The Health Food Ministry

A Specious Offer

Since daylight I have written eleven pages in regard to the manufacture and sale of flake foods on the Pacific Coast. Dr. Kellogg and his brother offer to sell for forty-five thousand dollars, the right to manufacture and sell corn flakes in a certain section. The light given me is that we are not to accept this offer. Neither the territory nor the knowledge regarding health foods belongs to Dr. Kellogg. This is the Lord's talent. He has not made it over to any man, to be handled as his own property and invention, and to speculate upon for his own benefit. It has not been given to any man to be used to oppress his fellow-men. HFM 82.3

“Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother; and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.” Zechariah 7:9-10. HFM 83.1

The third and fourth chapters of Malachi teach many important lessons. They are full of weighty sentences. We are to consider these chapters carefully. The Lord is weighing character. Every chapter of the work carried on in Battle Creek has been recorded in the books of heaven, from the first action to the last. HFM 83.2

Our people are not to invest large sums of money in the production of health foods. It has been plainly stated that the light regarding health foods was not given for one man's benefit alone. I have been given light on this subject. We are not to accept this offer. Our people can use the talent God has given them to prepare foods such as He would be pleased to have them prepare for the use of the common people. The Lord has given the sunshine and the rain, and has caused the fruit to grow, and the earth to produce that which may be prepared for the food of mankind. He requires His family diligently to till the soil, that it may produce those things that may be used as food. They are to plant the seed, and care for it as it grows. This is the provision that He has made for man's food. He has given genius and tact to man, that he may prepare from the fruit of the earth a great variety of foods. Grains, vegetables, and fruits are to be planted and cultivated. The ground is to be dressed and worked, and the earth will produce her treasures.... HFM 83.3

Men and women are to be taught how to prepare food for the common people. This branch of education is to be given a place in every school established. The students are to be patiently taught how to cook, as well as how to read. The very best methods are to be employed in teaching the industries essential to everyday life. Instruction is to be faithfully given in simple methods of treating the sick. HFM 84.1

The Lord has given to us as a people great knowledge upon health reform. The work is to go forward. But God forbid that the food business should continue to take so large a place as it has taken. The capabilities and talents of valuable workers are not to be confined to the production of foods, while spiritual interests become secondary. This is a matter that must be dealt with upon a right basis, else it will become a great hindrance to us in our work of soul-saving. Letter 354, 1906 (written September 19, 1906). HFM 84.2

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Any line of work from which is left out the essence of true service might better be turned over to the world. The talents of God's people are to be employed in lines of work in which they can be laborers together with Him. The will of Christ is to be our will. Union with Him means freedom of action. It means activity in the work for the accomplishment of which He gave His life. Anything that interposes between us and this work is to be discarded as a hindrance to true advancement. Manuscript 119, 1902 (written October 8, 1902). HFM 84.3