This week, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint against a Christian group who’s leaflet claimed God can heal today. To be fair, their adjudications do not represent a legal judgement as such, and nobody is going to be sent to prison. But they apparently do have the power not only to stop people advertising in the printed press, but to command someone to take down a website advert.  I suppose potentially, even, they could criticize this post.  If they do, my defense would be that I am not advertising any service or event in it.

It is easy to have a knee-jerk reaction to something like this as a Christian.  It can all seem like just another attempt to suppress freedom of religion in what is increasingly starting to feel like an atheocracy. I mean, are we moving towards a society where to quote the following list of Bible verses would not be allowed?

•     Bless the LORD, O my soul,and forget not all his benefits,
  who forgives all your iniquity,
  who heals all your diseases,
  (Psalm 103:2-3)

•     “‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me;
  I kill and I make alive;
  I wound and I heal;
  and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
  (Deuteronomy 32:39)

•     “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
  (John 14:12-14)

•     “Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 
  (Acts 5:12-16)

•     “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
  (James 5:14-16)

It does seem outrageously very possible that somewhere down the line someone will try and use a legal remedy to force publishers of the Bible to take an editor’s scissors to bits like this that they do not like! There are of course many other portions of the Bible that could very well be in the secular gestapo’s gaze.

But I do think it is important that we actually try to understand to an extent the position of the ASA.  Lets look at the details of the latest case, and think it through together.

In the full text of their adjudication, the ASA quote the leaflet they condemned as follows:

“”NEED HEALING? GOD CAN HEAL TODAY! Do you suffer from Back Pain, Arthritis, MS, Addiction … Ulcers, Depression, Allergies, Fibromyalgia, Asthma, Paralysis, Crippling Disease, Phobias, Sleeping disorders or any other sickness? We’d love to pray for your healing right now! We’re Christian from churches in Bath and we pray in the name of Jesus. We believe that God loves you and can heal you from any sickness”.

The ASA concluded

“We told HOTS not to make claims which stated or implied that, by receiving prayer from their volunteers, people could be healed of medical conditions. We also told them not to refer in their ads to medical conditions for which medical supervision should be sought.”

The ASA did note that the group involved had “offered to amend their ads to state “We believe God can heal” and “See God heal the sick” or “Pray for the sick”, to include the words “We believe” in any references to healing, to include a prominent reference to medical treatment on their website, and to remove the leaflet from their website,” but concluded “their suggested amendments were not sufficient for the ads to comply with the CAP Code.”

So what does the relevant code actually say?

The  sections cited in the adjudication are as follows:

1.3 Marketing communications must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society.

12.1 Objective claims must be backed by evidence, if relevant consisting of trials conducted on people. If relevant, the rules in this section apply to claims for products for animals. Substantiation will be assessed on the basis of the available scientific knowledge.

Medicinal or medical claims and indications may be made for a medicinal product that is licensed by the MHRA or EMEA, or for a CE-marked medical device. A medicinal claim is a claim that a product or its constituent(s) can be used with a view to making a medical diagnosis or can treat or prevent disease, including an injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind, in human beings.

Secondary medicinal claims made for cosmetic products as defined in the appropriate European legislation must be backed by evidence. These are limited to any preventative action of the product and may not include claims to treat disease.

12.2 Marketers must not discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought. For example, they must not offer specific advice on, diagnosis of or treatment for such conditions unless that advice, diagnosis or treatment is conducted under the supervision of a suitably qualified health professional. Accurate and responsible general information about such conditions may, however, be offered. (See rule 12.11.)

12.6 Marketers should not falsely claim that a product is able to cure illness, dysfunction or malformations.

3.1  Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.

3.47 Claims that are likely to be interpreted as factual and appear in a testimonial must not mislead or be likely to mislead the consumer.

3.6 Subjective claims must not mislead the consumer; marketing communications must not imply that expressions of opinion are objective claims.

3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.

To help us put ourselves in the shoes of the ASA, lets consider another couple of cases where our perspectives and beliefs are less likely to influence our opinion of the decision.

We would, no doubt, agree with the decision to censure the following wording found in a leaflet:

A circular, for Mr Morro, stated “African Spiritual Healer Mr Morro Can Help with your Problems Maintain family ties and Relationships Keep loved ones, gives you and your family wellbeing Sustain love and enliven love, get rid of bad luck, Black Magic Or get rid of Evil Spirits from the affect [sic] one. Become Healthy from Sickness of all kinds He is also capable of solving all Psychological, Financials [sic], Socials [sic] and Academic problems …”.

Using a similar basis for the decision, Mr Morrow was told he should not say that in future advertising.

