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.

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)

Today I also wanted to repost an article I wrote two years ago that has a reflective tone to it.  May God use it in our lives to wake us up at the beginning of a new season:

One of the things that concerns me most about having a blog is that it allows me to paint to the world a picture of myself. Most of the time, I will admit, I don’t really think about that. I just get on and write. But, for a variety of reasons, there is a tendency to write things that portray me in a favorable way. It would not be wise, of course, to tell you about every sin and temptation I struggle with. And to be fair, it is not as though I am actually deliberately trying to make you think I am better than I am. I just want to help myself think things through, and in the process help a few of my readers. Reading of my failures would not help anyone. The biggest danger, however, would be if I start to think of myself in such a positive light.

But the truth is that it’s not just blogging. Every time we open our mouths, or write anything, we are portraying something to those watching. Of course we need to be wise about what we say. It is foolish to simply vomit up every sin and failure we commit. I am not a great fan of the wallowing in the gutter of some of the “confessional” type of posts or talks you sometimes see.

There is a fine line however between such wisdom and making ourselves look better than we really are. The truth is that we even con ourselves, sometimes. Every now and then God plans a situation that provides an open window into our heart and we suddenly realise how wicked and deceitful our own selves remain. Even after years of God working on them. Even after all our study of his word. Even after prayer. Even after repentance.

I am not of course talking about our identity, since we have been MADE righteous in God. But I am talking about the persistant battle we all face against sin. The more I have been thinking about sin recently the more I think that at its root is independence, pride and selfishness. Those are the very things our society teaches us are important to our wellbeing! We sin because we think we know better than God. We sin because we like our own comfort. We sin because we want something and don’t get it. We sin because we elevate our personal preferances into absolutes, and fail to recognise that others perspectives are held just as dearly as our own, and dare I say it they may even be right and us wrong.

For me one specific such opening of a window happened over the summer of 2009. Oh, I can make excuses for myself, and say that I was emotionally exhausted. For sure, I was. But that exhaustion was caused itself by a sinful belief that I can do more than I should, and a wilful refusal to factor in proper breaks and rest times into my daily and weekly schedule. And, in any case, such an exhaustion does not give me the excuse to sin. For wisdom’s sake I am not going to go into all the details of what transpired. Suffice it to say that whilst it wasn’t pretty, it was not what I would in my pride normally view as a ‘major’ sin.

More important than the actual sin, however, has been the effect on my own opinion of myself. I think I had begun to relax a little in my fight against my own sin. This has caused me to wake up. I need to be much more aware of my own weakness, and sinful tendencies that whilst improving over the years, have not done so as quickly as I would like. My self-centeredness sometimes leads to irritability. Or, as the Bible would put it my pride leads to anger.

The whole experience reminded me once again of my own weakness. I am not as strong as I sometimes think I am. I cannot do everything I would like to do. I cannot even do everything that it would be helpful for me to do. I will have to choose who to let down. I have to say “enough!” more often. I have to watch my heart and keep it in check. I have to watch for things that make my self control more difficult. I have to pray more. But most of all, I have to keep coming back to the God who delights in taking weak people like you and me and using us for his great purposes.

He is not interested in using those who think they are strong or wise. Don’t ever believe your own publicity. Don’t even fully believe the publicity of others. Every single so-called “great man of God” has their own struggles. The fact that they do not share them in detail with us all is in most cases not because they want to look better than they are. We are foolish if we forget that there are secret struggles that it is entirely appropriate should stay secret. It takes great wisdom to know how much of those struggles to share with others. A forum like this is not the place for me to bear my soul fully. I thank God that I have just such a place in the man I love to call my pastor, Tope Koleoso and in others on the leadership team of Jubilee Church.

Trust me when I say that every Christian faces their own challenges at times, and that every Christian needs a place to receive wisdom from others and help. Don’t put your full confidence in any blogger, preacher or author. Put your confidence in God. And pray for those who are in prominent positions in your church, and/or in the wider Christian community. Every Christian needs your prayers more than you could ever imagine. If I understood that better, I am sure that I would pray more than I do.

The conclusion of this summers reflection is really simply this- Lord teach ME to pray. Prayer really is where this battle is won. For in prayer I acknowledge that I am dependent on God and need his help, I acknowledge that he is God and that I am not, and that therefore I have no right to be proud since I have nothing that did not come from him, and I focus on the needs not just of myself but of others.

I enjoy very much following my pastor’s tweets. He wrote a very interesting one over the summer. He began “Augustus Ceaser met Rome a city of wood & left it a city of marble.” I thought he would continue by speaking of building the church or something similar. But rather than numbers, or even “spiritual maturity” Tope chose to end the tweet by stressing the vital role of a pastor in teaching his people to pray: “Great is the pastor who changes his people from being prayerless to prayerful.”

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.

