This passage of scripture suggests that if King Asa had sought the Lord FIRST for healing he would not have died. Some people use this scripture as a justification for their position that Christians should never seek help from physicians. My position is that it is an admonition to seek God first, not necessarily exclusively. There are great men of God who have taken either side of this argument. The decision must be made on an individual basis and only after seeking God for the answer. It is dangerous to discontinue life-sustaining treatment in order to embrace a doctrine. One must hear from Heaven! Remember also that it is much easier to seek God while comfortable than while ill or in pain.

Is there no healer in Israel? Why do God’s people run after natural cures and occult or eastern religious practices for healing? Why do people believe in the healing power of other gods but ignore the far greater power of Jehovah Rapha? It saddens me to see Christians with so little faith in the power of our God to deliver them. I decided to write this book when I learned that backed by our provincial government a group was opening a "complementary healing clinic" in a local Catholic hospital. It will include nutrition, massage, therapeutic touch, reflexology, biofeedback and yoga. The obvious occult and eastern religious origins of these practices have been ignored and there is no place whatsoever for Christian healing through the power of the living God. Might it be that since Christian healing is provided without cost that it is seen as valueless. People do not recognize the great price that had to be paid to make it available.

I realize what the people who agreed to have this clinic set up in a Catholic facility believe. "All roads lead to God". "We each just worship the creator in our own way". "All religions are equally valid". To think otherwise is seen as intolerance. Why then exclude God?

What does the Bible actually literally say on this issue?

These people ignore what Jesus called "the great commandment":

For us there is but One God.

Is not our God the Great King above all gods? Did He not execute judgement on all the gods of Egypt? Did not dagon bow down himself before the ark and then break asunder on the threshold of the pagan temple. Were not all the prophets of Baal defeated in one day by one man anointed with the Spirit of the Living God?

Listen to what even foreigners say about our God.

Should we say any less about our own God who bought and paid for our redemption with His precious blood?

Look what happened to Saul when he got involved with the witch of Endor. There is no blessing to be had from hell! God alone is to be your source of life and health. Being involved in these practices is unnecessary and dangerous! Christians have no need of help from anyone but God.

Regarding alternatives to modern medicine, Christians should not judge them based on the techniques involved or any alleged "scientific evidence" of their efficacy. They should be judged by their spiritual origin.

The easiest of these systems of "complementary care" to trace is yoga. Yoga is from the sanskrit word yuga meaning yoke. This refers to the rigid self-control of mind and body involved in this system of hindu philosophy. The goal of this discipline is "perfect knowledge" of self and/or God. In addition to the well-known postures it includes various austerities (including poverty), reincarnation, meditation and trance states. It has been recommended recently by spiritually naive westerners as a means of improving health and prolonging life, two claims which are devoid of any objective supportive evidence. It is simply a good example of seeking life and health from other gods and ignoring our God’s clear warning not to do so.

Therapeutic touch is a new age practice in which "therapists" move their hands over the surface of a patient’s body allegedly transferring "energy" to the patient to effect a cure. Its development is attributed to a R.N. Ph.D. by the name of Dolores Krieger and Dora Kunz the past president of the Theosophical Society of America. Theosophy is an occult religion incorporating many eastern metaphysical concepts and the forerunner of much of toady's new age movement. Its dangers should be obvious to any Christian.

Reflexology is a new age "healing" technique which involves massaging areas of the foot or hand supposedly corresponding to certain organs of the body. It claims an ancient heritage in China, India, Egypt and temples in Japan. Stone carvings of regions in the soles of the feet have been found throughout Asia and are known as "Budda’s footprints". It is often practiced in concert with therapeutic touch and other occult techniques in new age spas. It is to be condemned both for it’s origins and it’s associations.

Biofeedback involves the monitoring and control of brain waves. It involves the generation of altered states of consciousness such as those produced by meditation in yoga. Altered states of consciousness, however produced, facilitate contact with the spirit world. A good example of this would be the trance Peter fell into in Joppa or the night visions of Jesus' father Joseph. Without the Holy Spirit people open themselves to demonic influence. Alcohol and drug abuse, which produce altered states of consciousness, are often associated with mental illness and violence.

Nutrition is a popular topic among born again believers. I cannot claim to be an expert in this field but I have a few observations to make. The source of nutrition information is extremely important. There is much misinformation in this area. I myself send patients to dieticians for control of their diabetes and for weight loss/ gain. Dieticians are a good source of accurate information. They can calculate precisely your body’s requirements for calories and nutrients and design a diet which provides for your needs. Megadose vitamin therapy is an area whose validity I question. It was popularized by a famous physicist with no medical training, Linus Pauling. He based the theory on the premise that some areas of the body may not be receiving high enough concentrations of needed nutrients to maintain optimum health and vitality. This alleged deficiency supposedly can be corrected by ingesting much higher doses of vitamins than normally recommended. I would like to point out that a vitamin is simply a chemical that your body needs for normal functioning but that it cannot manufacture. It therefore must be taken in with your daily diet. High doses of many chemicals can cause damage to your body’s intricate pathways as is known to be the case with vitamins A and D. I also doubt that God made any errors when He designed our bodies that we have the wisdom to be able to correct. Menstruating women need iron, pregnant women need folate, elderly people or alcoholics with poor diets should take multiple vitamin supplements. I am unaware of any other known major benefits. The main point I want to make here is that the Christian life should be solidly centered around Christ. Prayer, worship, church attendance and daily bible reading should take precedence and everything else should be a side issue.

I cannot begin to trace the origins and associations of all the alternative or complementary medical treatments that you may come into contact with but I encourage you to spiritually educate yourself and seek God about them. Most of all in your quest for health and healing put God first.