drugs, predicate the refusal on the
grounds of risk or potential adverse
results.
One of the most practical and
valuable ways of rejecting certain medical
services or drugs is to base the
objection on the grounds of risk.
A procedure might be to ask a
doctor: "What are the chances of
the
operation being a failure? What are the chances of it being useless?
What are the chances of it being
harmful? What are the chances the
drug will have an adverse reaction?"
etc.
If the doctor should remark the
odds are 70 to 30 in favor of success
or lack of any adverse reaction,
the patient or parent can meditatively
contemplate the answer. He could then state, "I just don't
feel I
should take the chance. It just seems it would be better off to do
whatever else we could and then
let nature take its course."
If the matter is serious enough
and the particular doctor sees no
possibility of adverse effect but
only 100 percent success, then the
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patient or parent can merely
state they would like to obtain further
consultation and advice on the
subject. It is almost always possible
to find other medical advice
which would take a contrary position.
It can be contended then that the
adverse consultation was relied upon.
5.
Keep knowledge of illness restricted to as few people as
possible.
During the steps when an illness
becomes serious, keep as many people
out of the house as
possible. Do not tell outsiders about
the serious-
ness of an illness or your belief
in divine healing. The more people
that have knowledge of the
subject, or are present during the final
stages, the more potential
adverse witnesses you have. Only one
antag-
onistic person, with a sufficient
amount of first-hand knowledge, can
furnish enough testimony upon
which to pass a successful prosecution.
It should also be considered that
when a Fire Department respiratory
squad is called it is generally
customary that the police are also
notified. This, of course, should not in any way
deter the calling
of such help if it appears they
might save such a life. However, a
private ambulance service which
maintains oxygen and respiratory
equipment might be kept on file,
and utilized when needed, rather than
the public services.
6.
Do not attend an informal, requested hearing at the District
Attorney's
office, unless unusual circumstances dictate otherwise.
A strong general rule is that a
parent should never go to the office
of the District Attorney to
discuss such a case. If circumstances
should for some reason require
him to attend, then under no circumstances
should he go without an
attorney.
Another fact is very
important. In one case the prosecutor
admitted
that he could never have tried
the case without the statements given
by the mother. After the child had died, she stopped in
his office,
at his request, and told him
everything about the case She even
signed
a statement to that effect. She also made statements to certain
officials
in the Coroner's office. They proved certain facts that he could not
have proven otherwise.
7.
Don't involve the Church.
Beware of advising people and
involving the Church. People are free
moral agents and must make their
own decisions. They must learn to
stand on their own feet.
The Church must come before
individuals. Don't make the Church re-
sponsible for lawsuits. Help people in order to protect the Church,
but let people help themselves
where possible. Don't try to live
their
lives for them. Don't obligate the Church.
Don't be hostile toward doctors
and hospitals. When brought into
contact with medical men, be
friendly, but firm. Be careful not to
mention the Bible, religion, or
the Church of God.
IV.
WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF AN UNTIMELY DEATH
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When there is an untimely death
in the Church with overtones of divine healing
having been relied upon, prompt
action is necessary in order to avoid prose-
cution and bad publicity. Therefore, here is the procedure to
follow:
1. In the event of an untimely death of any
member or prospective member
or one of their children,
and it is under any circumstances other than
that which would be
considered absolutely normal in the world's eyes
(i.e., in the hospital, a
doctor in general attendance with basically
full medical aid being
given, etc.), the local minister should immediately
contact Headquarters by
telephone and notify us of the circumstances
whichwould include the names
and telephone numbers of all persons either
directly involved or
witnesses.
2. After receiving this information, either
Mr. Rader or Mr. Helge can
consult with the local
minister by telephone and ascertain if there is
potential criminal liability
or bad publicity for the Church member,
the minister or the
Church. If so, one of them may need to
fly to the
area and personally question
and counsel parties involved.
V.
PREVENTION IS THE BEST CURE
Remember to instruct the Church
members ahead of time on the principles of
health and measures to prevent
serious illness. Increasingly, we need
to drill
them on this type of general
health and diet information so that they can
decide what to do in case of
sickness without the minister constantly having
to "suggest" nearly
every step they take. Teach them to
truly GLORIFY God
in their bodies. This is part of the direct Gospel
commission.
Also, teach them the truth about
deep, living FAITH in God so they WILL
automatically trust Him when a
crisis comes. Then, again, the
minister
won't have to be constantly
"suggesting" or encouraging measures of faith
at a time when, legally, they
ought to be deciding on their own without
the Church having to be directly
involved. We cannot
"legislate" the degree
of faith for people to exercise
in a crisis -- or any other time.
Do build that real understanding
and faith ahead of time. Definitely
have
special sermons and Bible
Studies on health, diet, disease and on how to
TRUST in GOD for healing - - and
WITHOUT getting the Church involved in
legal disputes! Then, if legal problems arise -- and far
fewer should
this way -- follow the course
outlined above and instruct all the members
in this ahead of time, as well.
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