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,  “PJ Smyth on suffering, sickness and healing.” PJ Smyth’s practical theology of healing and suffering came out of his personal experience of cancer. This was not just another TOAM talk.  Picked up within minutes of posting by Matt Chandler, who has had his own battle with brain cancer, this post is very helpful and has been read by many poeple.  One day you will face your own suffering.  Prepare yourself beforehand by reading this and/or listening to the sermon itself: PJ Smyth on suffering, sickness and healing

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.

This evening during the worship we were encouraged to make the following prophetic declarations that are all part of our history together. Half of the room called out each promise to the other half who replied “We will!”

• Remember we can do more together than we can apart
• Remember we are called to change the expression of Christianity throughout the world
• Remember we are called to plant thousands churches and churches of thousands
• Remember there are no well worn paths ahead of us so keep pioneering
• Remember we are people of the word and the Spirit
• Remember God’s Lavish Grace
• Remember to build on an apostolic and prophetic foundation
• Remember it is too small a thing to restore the church, bring my salvation to the ends of the earth
• Remember the poor

This was a holy moment as we felt commissioned to go with these promises into the next phase of our life together as a people.

In the video that was shown about the future of Newfrontiers, there was a phrase Terry said that stood out for me: “I am praying that God goes on multiplying this so that what was once a single sapling becomes a mighty forest.”

PJ shared with us a kind of practical and systematic theology of suffering and healing.  There is no question in my mind that this is the best sermon on this subject I have ever heard.  Every Christian would do well to listen to this, study it, grasp it, and prepare themselves for the suffering that will inevitably come our way.  

You can download the audio, read my notes below, or download a briefer set of notes PJ kindly let me share here:

8 ways he has tried to live in response to his cancer this past year (Note that at times in these notes I refer to PJ as “I”!)

1. I reflected on the possible sources of sickness

a. The fall Genesis 3:3. You will surely die. The common pattern of this world is live, get sick, die. Romans 8 we are in bondage to decay. There are no 120 year old faith healers!
b. Foolish living. Sowing and reaping. If you crash your car don’t blame others. Poor diet, pollution, etc.
c. Satan (Luke 13, Acts 10:38) The default option of Jesus and the local church is to treat sickness as the work of Satan
d. Sin John 9 Jesus said “Neither this man nor his parents sinned…” He doesn’t say all sickness is caused by specific sin but it can be. Psalm 32 David is sick because of his sin. 1 Corinthians 11 they were sick because of abusing communion. Usually it is not a specific sin that leads to death but it can be. “Sin deserves death and it is because of God’s mercy that we are not each struck down whenever we sin” Carson
e. Direct from God. Actively instigated or actively permitted.

Knowing that God is in control of God’s sovereignty is very comforting. If it was outside of his rule it would mean he cant heal us. If he can’t prevent it how can he stop it. How can he use it for my good either? We would loose Romans 8. If you try and rescue God for responsibility for suffering then you rescue him from being God, and that is about as uncomforting as things can be.

Some say why pray to a sovereign God? But there is no point in praying to a non-sovereign God as he can’t answer! If suffering surprises God then he is no longer able to help us! He is your sovereign father. Jesus prays “My father” even when in the garden of gethseme. Those two words are precious. PJ said he is so glad that his cancer was not some random attack of the enemy that is uncontained. Rather it represents something God has allowed to happen and something he will work for good.

2. I reflected on the possible sources of healing

a. the power of the cross - the place of victory over sin and all its evil relations- sickness suffereing and death. Matthew 8 “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah” Isaiah 53 is about the cross, so there is a clear link between the cross and healing. Some feel it is automatic. Some say that Christ purchased healing for us and by faith we apply for divine health now automatically. Others say the cross is the source of all healing power but if someone is not healed it is not a failure in the cross or faith because it is not automatic. Believing the automatic link is the primary source of confusion and dissilusionment when healing doesn’t happen. PJ believes completely that God heals today but he does not believe the automatic link. We can have success in healing without believing in this automatic link.

Why doesn’t he believe in “automatic healing” from the cross?

1. it undermines spiritual healing as so often believers are not healed now. Maybe by his stripes I am not actually spiritually healed now. Terrifying
2. It undermines common sense. Most Christians die fo a sicknessfrom which they don’t recover
3. It undermines the gift of healing why is it needed if it is just by faith in the cross?
4. It makes faith impossibly high as so many apparently high in faith don’t get healed
5. It contradicts how Paul dealt with sickness in his friends. Phil 2:27 linked healing to Gods mercy rather than man’s faith in the atonement. 1 Tim 5:23 He doesn’t say no need for medicine boy get your faith up, stop getting sick so often you are a pastor! Galatians 4:13-14 Despite Paul’s illness they didn’t treat him with contempt. If it was simply a case of having enough faith it would indeed by contemptuous. 2 Tim 4:20 he didn’t see it as a disastorous failure of the atonement. They all got sick at one time or another and he did not assume that divine health is our divine right.
6. Contradicts NT teaching on suffering. 1 Tim 3:11 he uses the word persecution and suffering next to each other must be both 1 Peter 1:6, James 1, James 5 shows multiple types of trials. Job is illustrated there, making clear that sickness is in this chatagory.
7. The lack of the use of the divine health now as a right being used in the NT. So seldom is it taught in anything like that way. We are told more about faith in Jesus.
8. Undermines the biblical commendation of physicians. It is Luke the beloved physician not that idiot who had to get another job when he got his theology right!
9. Contradicts now and not yet. Mark 1:14, Revelation 12:10. Here, but coming! 1 Corinthians 15:24 Christ reigns now but opposing authorities are in play. 1 Cor 15:52 death will be destroyed THEN. John 16:33 you will have trouble Rev 21:4 there will be no more trouble then. Romans 8:22. “pains of childbirth” There is definite new life NOW but it has not yet been fully delivered. Matthew 13:28. Wheat and weeds together. You are a soldier of Christ you are supposed to be surrounded. Jesus is leaving us in this place to shine like stars. “If you are looking for easy comfort look for a bottle of port not Christianity” C.S. Lewis