Again, the ASA critiqued a healer who was charging for his services in the following advertorial:

“Chris Howe has helped many people over the last 20 years. Try Healing for £10.00 per session until the end of February 2009. Many have suffered from illness such as Cancer, ME, Depression, Sports Injuries, Arthritis and many more . . . Chris feels that he can convince you of the Healing which runs through him and has done since he was a small boy”

Similarly, the ASA censured the following wording of an advert:

“THE LITTLE JAR OF MIRACLES ADVANCED FORMULA SKIN THERAPY GEL THE RED CARPET REMEDY FOR SCARRING, SOOTHING AND SMOOTHING . . .It always seems our delicate skin is under attack and there’s no denying that razor burn, bruises and often the unsightly appearance of raised scars ruins the look of your favourite outfits. Thankfully there’s now a miracle worker which can help have you back to your normal self in no time at all by aiding the skins [sic] natural healing process and helping to reduce the appearance of scars for all skin types.”

There are a number of other decisions that have been made over the years involving Christian and other groups. Reading them shows that some are clearly over the top, and involve attempts to exploit people out of money.

How can the ASA prevent genuine abuses while allowing a simple offer of prayer for sickness?

UPDATES
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• God and Politics

I know, some of my readers will have read a headline like that and panicked. Has Warnie slipped into “Health wealth and prosperity” or “Word of Faith” ?

Nope, not at all.

But I do feel that it is so easy for us to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I remember at one point a few years ago I even began to wonder if we would be better off to stop talking about faith. Perhaps, I argued, we should simply talk about “trust” in God.

Trust is a much more passive thing, and it is a component of faith.

But God says it is faith that pleases him.

Full blooded, rip-roaring Faith with a capital F. Faith that propels us to take risk. Faith that is relentlessly full of positivity and hope.

Faith that dares to believe that Romans 8:28 is true, quite literally. God is structuring the entire universe for the good of those who love him.

Me and you.

Wow!

Shouldn’t that thought thrill us. Why then do we settle for a weak, passive faith that is basically no different from fatalism all too often.

Can I guarantee you will be healed? No

Am I saying that God will give you all the stuff you lust after?

Of course not.

But only because if he did, it wouldn’t be good for you!

He really, truly wants your good. He longs to bless you, to make you a demonstration of his undeserved favor.

Oh, and if you follow his principles and walk with him, guess what, the concept of a “lift” is often right. There are many things he will teach you, that just might make you a better candidate for that promotion at work.

But the first thing he will teach you, is to die to selfish ambition. The irony is, that very first lesson, to put others needs before your own, could be the very key to unlock doors for you.

Basically, although Jesus promise that those who are last will be first, and those who try to save their life will lose it, are both perfectly fulfilled in the next age, they are principles that often work out in the here and now.

Don’t seek your comfort, seek the Kindgom. But, it was Jesus himself who promised that if we did so he would give us “all good things.” (Matthew 6:33)

Christians in the West are often quite good at trusting in God as our rock. We are taught doctrine, told that God is sovereign. We are taught that he stands behind every event that happens and is working for our good (Romans 8:28). Even when other people do things to us from a bad motive, we may respond like Joseph and say “you meant that for my harm, but God meant it for good.”

God, we learn, is unmovable. He is like a fortress we can hide in. He is unshakeable and faithful. “Ascribe greatness to our God the rock, his work is perfect and all his ways are just, a God of faithfulness and without injustice, good and upright is he!” (Deuteronomy 32:3-4).

God is so dependable that even “if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself”(2 Tim 2:13) . He is unshakeable, nothing can move him. Theologians talk about his impassibility. When the nations rebel against him, the one enthroned in heaven laughs (Psalm 2).

And yet. The one who we have said cannot be moved, can in fact be moved. This is no contradiction. How then can you move the immovable?

Faith in the dependable God we have been talking about could be called resting or passive faith. It is peaceful, stilling our hearts, and determining to trust God in the midst of the storm.

There is, however, another kind of faith that we in the West are generally not so familiar with. This is active faith, and this is what moves God. When Jesus met Lazarus’ sisters, he was moved to compassion and provoked by their sorrow, but also by their faith. Active faith lays ahold of Gods promises and cries out to him to fulfil them. Paul speaks of how Elijah appeals to God (Romans 11:2). Daring to believe God and urging him to act turns Gods heart towards us.

2 Chronicles 33:13 tells us that Manasseh “prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea.”

Jesus is often described in the gospels as being “moved with compassion” when people entreated him, and as a result he healed them.

