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Showing posts from September 21, 2014

a convicting two-part question

In many of the sermons I have preached in the past year, I’ve asked a two-part question. “How long could you have followed Jesus around (in His earthly ministry) until you saw a miracle”? Apart from times when He retreated into the wilderness to pray and commune with His Father, most Christians agree it wouldn’t be very long.  A few hours?  A day or two? THEN I ask the second part of the question: “How long could someone follow YOU around until they saw one”? This is a legitimate question for any believer who believes that God hasn’t changed and is working through His children and His Church today in the same way that He did in the beginning. Something to think about today.  Tomorrow….(and for the rest of our lives!)

How do we know when someone has 'really' been healed?

Even since we began to see people healed regularly, this question comes up regularly - "How do you know when some has really  been healed?" It's a great question when it isn't coming from an "unbelieving believer".  I will say this - to all followers of Jesus, when another Christ follower is testifying to someone being healed in the Name of Jesus (especially when it is the testimony of a non-Christian!), then I think our initial response should be to 'believe the best'.  Re-read the Gospels.  Jesus healed the sick out of His incredible love and compassion.  He's never changed (His Word declares this to be true!). When this question is coming from a genuine skeptical unbeliever, I basically encourage anybody who we've prayed for who has seen pain leave or some other type of healing, to wait one week and see how it is.  I am willing to concede that if someone's problem has disappeared and is still gone a week later (and doesn't ret

Healing #2 after NOT responding to a Word of Knowledge

Also while calling out Words of Knowledge in that university lecture this happened…(in the words of the student) "I actually did experience healing on Friday.  I saw a few of my classmates receive it too but I am still trying to process what I encountered that day.  As stated before, when it comes to healing people on the spot, like what we saw on Friday, I am honestly a bit skeptical.  I cannot grasp it and I have a hard time believing it sometimes.  Throughout DJ’s message, this was in the back of my mind.  I believed but not fully…until the end of class.  He was wrapping up and wanted pray again before some of us, me being one of them, needed to leave to get to our next class.  He said he was feeling that someone had an injured wrist, specifically the left wrist.  That got my attention a little bit because I have had issues with my wrist for about ten years or so now.  BUT it was not my left wrist so I thought to myself, nope not me...wrong wrist!  Before I could even fin

Healing #1 after NOT responding to a Word of Knowledge

I was calling out some Words of Knowledge in a university lecture and there was a baseball player who said that I had called out "left knee." He knew it was him but didn't say anything. Then when he was walking out of class he realized all the pain was gone and it hasn't returned!  He has subsequently testified.

divine appointment in Montana

While in a town at the base of the mountains, I was with one of my favorite “Kingdom partners” and his wife and he got a word of knowledge for our server asking him if he had ever broken his back. Prayed for him and the young man wrote back that since the prayer his back had been pain-free! He goes on to write, "What you didn't know however though is that when you came in me and my girlfriend had just broken up (We're still figuring out if that was the right decision). The reason for us breaking up was majorly religious differences. Although I do believe in God I do not have a strong relationship with Him; she does. Loving Jesus is one of her main priorities in life. It's not that I don't want to its just not something I was raised with I know virtually nothing about how to love Him or what it even means. Her ending words of the relationship were "I just wish you loved Jesus". Then you come in and I felt as though it was a sign. (this is a really long em