There are succusseful healing ministries that teach this automatic link. God loves faith. He blesses faith because he loves it. But it is possible to have great faith without this automatic link.

b. The power of the kingdom
The Kingdom is here now, not fully but the waves are breaking on the shore now! We have tasted of the power of the coming kingdom and we are authorized to dispense the future kingdom of God here now. The future kingdom can rush out on earth now. We are to pray that what happens on earth now is what happens in heaven. There is no sickness in heaven. Lay hold of the future kingdom and courageously dispense it now!

c. The power of the Spirit

Why would God place the gift of healing as one of the nine gifts? Because God is into healing now! James says “the prayer of faith will raise the sick person up!” It is part of an elder’s job description to pray and anoint with healing. Keep healing front and center, elders. We have a mighty theological basis for faith and action in healing now.

3. I relied on the church

At one of his lowest moments he couldn’t walk much and was feeling down. Said he felt he had nothing to offer. His wife said “stop trying to be superhero pastor dude lie still on your mat and enjoy others carrying you to Jesus.” She also remind him of Ephesians 6 and his need to stand.

4. I refused to doubt God’s goodness

It wasn’t heroic. Romans 8 says “he who did not spare his son…he will graciously give us all things” When God doesn’t answer your prayer for healing, in view of his previous gift to you of your salvation you know it is not because he doesn’t love you. In the really dark days he just could not bring himself to doubt God’s goodness because Jesus has already proved that to us!

5. I reached for both forms of God’s power:

• Power to be on display through my deliverance from the trial
• And power to be on display through my perseverance within the trial.

Power to bear up under a trial is not as evervesant as deliverance from it but it is no less potent. Paul pleads with God to remove a thorn in his flesh. God says “my power is made perfect in your weakness.” Paul says I will boast about my weakness.

Yes we want God to take us out of trials. Paul says “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection!” But the second half of the vers says “and the fellowship of his sufferings” We can embrace Gods power to get us out of suffering, but we must also embrace God’s power to persevere. What this means is that we get to stick it to the devil either way!

6. I resisted and requested

PJ resisted any Satanic element. The early church treated it that way. But he also requested healing from God. Resist hell and request from heaven. He cursed cancer, he welcomed healing, he was forceful and vigiliant. Yet wary of giving the devil more credit than he dserved and wary of shouting faith healing verses at heaven rather asking God to heal him and  listening to God.

7. I rested in the assurance of Romans 8:28. When everything is going wrong everyuthing is going right. This verse is a fortress. Some think of the resting as weakness. Resist and request and rest are two truths that are equally true. And they build each other up. Three men who face suffering (Dan 3:17) say “he will rescue us!” it is kicking. My God is willing and able and will rescue me from this trial. Full stop! But verse 18 says “even if he does not, we will not worship you!” V18 faith is a right hook to the devil! It is not just faith in God and the outcome you want, it is faith in God and the outcome I didn’t want. I don’t want you to think that it is a faith failure when verse 18 kicks in. If you die without receiving your healing it is not a failure. Don’t say “our faith didn’t work” In Hebrews 11 we read about believers who escaped death by faith and who died by faith. “We have a hope that goes beyond the grave…his name is Jesus!” If we only have hope for this life we are to be pitied more than all men. Death is not the end, it is just the end of the beginning.

PJ is convinced that his cancer will not return, he has been told it is in remission. But. if you were to get news that PJ has died, don’t say “Oh..he wasn’t healed!” Because the angels will be crying “Look at him he is completely healed!”

Heaven is the ultimate deliverance. It is the ultimate healing. Do your worst death, all you do is promote us! Death is not our executioner, he is our gardener thanks to the resurrection.

Listen, it is ALL true! God is true. The comfort of God is true. Healing now is true. Healing in heaven is true.

If he had to sum up his expereice of the last year he would say “Its all true!” Before I l knew it was true, now I KNOW it is true. Sometimes when you suffer it is like your voice breaks. It works things in you.

