Speaker Identification
Speaker 1 - Program Announcer
Speaker 2 - Steve Dupuie
Speaker 3 - Dr. Bob Thiel

Speaker 1 - Program Announcer
This is the Bible News Prophecy program, bringing you news and analysis of world events in the light of Bible prophecy. The following program is brought to you by the Continuing Church of God.

Speaker 2 - Steve Dupuie
Good morning. Greetings, friends. This is Steve Dupuie for the Bible News Prophecy program with Dr. Bob Thiel, bringing you news and analysis of world events in light of Bible prophecy. Dr. Thiel, I keep hearing about toxins. Are there natural and man-made toxins?

Speaker 3 - Dr. Bob Thiel
Oh, yes, there are both. First, let's talk about natural ones. We found out, for example, in Minnesota, there is something called microcystin, which is a toxin produced by blue-green algae. Contact with this can cause skin or eye irritation, allergic reactions, rashes, and if you swallow it, it can cause all kinds of other problems. It can affect just about everybody, but people with compromised systems are at greater risk.

There are also known toxic plants that can kill, like certain varieties of poisonous mushrooms. Most people can avoid those.

Speaker 2 - Steve Dupuie
Why not all people?

Speaker 3 - Dr. Bob Thiel
Because not all the toxins from foods are obvious. With modern food-processing techniques, people have ended up having problems from lettuce, packaged blueberries, and other foods. They look healthy, so the danger is not obvious.

Then there are man-made toxins, which are almost impossible to completely avoid. I saw an article titled, "The Invisible Assault: How Everyday Toxins Sabotage Your Health From Inside Out." It said that in an age where chronic illness rates climb despite medical advances, a lot of medical professionals and researchers are saying it is not just viruses and genes. They are looking at the insidious, cumulative poison of modern life.

The threat is not confined to industrial accidents or things like that. It is in our daily existence, in our food, our homes, and our personal routines. Since World War II, we have had all this chemical innovation. Synthetic chemical compounds were supposed to be miracles of convenience and progress, from pesticides to different types of packaging and nonstick cookware. All these things promised a supposedly better life, but they can affect the body's ability to detoxify.

Many of these synthetic chemicals are very similar to things in the body. They can disrupt hormones. They can affect things like fertility, thyroid function, puberty, and metabolic symptoms. Researchers think they probably also contribute to things like diabetes, and they can affect many others. They are in our air and our water. I also mentioned plastics.

Another article said, describing toxicity as the most underrated threat facing humanity, that a new report has warned that the contamination of humans is endemic and that the risks to planetary and human health are widely underestimated, with the impact of pesticide use on cancer rates potentially rivaling that of cigarette smoking.

Speaker 2 - Steve Dupuie
That's pretty scary. How prevalent is it?

Speaker 3 - Dr. Bob Thiel
There are some articles saying that more than 3,600 synthetic chemicals from food-contact materials, like packaging and pesticides, are present in human bodies around the world, and at least some of them are feared to be dangerous. Gary Grantham, who was involved with the protection of the environment, added, "Toxicity is the most underrated threat facing humanity."

Speaker 2 - Steve Dupuie
3,600 synthetic chemicals floating around in my body. Does it get any worse?

Speaker 3 - Dr. Bob Thiel
Yes. You have the cumulative problem of microplastics. Years of accumulated exposure can cause things like heart attacks and other health conditions. Additionally, there are avoidable toxins that many put on themselves, like cosmetics.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 1, verse 2, we are warned, "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher. "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

Vanity of appearance is something that Lucifer, who became Satan the devil, deceived himself by. If we go to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 28, starting with verse 12, we read, "Thus says the Lord God." Speaking of Satan, it says, "You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty." It says, "You were in Eden, the garden of God." This is one of the reasons we know this is a reference to Satan.

Verse 14 says, "You were the anointed cherub who covers," so we know this is not a normal human being. Verse 15 says, "You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you." Verse 17 says, "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor."

Now, it is not just Satan who has been affected by vanity of beauty. While males are certainly often vain, females in many societies are immensely focused on outside appearance, even though the Bible tells us in Isaiah 28 that glorious beauty is a fading flower. Looks do not last, but many people spend a lot of time on their outward appearance. While that pleases them, sometimes there are other risks.

Speaker 2 - Steve Dupuie
How risky are those other risks?

Speaker 3 - Dr. Bob Thiel
A couple of decades ago, a chiropractor telephoned me and asked if she could send me a copy of her anti-cosmetic book called Dying to Look Good. She sent it, and I read it. Basically, it warns about different chemicals. It says there are more than 1,200 that are an issue, and she says they are not actually approved by the FDA.

She said studies have found that nearly 50 percent of cosmetic products evaluated were contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical 1,4-dioxane, and that these products are only removed as the FDA knows for sure. She wrote, "You can't depend on the FDA or the manufacturers to make sure the products you buy are safe. It's up to you to protect your family's health."

