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
I plan on sharing links to helpful posts here. Own a blog? Write about this and let me know and I will put a link here.

• 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.

Have you ever sat down and worked your way through the years of the first few generations of mankind (Genesis 5)? It’s a few minutes work, but it is worth it. There are a few surprises that grab your attention straight away.

And one of them is a particularly sobering one – Methuselah.

Biography
Methuselah comes onto the scene in world history with what seems at first to be an outrageous claim by Moses that Methuselah lived to the ripe old age of 969 years, the oldest man in history by a long margin. The remaining information about his life in the Scriptures is that at the age of 178 he became the father of Lamech and then later, had a few more nameless, sons and daughters.

And that seems to be it. Not much to say for such a long life – and not much to inspire the generations that would follow.

But there is more that can be read between the lines without going into spurious claims and myths.

A great name to live with?

My name, Jonathan, means “Gift of God”. I don’t always feel like that, but essentially as far as a name goes that is what it means. Imagine then the pressure of living with the name given by Enoch to his first son, Methuselah. Methuselah has 2 variations of meaning; “Man of the spear”, or alternatively “when he dies it shall be sent”.

Imagine life as the years roll on and on, and the promise overshadowing you, but yet passing others by as they also grow old and die, that when you die, it shall come. But not knowing what was to come.

Methuselah would be 250 years of age when Adam dies. Methuselah has walked with Adam and no doubt knows all about the Garden of Eden and what life was like having uninterrupted access to God before the days of the fall. He’s also privy to the mystery concerning Enoch. He knows all the stories, he’s met all the main characters of history, and yet, it hasn’t deeply and profoundly affected his walk before God.

The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Genesis 6:5-8

Methuselah receives no commendation by God, and it is his grand-son alone that finds favour in the eyes of God.

And so for Noah, a 100 year project gets under way to build the most important ship in history, and painfully, Methuselah is never mentioned once as standing beside Noah and his family as they obey the command of God. And all the time, the man called “When he dies, it shall be sent”, carries a prophetic message, but does not benefit from it.

Jewish teaching has it that Methuselah died 7 days before the beginning of the great Flood, and the 7 days were given by God to allow for Noah to mourn his departure. Whether or not that is true, is of no real account to us. What we do know is that as the great flood arrives, maybe days before, Methuselah dies.

And as Methuselah dies and the waters of the earth begin to rise, a new day dawns on the earth that is going to be a transition to new discoveries. The day of Adam and those who knew him has passed, and history moves quickly to a new set of characters, Noah and Abraham.

Sounds of silence
The weakness in all of this is that we are arguing from silence here – it may be that Methuselah turned to God during the days that Noah was building the Ark. we just do not know, but we do know what God had said in the above verses.

There are many in our generation that know all about God, they have heard the stories of revival, they have listened excitedly to the tales of dynamic stories of signs and wonders and miracles – but yet deep down, are untouched and unaffected by those encounters.

It is to them that God again and again, comes with the message of the gospel. I urge you that if you feel that you have heard all these things before and feel unmoved, to be wise. Ask God to help you not to be like Methuselah, but to turn your heart to Him.

God is always very, very gracious to all who call on Him.

Jon Cressey is a part of City Church Sheffield. You can visit his blog here: joncressey.com

Adrian’s blog has done a great job of both tracking and encouraging the growth in the number of Christians, churches and ministries that are willing and eager to own the two labels of charismatic and reformed.

The apostle Paul was someone we could describe as being both reformed and charismatic. He wrote Romans 9, and spoke in tongues more than you do (1 Cor 14:8). He was also, perhaps above everything else, a missionary.

Following his example, ministries like New Frontiers are wanting to hold together moving in the gifts and the power of the holy Spirit whilst remaining firmly anchored in the doctrines of grace, all the while seeking to further the mission of making disciples of all nations. It’s how Paul did it after all.

One aspect of the life of Paul that perhaps isn’t being celebrated or advertised quite so prevalently though, is Paul’s economics, namely, how did he fund his mission?