8. I really connected with Jesus One of the greatest thrills for suffers is that God is with us. The psalmist said “I fear no evil because God is with me” It isn’t just poetry. Daniel 3:23 There are four men there! The forth man was Jesus. O the privilege of standing shoulder to shoulder with the fourth man. When a furnace is rightly revived and God is with yo, the furnace doesn’t consume it refines. The furnace of suffering doesn’t shout out forsaken by God it shouts out loved by God!

Jesus came to them in the storm. God will not abandon you in your hour of greatest need. The forth man will come to you in the forth watch. If you feel far from the shores, in the darkest of all watches he will come to you. He is coming to you right now.

In the cellar of suffering the great King keeps his choice wine. There is kind of wine he doesn’t serve up at the regular times. He invites you into the dungeon and personally serves you the choice pickings. He washed my eyes with tears that I might see him. Job said he had heard of God. After suffering he said “I have seen him”

God takes the stage at the end of Job and you are expecting him to explain why. But he doesn’t. He takes four chapters to talk about himself. That’s because comfort is never found in the why, it is always found in the who. He always comes and reveals himself to us.

Job 38:3: I am just a man 38:4 “were you there when I laid the foundation of the earth?” Job 38:35. Do the lightening bolts report to you? Job 38:21: when God resorts to sarcasm you know its time to quit! God will do something you don’t understand. How will you respond? Will you be haughty or will you just say “your ways are higher than mine.” We don’t understand a lot of what happens to us. I don’t understand why you are going through what you are going through.

The mystery of this last year, PJ treasures. Lord it is a source of worship to me that you are God and I am not! It prompts me to worship. Its treasurable.

Job 41:1, 5. Can you make a pet out of the crocodile? If we cant nail a croc how can we nail God? 41:11 “Who has a claim against me that I must pay.” God owes me nothing. The real mystery is not why has bad happened to me, it is why has anything good ever happened to me.

Jesus turned round a question “why does bad happen” and basically turned it around and said “why does good happen at all?” God is replacing PJs sense of entitlement and replacing it with a sense of priviledge and gratitude and worship. He is the God of all comfort. The father of all compassion.

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.

Here is the video and transcript of the second part of my recent interview with Terry Virgo.

Adrian: We’ve spoken so far about the first 300 session that was painting the big picture of what the Church should be like. I have to admit I got to the end of that session and I thought ‘What could he possibly speak on in the second?’ It was almost like you had covered everything in one hour! But I loved the way you opened the second. You just stood up and said something like this: “To have a Spirit-filled Church, you need Spirit-filled people.” Maybe lets talk a bit about that. Tope what was your take-home message from that second session?

Tope: You know… I thought the second session was extremely helpful, even if you are a Spirit-filled believer and a Spirit-filled church. If you’re a leader, you need somebody to almost help you step by step explain why it is you believe this thing that you believe. Where they are in the Scriptures, with personal experience massaged into the sermon so that you could identify, and I tell you this, to help you explain to your people… and the importance of it in your own life – that’s how this thing works. So it was very practical. It was not wishy-washy. It was based in the Scriptures – I just loved it so much.

I loved the way you started it: Spirit-filled church, you need this. Because I think sometimes we ask the wrong question first. So it was a great session. I tell you something, I said to Terry “Do you need your notes, are they in the car?” And he said “No, I’m fine.” These are not just doctrines memorised as sermons being brought out – it’s a life being lived. And so it was easy to just talk about it and we were all just enraptured by the whole thing.

Terry: I certainly love to speak about how I can see Biblically the place of the coming upon of the Spirit. And I think when Jesus said it to his follower they were from a Jewish background – they knew Old Testament characters who had known the Spirit coming up them and transforming their lives. I’m sad when people say ‘at conversion the whole thing is done’, because what about that ‘coming upon’? How come Gideon got so transformed? How come Elisha said ‘if I don’t have that power, how can I do what you did?’ That to me is such a real tangible thing. How could these scared fishermen turn the world upside down if they didn’t have the same power that rested on Jesus? So just to interpret a few New Testament verses ‘I’ve got it all’, it manifestly doesn’t work.

And I think we’ve got to see the difference between what I would call a ‘contemporary’ church and a ‘charismatic’ church. So I think some people would say ‘Oh, we’re a charismatic’. But what do you mean? ‘We have modern songs, we have guitars, we have overhead – we are charismatic’. No, no no! We are talking about people filled with the presence of God, which yes, does affect the way we worship, but we’re not simply talking about a charismatic style of meeting, we’re talking about a meeting deeply rooted in the word. And so we would preach the word for an hour and so we really go through the truth all the time. But we are also looking for the presence of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which we need to teach people. In the main I find Christians are shy, they’re not always pushing themselves so they need to be encouraged into engagement with the Spirit – but how do I do that? How does this gift work? We need to lovingly shepherd people into life in the Spirit and understanding that all of this comes under the Word of God. We’re not going to run away, we test all things by Scripture. But we’re gathering to the presence of God. So we anticipate He will make His presence known.