Passive faith relies on God as the immovable dependable rock on which we can stand. Active faith causes us to appeal to Gods sense of compassion, justice, mercy, and righteousness. He is able to be moved. He wants us to step out and dare to ask him to act.

There are some who seem to focus so much on asking God for things, that the undergirding trust in his faithfulness is apparently absent. But if we only focus on him as the sovereign immovable king we are in just as precarious a position. To deny Gods power and become fatalistic is not glorifying his name. We need both of these kinds of faith and we need the God who is both movable and immovable.

The ideas in this post came out of a conversation I had with my very wise and insightful wife this afternoon. I pray it will be encouraging to many of you.

“The Lord has founded Zion,
and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.” Isaiah 14:32

I have found myself thinking a lot about the church in the last day or so. This is no doubt prompted by Tope’s excellent sermon on Sunday. But what strikes me afresh is how easy it is to take for granted the best institution on earth, if it is even fair to call her an institution. The church is a body, and although at times she is indeed sick, there is nothing like her on this planet! If the church is founded and established as God intended she will be a magnet for people who are afflicted or distressed. She can provide a nurturing environment that can in many cases heal better than a decade of weekly counselling.

Refuge is such a wonderful word. When you feel all at sea, when life is buffeting you, the peace that a good church can bring into your life is astonishing. I am talking abut a church that doesn’t just teach grace but lives it. I am talking about a place where your warts will lead to understanding not rejection. I am talking about a welcome that extends to all. An acceptance that takes you as you are, but lovingly propels you to a better life.

O, how the church can be distorted at times. She was never meant to be like that angry aunt every child knows to run from. Rather she should be like the kindly mother-figure that you instinctively run to, jump in their lap, and feel totally at liberty to laugh or cry with.

One day you will be afflicted. Maybe not yet. Maybe in a long time. But, beloved, make sure you are part of such a church, because in the day of trouble you do not want to be searching for your spiritual home. Better yet you are part of building such a church. Today it may well be your turn to bring comfort to someone else. For sure, the day will come when you yourself will need such comfort.

Ask the Lord today, does my church provide a refuge? If not, is there anything I can do about that? Life is too short to play games. May God find each of my readers a place where they can know the love of God revealed through the people of God, and the presence of God in the house of God.

Tope Koleoso was on fire yesterday as he preached this message. It will provoke you. It will encourage you to respect God’s word in a new way. It will thrill you again with the vital role that the church plays in opening our hearts to receive the life-giving power of God’s word. Here a few soundbites from the sermon that will whet your appetite:

• “Nothing prepares your heart to hear from God more than regular consistent fellowship with the people of God”
• “Private devotion is never a substitute for gathering with the saints”
• “You will find God’s power and glory amongst his people” (Psalm 63:1-2)
• “YOU are the preacher your children listen to”

If you have never watched a sermon by Tope, this is a great one to begin with. You can watch it right here or download audio and video at the Jubilee site.

I read a fascinating article about the Kiwis observations of some emerging Christian movements. Now, those of you that are regular readers will know that I am passionately committed to Sunday Services especially when a group of believers have grown enough to sustain one. Howeve, in light of my “I want it all” committmet you should not be surprised to know that I found these observations interesting and in some cases challenging. Go read Tall Skinny Kiwi: Practices of a new Jesus movement.

I hope you will enjoy this challenging article as much as I did:

“I have learned something in recent years. People come to cherish words like atonement and justification when you expose them to other words like bloodguilt and reckoning.

I’ve tried to teach gospel-centric words effectively as stand-alone concepts. It has produced a few amens, yet lives were not radically altered toward God and the good works he has prepared for us to do. I was serving coffee at breakfast, rather than arriving with cool water as people fled from within a burning building.”

Read more at  Challenging the Powers of Death with the Gospel of Life – The Gospel Coalition Blog.

This is a fireside chat type of video with Keith sharing some of his thoughts about how the church is and needs to be changing today.

Bob Roberts (one of our speakers at the next 300 leaders) has a great post today entitled The Three Constants of the Great Commission:

“First – the coming of the Holy Spirit which is the power to fulfill the Great Commission.  It is present in all passages from baptizing in the name of the “Father, Son & Holy Spirit” to being “clothed with power from on high” to “signs and wonders” that go as the Gospel is spread.  The lesson for us is clear – no Holy Spirit – no Great Commission fulfilled.  Jesus makes all that clear in his guidance in John 14-16.

The second thing is “Go” – but it’s really translated “as you are going”, in other words the Great Commission should be a daily experience not simply a geographical experience . . .  Spreading the good news of Jesus, loving others, building bridges, serving humanity in the name of Jesus must be a daily and lifestyle occurrence.

