There are a ton of studies I’ve read and I’ve studied a lot of them. And they’ll tell you that red meat consumption increases significantly your risk of getting cancer. Colon and rectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and of course, prostate cancer. The correlation between meat and advanced stage prostate cancer, it’s extremely high. So naturally I started to do something about meat immediately after I was diagnosed. Most studies, if you just read the headlines, I did this… You’d think of meat as poison. My opinion now, though, is that perhaps meat alone may not be the culprit here, or at least it’s not totally poisoned to your body. After all, meat has lots of vitamins that actually strengthen your immune system, like B-1 and B-12. Meats a tasty source of protein.

Skip Orem (21:16):

So, is there maybe something else about meat that might also be affecting these studies? Well, first what’s the cut of meat? Is it lean or is it really fatty? How’s it prepared? Fried in oil? Oh, and when you’re having that big juicy steak, what are you drinking with that? Alcohol maybe. And do you have potatoes or vegetables with your steak? How large is the piece of meat you’re eating? And that hamburger, is it actually a cheeseburger? And of course, do you want fries with that? Oh, and this, did you make your hamburger at home with a lean cut of meat, fat trimmed off? Or did you go through the drive-through?

Skip Orem (22:04):

What I’m saying here is that I believe that you can include meat in your diet, you just have to do it right. It’s going to be more expensive, but maybe you’ll save money by not having it as often, certainly not every day. My goal is to moderate how much meat is in my diet. I use lean cuts of meat, fat trimmed away. And then I watch what I’m eating with the meat, no fries anymore. If you can enjoy a lean, quality hamburger without cheese, that should be okay. Make sure that those other foods you eat with meat, make sure they’re good for you. Here’s the bottom line, at least for me. I limit the amount of meat I eat. I make sure that it’s good quality meat, cut away the fat, cook it right, not in more oils and I balance it with the rest of the meal. I refuse to look at meat as poison, but it needs to be looked at in terms of quantity, quality, cut, cooking method, and what you’re eating with it.

Skip Orem (23:23):

Until a couple of weeks ago, I’d never read any parts of the message. That’s Eugene Peterson’s translation of the Bible. It is even actually more of an American translation of the Bible because it does use some American slang. I grew up on the King James version, and if I didn’t have really good Sunday school instructors helping me study the Bible, I’m not sure that I would have ever been able to really understand that old King James version. Thank God for those adults who volunteered their time every Sunday and every Wednesday night to teach us kids about Jesus. My go-to hard copy Bible, which I carry with me to church is the Holman Christian standard version, which is more of a traditional translation.

Skip Orem (24:13):

I have two awesome Bible apps that I use the Tecarta Bible app, which is a really good phone app, and it has over 30 versions of the Bible to choose from. It’s cool because if you’re sitting around waiting on a doctor’s appointment or really any situation where you have to wait by yourself for awhile, it’s really convenient to open up your phone and just read from the Tecarta Bible app. The other app, which I use is an audio Bible for your iPhone. It’s cool because you can listen to it while you’re in your car, just sitting out at the beach or anywhere where it’s easier to listen then to read. The name of the app is Dwell. It