Adrian: I tell you what I love most is this whole thing of the corporate and the individual coming together. I think often those are so separate. And so I know one thing you mentioned that you would like to have had a bit longer to talk about if you had was about the prayer life – and particularly the prayer life of the leader. I know this is something that people have often asked you about and I know you sometimes don’t like to say too much. But can you just talk a little bit about what you, over the years, what personally it’s been like for you? How have you walked with God faithfully all these years? I think it was Driscoll who said about you that you still like God. When not everybody does, apparently, according to him.

Terry: I’m glad, really, that you combined reference to corporate prayer and personal prayer. I think there is a strong inter-link. And I’ve been encouraged that although the book has only been out a little while I’ve had letters from people saying ‘you’re chapter on leading a church in prayer has been so impacting’. So I’m encouraged.

I thank God I was saved from a non-Christian background but I joined a Baptist church where the pastor was a man of prayer. He was a man of the word and he was a man of prayer and he was a man for missions. Now probably we do church almost exactly different to the way he did church. So at our meetings and so on he wanted me to wear a clerical collar – I mean a very different world, but prayer – that man taught me to pray. Loving the Bible – that man taught me ‘Love the Bible, that’s the authority’. Mission – world mission. I learnt so much kind of subliminally although the outward way I’ve done it completely different. But those values – so I learnt to pray. I feel that over the years I’ve had that influence from godly men and from the early years. So it was fundamental to me right from the beginning that prayer was the key. I read a lot of missionary biographies – Hudson Taylor is a huge hero of mine. J. O. Fraser, and George Muller, the man from Bristol – I love reading stories of men who prayed and just seeing the power of it. And really, J.O. Fraser was just pragmatic – he said, like a business, ‘I’ve found a line that works so I’m going to give my best energies to it.’ I mean that’s just pragmatism – it works!

And then you read about Praying Hyde and Jim Simbala in Brooklyn and you just feel like ‘I want to pray and I want to get a church that prays’ – gather people to pray together. So it’s been a motivation for me, it would be a motivation for me to pray each morning. Tope and I had just a wonderful time this morning, just praying, I don’t know, for an hour or two just enjoying the presence of God. Just wonderful! And with a Bible there, I’ve just been nourished by some truths in the word and just began to share and ‘woah let’s pray’. And the sense of God being there – some people say ‘Oh, only two or three turned up… let me just pray for a little while’. I think ‘Two or three – it’s wonderful!’ God’s here. So to pray is just really heart and soul of everything for me.

At the risk of undoing all the good will I tried to create with my Arminocalvinist spectrum I want to speak briefly today about prayer. Now, to my Arminian friends please don’t hear me wrongly. For this blog post to work we have to accept a bit of a stereotype on both ends of the spectrum.

For it was a tweet today from Driscoll that reminded me of something and made me think. Driscoll said “Every Christian who prays is functionally a Calvinist who believes in the sovereignty of God.” Now, it is easy to read a tweet like that and immediately think of the Arminian. It is not the first time that someone has said that every Christian is a Calvinist on their knees. Spurgeon famously spoke about this very idea and claimed that there was no such thing as a truly Arminian prayer.

But that wasn’t what struck me about Driscoll’s quote. I instead was thinking about the opposite. “A Christian who does not pray is functionally an Arminian who does not believe in the sovereignty of God” or perhaps “who believes that it is down to man to do everything.”

Now, I know that most Arminians do believe in God’s sovereignty. But, my question for myself and for you reading this is simply this, do I pray like a Calvinist should? I do not mean like a Calvinist is rumored to pray…ie not at all because he just leaves everything to the sovereignty of God. No, I mean, do I pray like I really believe that God is in control of the universe and that he has committed himself to answering prayer, and therefore my prayers are not just bouncing off the ceiling? Do I pray like I believe my prayers can make a difference? Do I pray like I actually expect God to answer them and act?

Maybe I should pray like a reformed charismatic should. In other words with great confidence in the power, authority, and degree of influence that God has over the world, married to great confidence that he hasn’t changed and he is therefore willing, able, and ready to act.  In contrast to this, could it be that over our lives, our churches, it could be written “And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:58).  May those words not be true of us!

Oh God, please teach us to pray. Teach me to pray. Stretch forth your hand to stir us again and to save!

Am I an Arminian on my knees? And when I get up on my feet again, do I go forth about my day not actively pursuing opportunities to serve God? Surely I should work for Jesus as though I was an Arminian, though knowing that it is God who gives the fruit?

So in contradiction to my title, shouldn’t we, as the saying goes, be a Calvinist on our knees and an Arminian on our feet?