We might expect him to be supported by his church, or perhaps to have drawn a healthy income from the conference or speaking circuit… what we actually find though (for example in 1 Corinthians 9, and 1 Thessalonians 2) is lots of hours of manual labour, tent making actually, to pay the bills. Why did he do it this way?

4 Big Reasons Paul Self Funded:

1) So as not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel. Paul made it so no one could say to him, “You’re only telling me this because you’re paid to.”

2) To make the medium of the preaching plus the message of free grace match up. He brought a gospel of free, unmerited, unearned and unpaid for grace. He therefore chose not to charge for the bringing of that message.

3) To incarnate into the culture he was trying to reach. Paul wasn’t a weird missionary from abroad in a suit, he was the guy you just bought a tent from. His connections through business were surely one part of his mission, and an easy introduction into the city he was trying to reach.

4) He was giving an example to imitate. For all the young guys in the new church who were still sponging off their parents, Paul said, ‘do what I do’. Graft, sweat, earn your own bread.

There are other reasons we could cite, like not wanting to be a burden on the church, or being able to support others himself. Self funding was key to Paul’s strategy.

Perhaps to complete the Great Commission task, and see our continents of America and Europe re-won, the next missionary surge is going to have to include multitudes of missionaries who aren’t only reformed and charismatic but who also graft and sweat to fund themselves and the mission.

Reformed? Great! Charismatic? Praise God! Missional? Go for it!

Just one thing, who’s paying the bills?

Andrew Brims is helping a Salt & Light church plant in Badajoz, Spain. He works as an english teacher, and blogs at www.andrewbrims.wordpress.com.

Today’s guest post comes from David Wayne, the Jollyblogger.  Adrian and David were so close and interacted so much in the early days of Christian blogging that at one point there was an internet rumour that they were the same person!

Adrian’s early debates with David Wayne over the charismatic issue were some of his favourite early blog posts. David has been blogging a lot less lately due in large part to his fight with cancer.  It is great to hear from him again.

God is to be Glorified in Us, Not Useful to Us

By David Wayne

During Adrian’s month away from the blog, he has hand-picked a selection of the most popular posts of the year so far to re-run.

Today we feature, “10 Ways a Christian should respond to the earthquake in Japan.” As the world was reeling from the astonishing news from Japan, this post proved quite popular as it attempted to think through how Christians should respond:

10 Ways a Christian should respond to the earthquake in Japan

As Japan braces itself for a possible further serious earthquake, and deals with the consequences of such massive devastation caused by the last one, not to mention the risk of a major nuclear incident, how should Christians respond?

The rest of this article is available by following the link above.

After another pumping time of worship, PJ was given the opportunity to share what has happened this past year. He explained that he has been told he is in remission from his cancer. It was an emotional moment as it was quite literally this time last year that we all heard of the diagnosis. He explained that he is currently feeling very well, and the only lasting effects are tiredness (he needs 10 hours sleep a night) and some damage to his leg after a DVT. He is praying for healing for that, but said that someone had told him it is good to lead with a limp.

Terry Virgo then, before preaching, recommended Dave Devenish’s book Fathering Leaders (which is one of the books I am able to offer a few free copies of this month). He explained our belief that apostles were not merely Scripture writers. Rather, there is a role that the church needs in every generation. He said, “I have never seen such a thorough biblical approach to the role of the apostle.”

It was not pre-planned that Hebrews would be a theme this week, but Terry and Scott felt led separately to preach on these two chapters. You can listen to this talk or read my notes here.

World mission is tough. It’s not a game. It’s the biggest battle in world history. Hebrews 11 has a succinct definition of faith, but the best way to demonstrate this is to put it on display. The phenomenal things that people did by faith. Chapter 12 is a turning point with the world “therefore.” What about a response. Romans 12:1 is another example of this turning point, where he says, in view of the previous 11 chapters. We come in after what God has done. We are not initiators we are responders to this phenomenal kindness that God has done for us.

