Ever since the fall Adam's lineage has wrestled against the bitter physical foes and woes of sickness, disease, malady and infirmity. When sin entered the human family sickness followed with it through the same doorway. There was a noxious invasion in the Garden that has proliferated unto our today through the agencies of toxin, germ, virus and free radical cell. Disease is "dis"-ease. It turns forearms into pin cushions. It keeps Suzie indoors while the rest of the neighborhood plays. Disease spends the kids' Christmas present money on high deductibles and unsympathetic bill collectors. It shortens breath. It shortens patience. It shortens life. When earth tipped off balance it appears that human balance went with it. The cause and effect of the fall are obvious to medical student and theologian alike. Were we designed to merely exist, or to live?

The human body is "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14), the most amazing machine ever invented – a heart that beats 40-million times a year, a stomach that regenerates a new lining every two weeks to keep from digesting itself and consumes some fifty tons of material in a lifetime. Our bodies contain enough phosphorus to make over 2,000 matches and enough carbon to make 900 pencils. Each kidney filters over two pints of blood per minute. In thirty minutes the average body releases enough heat to bring a half gallon of water to a boil.

We could make a whole book out of interesting physiological facts. As amazing as this instrument is, why does it break down or skip out of rhythm? The human machine was built with safeguards and recovery systems so it can function for a long, long time, hundreds of years according to the fifth chapter of Genesis, if only emotional, environ-mental and spiritual conditions are right.

But those conditions are not "right" today. We fight thinning ozone, job-stress, out of whack hormones, disease-carrying bugs and mind-numbing drugs, depleted soil, dirty hands, Big Mac attacks and a mountain of sugar, sodium and MSG. Adam had no bulge in the midsection in the beginning and Eve certainly didn't worry about silicon implant leakage. But now law is catching up with habit and the harvest is a healthcare nightmare. Much of this wrestling match is a fight with our own emotions and lusts. Adam once had perfect blood pressure but the Garden gate closed behind him with a thud.

So we search for a healer. From the days of snake oil sold from the back of rickety wagons to the latest chemotherapy option, from Mom's chicken soup to fat flush diets, the happiest news is when we hear of a new medical breakthrough. But not all "cures" are approved by the FDA and some are far beyond the underinsured or poor man's reach. One Bible statement is universally true, "the sick need a physician" (Mat 9:12). Yes, even faith people can't disguise themselves every time they go to the pharmacy. It's enough to make ya sick – somebody call the doctor!

Throughout these pages I'll be making referrals to a time-tested Physician, Jesus of Nazareth, MD. His credentials are sound and his case history impeccable, just check out the testimonies – "The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them" (Mat 11:5). This doctor still does house calls and has amazing bedside manners. But to access His help a special doctor-patient trust must be established. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Heb 11:6). Cost is not a factor because His intervention has already been paid in full, but faith is a factor. Jesus only makes one demand of His patients, "Be not afraid, only believe" (Mark 5:36).