Now that Rob Bell’s controversial book Love Wins is on sale on both sides of the Atlantic and many other comments have been made, I am feeling like I cannot avoid engaging in the controversy, or at least should read some more material to understand it better. I did not seek out such involvement, as you can see from my post which ironically listed Five Reasons I hadn’t previously blogged about Rob Bell. Since then I have posted a couple of highly relevant articles without directly addressing Bell’s work.  These are:

• Why a belief in hell is so practically important (John Piper)
• The folly of imagining hell is not real and sin is not deadly (Charles Spurgeon)
• Mark Driscoll’s sermon on hell taken from the Rich Man and Lazarus.
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the folly of thinking God is only love.

I have now found a very helpful round up post on Gary David Stratton’s blog that lists some of the major posts on each side of this vociferous debate. He says that over 400,000 responses are now available online, so reading every post is clearly not an option! I have been following some of the posts he lists, and have finally succumbed and am in the process of reading the book. If you have been following things more closely, and there are critical posts you think I should read that are not on Stratton’s list, please let me know. There is one additional page that I have found to be interesting, a transcript of an interview by Lisa Miller with Rob Bell.

Finally, also in Stratton’s blog is a suggestion that we should use the Apostle Paul’s blogging checklist. I have adapted this somewhat from his version, which he took from 1 Corinthians 13.  I commend this list as we consider blogging about this issue or others. For not every blog post on either side of this debate has kept within these wise boundaries. So, before you hit send, grade yourself on this list:

Is this blog post I am about to publish

1. Demonstrating patience towards those who disagree with me?
2. Kind in its tone and content? Would my “enemies” agree?
3. Free from envy in it’s motivation? Rather than secretly wishing I was as popular as the person I am condemning?
4. Full of humility and not boasting? Rather than implying I have all the answers and the monopoly on the truth?
5. Wanting others to do well and highlighting good comments elsewhere rather than arrogantly seeking more hits for my blog?
6. Polite and not rude?
7. Not insisting on my own way? Have I acknowledged that there is a chance, however small, that I might be wrong about this?
8. Calm and not irritable?
9. Avoiding even the hint of sounding resentful?
10. Rejoicing with the truth, rather than taking joy from pointing out others error? Have I struck back at those who have been hurtful to me or brushed over and endured any perceived wrongs from them, have I thought the best of others?

If you cannot honestly answer yes to all of these bold questions, it is time to save the draft, pray, go and make yourself a cup of tea, and come back to re-edit the post later. There is a time for boldly speaking the truth.  But we must always do so in love. The above checklist is demanding.  It requires careful examination of our hearts.  We will all no doubt fail at times to follow it fully.  I know I have.

Fortunately there is grace for us, as well as opportunities for public repentance when needed!  I believe that none of us can have the insight into our own sinful hearts to fully achieve such high standards on our own. I do thank God that I have people who watch over both my soul and this blog and are not afraid to point out when they feel I have erred.  I trust that you also have those who can help you to follow Jesus online.  May God help me, and each of you to blog as Christ would want us to, and to treat others online as we would want to be treated.  Those of us that love grace must be sure to demonstrate it to others.

Spurgeon spent a whole sermon arguing for the desperate need of the preacher to be annointed of the Holy Spirit in order that souls may be saved. We would do well to listen and be inspired to cry out to God for greater fullness of the Spirit on our leaders:

There is a necessity that the preacher himself, if we are to have souls saved, should be under the influence of the Spirit. I have constantly made it my prayer that I might be guided by the Spirit even in the smallest and least important parts of the service; for you cannot tell but that the salvation of a soul may depend upon the reading of a hymn, or upon the selection of a chapter. Two persons have joined our church and made a profession of being converted simply through my reading a hymn —
“Jesus, lover of my soul”

They did not remember anything else in the hymn, but those words made such a deep impression upon their mind, that they could not help repeating them for days afterwards, and then the thought arose, “Do I love Jesus?” And then they considered what strange ingratitude it was that he should be the lover of their souls, and yet they should not love him. Now I believe the Holy Spirit led me to read that hymn. And many persons have been converted by some striking saying of the preacher. But why was it the preacher uttered that saying? Simply because he was led thereunto by the Holy Spirit. Rest assured, beloved, that when any part of the sermon is blessed to your heart, the minister said it because he was ordered to say it by his Master. I might preach to-day a sermon which I preached on Friday, and which was useful then, and there might be no good whatever come from it now, because it might not be the sermon which the Holy Ghost would have delivered to-day. But if with sincerity of heart I have sought God’s guidance in selecting the topic, and he rests upon me in the preaching of the Word, there is no fear but that it shall be found adapted to your immediate wants. The Holy Spirit must rest upon your preachers. Let them have all the learning of the wisest men, and all the eloquence of such men as Desmosthenes and Cicero, still the Word cannot be blessed to you, unless first of all the Spirit of God hath guided the minister’s mind in the selection of his subject, and in the discussion of it . . .