Third, “nations” is in all passages – one is ends of the earth. God cares for all peoples.  Christianity must always be cross cultural and multi-cultural – the only culture we share is Kingdom culture that lays over all cultures.  When that happens the Gospel will be the same, but expressed differently – and that gets exciting. READ MORE.

It is almost 100 years since Roland Allen published his at the time intensely controversial book, Missionary Methods, ours or St Pauls?  It is a book that has been strikingly influential with today both those from the “missional” wing of the church and is still cited and read both by those who advocate a return to the “New Testament Model of the Church” and modern day apostles.  It is a book that is well worth reading, but it is one that even if you have not read it, the chances are high that you have been influenced by ideas made popular by it:

More than likely, you have been influenced by Roland Allen if you:

have ever talked about church planting movements

have pondered church multiplication

believe churches can be indigenous from the moment of their birth

have considered the role of the Holy Spirit in new churches and in missionaries

have despised the thought of supporting paternalism

have realized that church leaders can be both thoroughly biblical and effective without lengthy periods of training (divorced from their people) and without financial support from sources beyond their churches

have advocated that Spirit-empowered national believers generally are able to carry the gospel farther and faster than missionaries can among those nationals

have believed the missionary practices of the New Testament Church reveal principles that are applicable today, and not simply a description of an Age long gone

READ MORE at Missiologically Thinking » Roland Allen: Part 1, The Man.

I had a fantastic weekend listening to the man I am officially nicknaming “the Gentle Prophet.” If you are intrigued as to what a non-freaky modern day prophetic ministry could look like, this video sermon is well worth a watch:

Download options at Hearing the Holy Spirit for Yourself – Keith Hazel.

Yesterday I promised to blog about the two other speakers at the next 300 Leaders conference. Dave Devenish should be no stranger to regular readers of this blog, as I have serialised a chapter of his outstanding book Fathering Leaders, Motivating Mission, and interviewed him. His is a remarkable man who gave up a successful career in international banking to serve Jesus. Content to minister alongside Terry Virgo, he has been a massive part of what God has been doing through Newfrontiers for decades. He has seen churches planted in many nations. His recent book, based on teaching he has been developing for years, has helped bring definition to church oversight. If you have ever heard people speak about apostles today and wondered what they mean by that, coming to 300 leaders to hear Dave preach will massively benefit you. If you are already part of an apostolic movement (which Stetzer has observed are growing in influence globally) you will learn how this gift can help you connect with the global mission God has called his church to. Whatever your church background, this next 300 leaders will be a great benefit to you.

Those who have wondered what the future holds for Newfrontiers now that Terry Virgo has laid down his day-to-day leadership of our movement will do well to hear from Mike Betts. Mike is one of a significant number of apostolic figures that were recognised at our final conference in Brighton. Over the last few years Mike has established a group of churches that relate together, and reach out on mission. It is this gathering together of churches to serve the mission of God that is a key gift that we need to see released more and more. The future of Newfrontiers is secure because God is raising up many like Mike who will care for the established churches, and drive missional expansion. Mike has also developed a real strength in working closely with prophetic ministry and will be sharing about how this partnership can propel us into mission.

The need of our nation is urgent. The call for churches to grow and plant other churches is strong. I am convinced that this day conference will help us. I hope to see you there!

Great to see three real friends of the gospel topping this list.  Thanks to Kent Shaffer for compiling this list and some other ways to define influential churches in the USA.

These are the top churches to learn from about planting multiple churches:

1. Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York, NY) :: Tim Keller
   
   
2. Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA) :: Mark Driscoll

3. Northwood Church (Keller, TX) :: Bob Roberts

4. Perimeter Church (Duluth, GA) :: Randy Pope

5. Spanish River Church (Boca Raton, FL) :: David Nicholas

6. East 91st Street Christian Center (Indianapolis, IN) :: Derek Duncan

7. Community Christian Church (Naperville, IL) :: Dave Ferguson

8. Fellowship Bible Church (Little Rock, AR) :: Bill Wellons

9. Kensington Community Church (Troy, MI) :: Steve Andrews

10. Church at the Springs (Ocala, FL) :: Ron Sylvia

Donald Miller raises an interesting question in this blogpost:

The church in America is led by scholars. Essentially, the church is a robust school system created around a framework of lectures and discussions and study. We assume this is the way its supposed to be because this is all we have ever known. I think the scholars have done a good job, but they’ve also recreated the church in their own image. Churches are essentially schools. They look like schools with lecture halls, classrooms, cafeterias and each new church program is basically a teaching program.