Speaker 2 - Steve Dupuie
That's tragic. Nearly 50 percent of women's cosmetics contain a cancer-causing chemical. What's the situation today?

Speaker 3 - Dr. Bob Thiel
Many dangerous chemicals are still used. While most are not dangerous in small quantities, when you start to accumulate them or use them over a long period of time, they can be. You should also consider that most prescription drugs are foreign to the human body and, in that way, could be considered toxic.

Now, do you know that 11 percent of Americans are currently using GLP-1 drugs for weight loss and appearance? That is 37 million people.

USA Today reported something I just saw. It said, "Ozempic is giving people temporal hollowing. Doctors are sounding the alarm." You might have heard of Ozempic face, but how about Ozempic temples? In the era of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, plastic surgeons say that people are looking for a niche treatment for high-risk areas of their face.

The issue is temporal hollowing, or temporal wasting, which they say results in loss of volume in the temples due to rapid weight loss. A plastic surgeon said that a patient will come in and say, "Why do I look so disturbed? Why am I suddenly looking older? What is it?"

They say the temples are close to the brain, but it is not an area people think about when they want plastic surgery. Surgeons say that patients who have experienced rapid weight loss on GLP-1 drugs know something is different, but they do not know what.

People tend not to think about their temples, but one of the plastic surgeons says it takes the face out of its youthful balance. When you look at a youthful face, or at kids and babies, the temple area is very full. Temporal hollowing is a hallmark of aging, a hallmark of illness, a hallmark of dehydration, and the absolute hallmark of Ozempic face. But overcorrecting it can cause problems, too, according to another plastic surgeon.

So trying what I would be sure is the toxic way to look better can actually make you look worse.

Speaker 2 - Steve Dupuie
Are there spiritual lessons or analogies we can draw from various toxins?

Speaker 3 - Dr. Bob Thiel
Yes. Poisonous plants can be analogous to known and obvious sins, like stealing or murder. People know they are wrong. Most people do not do them.

Of course, the prisons are full of people who do them anyway.

Contaminated foods can be deceptive. They catch people unaware. That reminds me of 1 Peter 5:8: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

Related to Satan, the Bible calls him the prince of the power of the air. His influence, like air pollution, is everywhere. Look, we all have to breathe, but we also have to live in the world.

Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17. He said, "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one."

Again, Satan's influence is here. But one of the ways this is done, according to the Apostle James, is in James 4:6-7, where we read, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

We are supposed to resist Satan's proud and vain ways. This is one reason the Church of God has, for example, urged only minimal use of cosmetics, as well as urging people to eat real foods, not ultra-processed foods.

Speaker 2 - Steve Dupuie
What are some additional toxins we can run into?

Speaker 3 - Dr. Bob Thiel
One is entertainment. It can be spiritually toxic. The Apostle Paul, in Romans 6:12-13, said not to let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts, and that we are not to present our members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.

It is not that we never sin, but like physical toxins, we should strive to have as little sin as we can, and not present ourselves to sin as well.

The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 101:3, "I will set nothing wicked before my eyes." We have to think about that in the context of entertainment.

There is also a concept within toxicology called the total toxic threshold. Basically, it states that the human body can tolerate limited amounts of many toxins before adverse effects occur. Similarly, just like we can handle being in a toxic, sinful society, once a certain quantity is reached, the body gets ill. As society becomes more toxic, we have to be more careful about its influences and its entertainment.

We are warned by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:17 to come out of the world, be separate, and not touch what is unclean. Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:33, "Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits." That is one of the reasons I am tying in entertainment as a type of toxin.

How much sin do you think God wants you to tolerate? If you are Christian, hopefully you will try to live by what Jesus said in Matthew 5:48: "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

We are supposed to strive for no sin. We should also strive to avoid many of the toxins that we can run into in the 21st-century world.

I read you the quote that toxicity is the most underrated threat facing humanity. Yet sin and Satan's role in it are perhaps the most invisible causes of a physically and spiritually toxic world.

God does have a plan, and part of it is that during the millennial Kingdom of God, Satan will be bound for a thousand years, as stated in Revelation 20:3, and the resurrected saints are going to be teaching the right way to live. You can read that in Isaiah 30:20-21.

So what should we be doing? We should try to avoid sin, try to avoid toxins, and try to avoid what we can avoid, both spiritually and physically. We should also pray, as Jesus said in Matthew 6:10, for God's kingdom to come.

Speaker 2 - Steve Dupuie
Thank you, Dr. Thiel. For more interviews with Dr. Thiel, in addition to written as well as audio articles, visit our website, BibleNewsProphecy.net. This is Steve Dupuie for the Bible News Prophecy program.

Speaker 1 - Program Announcer
This Bible News Prophecy program was sponsored by the Continuing Church of God. For more information, including access to our free literature, visit BibleNewsProphecy.net or www.ccog.org. You can also reach us by email. Our address is BibleNewsProphecy@gmail.com.