When Jesus Christ preached, there were very few converted under him, and the reason was, because the Holy Spirit was not abundantly poured forth. He had the Holy Spirit without measure himself, but on others the Holy Spirit was not as yet poured out. Jesus Christ said, “Greater works than these shall ye do because I go to my Father, in order to send the Holy Spirit;” and recollect that those few who were converted under Christ’s ministry, were not converted by him, but by the Holy Spirit that rested upon him at that time. Jesus of Nazareth was anointed of the Holy Spirit. Now then, if Jesus Christ, the great founder of our religion, needed to be anointed of the Holy Spirit, how much more our ministers?

Charles H. Spurgeon, Sermon No 201

As you read this I will be at the Newfrontiers Prayer and Fasting gathering. This event is quite unusual, and few movements have something that replicates it. Matt Chandler seemed quite impacted by his visit last year to this event. Anyone who wants to understand Newfrontiers would be well-advised to make a priority of attending one of these events.

Why do 800 leaders gather for two days, forgo food and devote themselves to praying earnestly for God to act? Because we believe it is only God who can do what we need done! We live in a nation which has largely turned its back on God. In that nation we hear God’s call on us to plant churches, and re-evangelize this once great land. It is a massive job. It is beyond all human organization and management techniques. It requires a work of God’s Spirit. The task is daunting and leaves us often feeling empty and unable to make a difference. We gather, empty of food, to as Piper puts it, demonstrate to God that we are empty without him:

An Offering of Emptiness to Show Where Fullness Can Be Found

Prayer is explicitly appointed for this purpose: “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). God responds to prayer because when we look away from ourselves to Christ as our only hope, that gives the Father an occasion to magnify the glory of his grace in the all-providing work of his Son.

Similarly, fasting is peculiarly suited to glorify God in this way. It is fundamentally an offering of emptiness to God in hope. It is a sacrifice of need and hunger. It says, by its very nature, “Father, I am empty, but you are full. I am hungry, but you are the Bread of Heaven. I am thirsty, but you are the Fountain of Life. I am weak, but you are strong. I am poor, but you are rich. I am foolish, but you are wise. I am broken, but you are whole. I am dying, but your steadfast love is better than life (Psalm 63:3).”

When God sees this confession of need and this expression of trust, he acts, because the glory of his all-sufficient grace is at stake. The final answer is that God rewards fasting because fasting expresses the cry of the heart that nothing on the earth can satisfy our souls besides God. God must reward this cry because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

– John Piper, A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1997), 180-81.

I trust that you will be as challenged by the following quote as I was. I am just beginning to learn this lesson. I wish I could have grasped it when I was a lot younger. It would have saved me lots of pain. Prayer truly is the most important thing that I can be doing as a Christian. If only I could remember this always, I would pray more than I do, worry less than I do, and be much less impatient than I still sometimes am:

Prayer has a distinct relationship to all Christian duties and graces. It is not possible for us to carry out the holy commands of our Lord Jesus unless we are abundant in supplication . . . Paul gives us first the warm antidote—”Rejoicing in hope,” and then he gives us the cool antidote, “Patient in tribulation.” Either of these, or both together, will work wonderfully for the sustaining of the spirit in the hour of affliction; but it is to be observed, that neither of these remedies can be taken into the soul except they be mixed with a draught of prayer. Joy and patience are curative essences, but they must be dropped into a glass full of supplication, and then they will be wonderfully efficient. How can we “rejoice in hope” if we know nothing about prayer to the God of hope? Whenever your hope seems to fail you and your joy begins to sink,—the shortest method is to take to your knees. By remembering the promise in prayer hope will be sustained, and then joy is sure to spring from it, for joy is the first-born child of hope. As for “patience,” how can we be patient if we cannot pray? Have not holy men of old always sustained themselves in their worst times of grief and depression by betaking themselves to prayer? Mind that you do the same. Impatience will be sure to follow prayerlessness, but the endurance of the divine will grows out of communion with God in prayer.   (C . H. Spurgeon)

via Constant, Instant, Expectant.

I have had the pleasure of traveling fairly widely thanks to my job. I travel so often, and at times for such short periods, that I don’t always mention on the blog when I am away. But there is one country that I tend to look forward to visiting more than almost any other. I am of course talking about the USA, often referred to affectionately by us Brits as “the other country”.

I look forward to my trips to the USA because I feel so at home there. I have so many friends there, and so many American Christians from different backgrounds have been kind enough to read my blog.

A year on from my longest trip to the USA and by the time you read this I will be in the air on my way across the pond for just a long weekend. It is going to be a great time, and I am looking forward to traveling with my friend and pastor Tope Koleoso, and to attending the Newfrontiers Mobilise USA conference. This time last year I got to know a number of my Newfrontiers USA brothers and sisters and I am looking forward to seeing them again, and to meeting some more. If you will be there, do come and say hi!  Being part of the body of Christ means you have family on every continent. Being part of a family of churches with a shared spiritual DNA only strengthens that feeling.

A lot has happened over the last year, and I am very grateful to God for it. But I start 2011 excited about the future. It is going to be a good year, of that I am confident. May God bless you richly in it, and may he be close to you, and may he use my blog as one of many means of encouragement in your life.