The first disciples were not teachers, they were fishermen, tax collectors and at least one was a Zealot. We don’t know the occupation of the others, but Jesus did not charge educators with the great commission, he chose laborers. And those laborers took the gospel and created Christian communities that worked, that did things and met in homes and were active. They made speeches, for sure, but so do businessmen and politicians and leaders in any number of other professions. Educators make speeches and do little else, except study for their next lecture. I wonder what the first disciples would think if they could see our system of schools, our million lectures, our billion sub lectures, our curriculums and our lesson plans. I think they’d be impressed, to be honest, but I also think they’d recognize a downside.

via Should the Church be Led by Teachers and Scholars? | Donald Miller’s Blog.

The best prayers I have ever heard in our prayer meetings have been those, which have been fullest of argument. Sometimes my soul has been fairly melted down where I have listened to the brethren who have come before God feeling the mercy to be really needed, and that they must have it, for they first pleaded with God to give it for this reason, and then for a second, and then for a third and then for a fourth and a fifth until they have awakened the fervency of the entire assembly. (Spurgeon’s “Effective Prayer,” p. 10)

The Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust have made available another free sermon on their website. It is the one recording that they have of MLJ preaching from the Book of Judges – a sermon titled ‘A Right View of Life’.

Click to listen to or download ‘A Right View of Life’

Also check out a previous guest post by Robin Lane from the D. M. Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust.

There are few hymns with richer more meaningful words than “And Can It Be.” Words that celebrate the gospel and dispel our wretched sense of entitlement that bedevils us Western Christians. So how wonderful it was to hear this new music to such an old hymn. I sometimes don’t like new tunes for a hymn that I love. Sometimes people even tend to fight against the whole idea of putting old hymns to new music. This is of course ridiculous as I don’t think there is a single popular old hymn that is still sung to the melody it was first paired with (I am of course happy to be proved wrong by someone who is more knowledgible than me). But this new tune in many ways fits this old hymn better than the previous one.

It is beautiful, melodic, and prompts genuine meditation. I hope and pray that one day this tune will be widely adopted, and this old hymn would as a result have a breath of fresh new life. The church would be richer for it. You can also visit Phatfish’s website to download the sheet music or learn about their other songs.

This article makes an interesting point about the unintended consequences of technology for the global church:

Recently I met with members of the Digital Bible Society. DBS specializes in collecting and distributing Bibles and theological material in closed countries. They distributed Chinese language materials 10 years ago on tens of thousands of CDs.Today the team at DBS prepares gigabytes of the Bible, Christian books, and videos like the Jesus film, and puts them on e-readers and microSD chips. Today’s Bible “distributor” can hide a microSD chip in a sock, bringing biblical material into highly dangerous countries.When I met with DBS and some other ministries, they showed me an incredible array of James Bond-like devices that people around the world are using to smuggle these materials to dark places.One man talked about being interrogated by secret police for meeting with people and giving them Bibles. Then, through a thick Arabic accent, he said to the group, “H.264 and EPUB are gifts from God.” I agree.1

via Christian perspectives on art, movies, music, culture, and the world..

The following quote is speaking about John the Baptist’s willingness for Jesus to be greater.  Often when we think of this aspect of John’s life we think of how we too must live in order that Christ be glorified.  That is of course a major application for us.  But have you ever considered that we should also be willing for others to come to the fore and us to fade into the background if that is what our Lord wants for us:

John not only had a large following; he also demonstrated authority as he rebuked the religious leaders for their hypocrisy. But he did not get carried away with his own importance. He understood clearly his role and knew that there was One coming after him who would be greater, who would have a greater role. John did not balk at being surpassed. Jesus was the greater One, the Messiah, the divine Son of God, who was ready to assume his momentous redemptive role. Yet Jesus assumed a position of subservience as he submitted himself to the waters of baptism by John. He did not balk at appearing lesser. This is a tremendous lesson on self-understanding in carrying out God’s calling on our lives. Neither John nor Jesus got carried away with appearances. They demonstrated strength in carrying out their roles in the plan of salvation, yet that strength also included diminishing the appearance of their own importance. The key word here is humility, a term that does not get much good press in our day. We hear much more of rights. Perhaps it is not new, because the picture that John and Jesus give every age is the incongruity of their humility relative to the significance of their roles. We do not like to give up our appearance of importance. Thus, John and Jesus give us a powerful example of humility. Knowing God’s purposes and not allowing our self-promotion to get in the way enable us to accomplish God’s calling for our lives as well.

Michael J. Wilkins, The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2004), 151.

Tickets can be booked at http://www.premier.org.uk/craig