Goodbye (and Good Riddance), Marlboro Man!
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
“If we love people, we will warn them of the consequences of dying in their sins.” – R.C. Sproul
On January 11, 1964, Dr. Luther L. Terry, Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service, released the first report of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health. It was based on more than 7,000 articles relating to smoking and disease that had already been published in various medical journals.
The Advisory Committee concluded that cigarette smoking is (1) a cause of lung cancer and laryngeal cancer in men; (2) a probable cause of lung cancer in women; and (3) the most important cause of chronic bronchitis. For several days, the report headlined newspapers across the country and was the lead story on every network television newscast. It was later ranked among the top news stories of 1964.
As a result of these findings – and the Surgeon General’s report – Congress passed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 and the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969. These bills, once signed into law by Presidents Johnson and Nixon, required a health warning on cigarette packages, banned cigarette advertising on radio and TV, and called for an annual report on the health consequences of smoking. Since then, warning labels have also been mandated on smokeless tobacco and vaping products.
Today, there are four different Surgeon General warning labels that cover everything from heart disease, emphysema, and carbon monoxide poisoning to fetal injury, premature birth, and low birth weight.
My friend, if the Surgeon General of the United States – having seen the conclusive data about the dangers of tobacco use – felt compelled to warn Americans about its inherent dangers, shouldn’t we as Christians feel even more compelled to warn unbelievers about the imminent danger of spending eternity in hell?
Dying of cancer is horrific and most of us have lost a loved one to that dreaded disease. But that temporary earthly suffering pales in comparison to languishing in the Lake of Fire for all eternity.
Please warn your unsaved loved ones about dying without Christ TODAY!
“Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:14-15 (BSB)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