I start the year with three words ringing round my head: favor, breadth and depth. May these three words be true for me, for those I love, and for each of you as well.

Favor – May we know in the large things as well as the small the good hand of our God upon us. May he find us parking spaces when we need them, and open the big doors of opportunities when we need those. May we experience the carrying power of the Holy Spirit. May our lives hum with the efficiency that can come when we are doing exactly what God intended us to do. May we spread the fragrance of Jesus. May others be blessed as their lives come into contact with ours.

Breadth – May our influence for Christ extend. May our churches grow. May many souls be saved. May backsliders return to Christ. May our words and writings encourage, comfort, strengthen and instruct many more than they have previously. May our careers advance. May we know, in short, great blessing.

Depth – Jesus said “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) We could add to that, ” . . loses his family.” 

Over this blogging break I have found myself feeling closer to my delightful wife Andree than ever before.  I am enjoying married life greatly.  We can’t quite put our finger on what it is that has prompted this, but be very clear, if too much time blogging puts that in any way in jeopardy expect more blogging breaks this year.

There really is nothing to gain for me in being some kind of success outside of the home (and how fleeting and relative any such apparent success truly is!) and a failure within it.  I want this year to deepen my love for my family, for those closest to me, and for my God.  Without deep, deep roots, any blessing God sends in the “breadth” department risks actually being damaging to the soul.    I want to become more Christ-like this year.  I want to know God more in order that I can make him known. I pray that the same will be true for you.

How easy it has frequently seemed to me to neglect the quiet place before God.  How easy to busy myself thinking I am serving a God who I do not honor with sufficient of my time and attention. How easy to forget that my prime responsibility before God is to my family, and then to a small number of people he has put in my life.  This year, with God’s help, and by his grace, I will not neglect those closest to me in order to strive to help people on the other side of the world.

And yet, I am more convinced than ever, that if I do not neglect the hidden parts of my life, there will be an overflow.  We are supposed to put depth before breadth, and yet so often, as even in this list, we reverse the order.  I am more and more convinced that if we resolve to fulfill our private duties better, then grace will overflow and our public duties will actually benefit.

I often tell my children I love their mother better than them.  That seems to give them security.  And, I am sure that because such a statement is true, I am actually a better father to them than I would be if I was looking to them for my primary affirmation.  Putting Jesus first, above family, above church, above ministry, above career, does not rob those other things. For God is no man’s debtor.  If we seek first the Kingdom of God “all these things” will be added to us as well. I don’t pretend it will be easy, and I am sure that I will at times slip back into bad, lazy, habits.  But, will you pray for me as I am praying for you right now as I write this article: 

God please help us this year to put You first, family next, and then content ourselves to fulfill the assignments you have given us, so that we may be truly useful to others.

This quote from Terry Virgo is just too good not to share.  Many people fail to appreciate the two very distinct yet crucial sources of comfort to the Christian.  They miss the power that is available to us. They miss the transformation God intends us to experience:

Unbelievers are under the impression that Christians are forced into morality, obey rules and go to church. If they really understood that we’d found the secret of being content they’d wonder where we got it. And they’d queue up outside our churches to find the secret for themselves. Paul’s great claim has been tested through the centuries, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’

It’s about fellowship and communion with Christ. Now we must distinguish between these two different things: first ‘being united with him and declared righteous as a gift’ and second ‘enjoying communion with him’. In his book, ‘Communion with the Triune God’, John Owen speaks about union and communion with Jesus.

First, he says that we are united with Jesus and have received his righteousness for ever and that this is the basis of our relationship with him. Our relationship is never based on how much we’ve enjoyed his fellowship. Sadly, many believers think that if they have a season of remoteness from God, he’s unhappy with them and they end up in condemnation. Jesus is our righteousness for eternity. God poured out his wrath on his Son and we escape. We never move from our righteousness in Christ. Even if we don’t have an extended time of fellowship with him, we can still say, ‘Thank you, Lord. You’re the same yesterday, today and for ever, my righteousness.’ That’s union with Christ.

Second, Owen says that once we have union with Christ, we go on to have communion with him. We talk to him and listen to his voice. We hear him through the Scriptures and sing praises to him for the sheer joy of knowing that he’s our God. This is how we get strengthened with might in our inner being. We have fellowship with Jesus.

Day after day we experience fear, battle, hurts, sickness, wounds, unkindness and perplexity. We didn’t expect what’s happened to us. . How do we get through? ‘Well, pull yourself together!’ No! Our strength comes from Jesus. Isn’t he the Saviour? Doesn’t he save? Fellowship with him!

Salvation is a huge thing. Jesus saved me back in the ‘50s and has been saving me daily ever since. One day he’ll save us when he presents us to himself in glory. But while we’re on earth things will go wrong. And then we’ll need to draw close to Jesus to be daily, continually, repeatedly saved.

READ MORE at Terry Virgos Blog » Blog Archive » Strengthened in the Lord.