We are surrounded by a cloud, a thick large crowd. It is watching what they have done that speaks to us. The Bible is not a philosophical book, nor a systematic theology. It is a book that tells the story of people who had a relationship with him. Here is God in life. Even for example, the God who sees is revealed to a woman who had been thrown out. There is story after story, and the testimony comes, believe him. The Bible stories aim to stimulate faith. God wants us to be affected by them.

It is not that they are watching us. It is that we are watching them. Witness in the Bible tends to mean “bearing witness.” They are telling. It is the same word as “martyr.” We are not the center. Those who have gone before have someone else they would rather be looking at! But it is as though they are telling us “we were stuck, and guess what the sea opened!” Moses is shouting at us “He is faithful!” Joshua is saying “when we shouted, the walls fell down.” They are telling us we are not alone. We are not the first to prove God! There is a huge number who are telling us to keep going!

As we run this race, it’s not a hundred yard dash. It is more like a marathon. A contest that lies before you. In preparation lay aside the weights. As the NIV puts it, “everything that hinders.” Get free from anything that entangles you. What stops me? What holds me back?

Paul asks in Gal 5:7, “who hindered you?” When Paul finished, the legalists came behind. False brothers spy out our freedom. Legalism stops you racing. It can hinder whole groups of churches. Shake it off.

There can also be a misapplication of grace. You can take the idea that you don’t have to get browny points with God. I can lie in bed instead of praying. There is a danger that laziness actually stops us running. Its as though you are entangled with your liberty. Everything is permissible, but not all things are profitable. We mustn’t be enslaved by anything. The new way of measuring things is will it help me in the race. There needs to be a ruthlessness. We must be overwhelmed by the grace of God. But we have another value system that effects us.

All kinds of things can trip you up. Even good things, like “honour your father and mother.” Jesus says to someone who wants to follow him but bury his father first. Jesus says “let the dead bury their dead. Follow me.” You might say “I am going” but then the family say “what about us?” Sometimes there are costs for families. Sometimes people then say, “we can’t go.” Hudson Taylor laid aside a Christian girlfriend who loved the Lord but not China. Rub shoulders with giants of the faith like that and let something of them rub off on you.

We are authentically together on a mission and it takes some commitment. We come in after the others who have gone before and we are in a family.

Lay aside the sin that can entangle you.

Hebrews does not say we are sinners. Paul says in his epistles that we are saints. We are now light. We are slaves of righteousness. We have changed our identity. Old has passed away. All has become new. God has done a phenomenal job on us. And yet, sin can so easily entangle us. It is not our world but it can take us out of the race. We live in a world that is against God. The world bombards us with it’s value system. We need to glory in the cross so the world is crucified to me. Don’t be like Demas who loved this present age. The flesh will tug at us. We have yet to be given new bodies. Don’t let sin reign. Don’t give it power. Put aside the works of the flesh. We can do it now! When we know what God has done for us, we can stop sinning. We have the authority to lay it aside. It is not too powerful for you! The power of sin has been broken.

Lay aside Satan’s accusations. Depression is the greatest battle. Despondency. “You wont make it, you are useless, call yourself a Chrsitian?” You either take it on board and say you are a wretch, or you say “no, it is written we overcome him by the blood of the lamb.” Jesus has made us righteous! Satan wants you to think you are a dead loss. Refuse it!

Don’t get taken out of the race. Be careful. We want to run to the end. I want to win.

There is one sin that the writer to the Hebrews is fighting against: unbelief. He describes it as an “evil heart of unbelief.”

Heb 3:10 says he was furious, 4:10 says “they will never go in.” Joshua took out 31 kings. The people in the land were terrified of them. God was angry with them when they refused to go forward. It is our faith that overcomes. God is not pleased with a false humility that says “we cant do anything for God.”

“Don’t draw back!” Lets believe God for nation after nation and city after city. God has called and commissioned us. Don’t be tripped up. Run the race. NIV says “race marked out for you.” There is a course determined for you. Every one of them has a different task. Noah built an ark, Moses crossed a sea. It is different for everyone. “God delights to deal singerly with us as though there was no one else to love.” R.T, Kendle.

Don’t say “its easier for him” he has a different race! Persevere do not slip into passive mode. Patience is not “OK, God will work it out at some time.” There is a delay. I thought it would happen quicker than this.

Don’t be sluggish. Be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Creation is straining to see the revelation of the sons of God. Its not “I guess God will do it one day.” Its not resignation God is looking for. Joseph kept believing, he didn’t let go of the promise. Keep your mind bright.

Elijah was able to say to the king, it wont rain till I say so. Then he tells the king it is coming, but has to pray it in. Had to pray five times. He kept believing. Every time he sent the boy he expected the cloud. Keep your spirit alive.

Looking away to Jesus. Don’t get besotted with the things in your face. Look to the human Jesus who was the pioneer and pefector. Focus on him. He brings faith to its conclusion. He walked into death. He was not spared by his Father. Jesus was handed over to brutal Roman soldiers who brutally crucified him. He perfected faith. It was shameful. Jesus went through all that. The loss of fellowship with the Father. He is on his own. He knows that God will not let his body stay in the grave. God cursed him. He took our curse. He despised the shame. He felt it was not worth thinking about. Jesus was looking forward to something. Isaiah 53-55 tells us there is a joy behind the black day. He had come for a glorious bride. He had set his eye on the prize. The prize was millions of believers reconciled to God. There is a new heavens and new earth coming. Everything will praise him. Redeemed will be there. The whole earth is like the temple in the OT. Nothing unclean will enter in. The worldly system has gone. The flesh has been replaced with new bodies, which do not tug you any more. The Devil? He is in the fire. A multitude of believers that no man can number. God knows all of us by name and knows our story. We are not a number to him! He will dwell with us. God among us. Jesus enthroned for ever with no election coming! He reigns for ever. HE didn’t regard the cross. We cannot conceive what he has in store for us. We cant imagine what it will be.

“The greatest labour of love that ever happened was possible because Jesus pursued the greatest imaginable joy, namely the joy of being exalted at God’s right hand in the fellowship of believers.”

There is too much at stake. Make the choices you need to do. We want there to be the glory of God filling the world. We want to see conferences like this all over the world. Keep your eye on Jesus. Consider what he did. Lets run this race, lets glorify him, lets be to him a praise and a joy.

What we do in our current lives is of eternal importance. As Newfrontiers we are just at the end of the beginning. We have barely started. We want to keep our eyes on him and glorify his name.

My friend, P-J Smyth, is a popular Newfrontiers speaker, and the leader of GodFirst Church Johannesburg. He has recently overseen a rather nice-looking update to his church’s website. A number of sermon mp3′s and a range of e-books are all available. P-J is a punchy, impactful, and clear communicator. I recommend his material highly. As just one example, the following quote comes from a book on the Bible, available free on his site, entitled The Sword.

“The Word will bring you faith. Romans 10:17 makes this one crystal clear. Do you want that kind of faith that pleases God, causes the impossible to become the possible, moves mountains, destroys satanic strongholds, and violently advances the kingdom of God? It comes from hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing the things that God has to say!

You can have faith in your feelings, in which case your feelings will govern your life. You can have faith in your fears, and so be paralyzed into inactivity. You can have faith in others, and often be disappointed. Or you can have faith in God’s Word, and learn that He is utterly trustworthy in every situation. Smith-Wigglesworth said, “Except the word of God, everything else is sand. It’ll stand forever, it’s settled in heaven, not one jot or tittle will fail, it can’t be broken or improved upon, and those who believe in it shall be like Mount Zion that cannot be moved.”

— P-J Smyth, The Sword

If you live in or near Johannesburg in South Africa, you should consider at least a visit to this church which, from what I hear, is a vibrant multicultural place where Jesus is worshiped as Lord and the Word of God is honored. What more could you ask for?