Breaches will be healed

Finally, I have the opportunity to return and finish my thoughts on imperfect vessels and healing ministers.

Studying the lives of many of those who, over the centuries, have been used greatly by God in healing reveals many flawed lives – divorce, infidelity, straying from sound doctrine, sins of the flesh, the heart and the mind.

If you know little about their lives, then look at Moses – who said no to God multiple times; David, who killed a man and took his wife; Peter, who betrayed Jesus not once, but three times; Solomon, the man blessed with the most wisdom who strayed to idols; Peter again, who drew back from the Gentiles until Paul had harsh words with him.

Jars of clay.  That all it is.  Jars of clay.  Imperfect vessels.  Yet, time and time again, our Heavenly Father uses imperfect vessels, not letting the perfect become an enemy of the good or an enemy of saving souls or healing the sick.  If He had to wait for perfect ministers, no one would ever be sent to work in ministry. Peter wouldn’t get to write a chunk of the Bible and neither would Solomon.

Yet also, it is this paradox that perplexes us, doesn’t it?  It disappoints us when we see imperfect men and women (we must include ourselves) in ministry, and hurts us when we have unpleasant encounters with Christians – our close brothers and sisters in Christ.  Sometimes, in truth, it leads to bonds that are irretrievably broken…on earth.

Have you ever lost close friendships with other Christians? I think we all have.  So it gets me to thinking….

How will we be in heaven?

What will happen to all the pettiness in the church?  What will happen to all the awkwardness of broken friendships, broken trust, hurts, differences, separations and the like?  How much awkwardness will there be when Paul meets Barnabas?  Remember they had such an argument that they went their separate ways, despite the bond between them forged in the challenges of ministry.

Yes, Paul had charitable things to say about Mark later – Barnabas’ nephew who they disagreed about – and there was certainly forgiveness.  Yes.  However, we never see Paul and Barnabas together on the mission field again.  That bond is changed, things probably became awkward. Same with the fellow who cheated with his father’s wife in Corinth. Just awkward. Not sure how they look each other in the eye after that, even though he repented.

Will similar moments exist when the Grecian widows meet the Hebrew widows in heaven? Or when you meet that cousin whom you love but cannot stand his tactlessness or the broken trust from the past?

The answer of course in scripture, is No – there will be no awkwardness in heaven.  There will nothing to cause hurt or embarrassment or pain or shame. We lose the old flesh and that is part of it.  In that, we are set free from sins of the flesh and the soul.   We get a new resurrection body that is unblemished and spirit-ruled, not soul/mind ruled.

I believe the other part is a work God does when we go on to be with Him.  Remember, like Lazarus and the rich man, we will keep our memories.  We don’t lose memories.  However, they will lose their power to hurt or harm or shame us.  Thus all the awkwardness, pain, shame will be also gone- rendered powerless also.

So back to the imperfect vessels.  You see, that’s why God says love as He loved you.  Forgive as he forgave you.  Not “to the best of you ability” or “because they deserve it”. Can’t understand how God forgave you?  Right, forgive others the same way.

You can’t understand why God didn’t strike down that arrogant or racist or sinful minister?  Well, he didn’t strike you down, did he?  So we invent the canard that the minster lost his salvation. It makes us feel better.  Most likely, he did not, no more than you did when you lied yesterday or watched that ungodly film.

Jars of clay. Imperfect vessels. That’s why Christianity is so different from any other religion. Pure grace. Unfathomable grace.  Grace yesterday. Grace today and tomorrow.  Grace in life.  A mysterious grace in death.  A grace that sets things right, cleanses, purifies.  Why don’t you see the end from the beginning?  Then you can love without real reason.  Then you can also “love sincerely, from the heart.”

May God’s grace be upon you who offended and the ones who offended you.  May His grace work to restore broken trust in THIS life, not only the next.  May He bring reconciliation where it is possible and where it is impossible.  May He help you understand and love even when distance must be kept in this life due to the memories and awkwardness. Amen.

A Predictable Beating

An issue many Christians think about, especially those seeking to become more involved in healing, is that of ‘clean vessels‘.

Often, many believers avoid healing ministry and especially deliverance ministry because they feel that they are unclean vessels.

They may be wrestling with some sin, some hurt, an impure thought life and unconfessed sin.

It is advisable that people wrestling with strongholds of sin should be cautious about involvement in ministry, especially healing and deliverance.

I’m not even referring to the Sons of Sceva, who were given a thorough beating in the Book of Acts (Chapter 19) when they tried to mimic Paul in deliverance.  They were not believers afterall and their beating was predictable.

^19:11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

¹³ Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

Instead I refer to Christians seeking to be used by God in healing and deliverance.  Here’s how I understand it from the Word.  We operate in vessels of clay and can sin on a daily basis.  When we do, simply lean on 1 John 1:9, confess your sin, receive forgiveness, and then you can minister with all confidence.

However, if you are bound by a stronghold of sin – anger, ongoing spousal conflict, hate, alcoholism, sexual impurity, it is best to sort out your issues before you go forward. Why?  Because you generally will be less effective in ministry than if you were a pure vessel.

I say ‘generally’, because sometimes God will work through impure vessels, just out of His compassion for the sick. However, the thing is that when He does this, many are deceived that He is OK with their current lifestyle and they continue in sin.  That is the tragedy of mortgaging truth.

In deliverance,  it is more dangerous, because if for example, you are having an affair and attempt to perform deliverance, the demons may actually call you out on it.  Both embarrassing and faith destroying for you and your congregation.

So what to do – continue your affair and don’t attempt deliverance?  Lord no!  Stop the affair, the flirting with pornography, unforgiveness and THEN continue with deliverance ministry.  There are many sadly, with godly callings on their compromised lives who run away from their callings for this obvious reason.

It is a very dangerous way to live, because you are unhooked from God’s purpose for your life.  If you need help to become free, seek help and don’t be prideful.  Sometimes, folks cannot get free without help and we are called to help each other.

I have more to share about this, but I’ll hold it for the next post.

Luke 13:10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Let's go and do the same

So let us conclude here.   This woman had been bent over for eighteen years. Eighteen long years. Jesus did not forget her experience of year after year of shuffling along, most likely in pain and definitely with lost dignity.  Jesus cared.

Our response today would be to organize a special bus to get her to church on Sunday to hear why God doesn’t heal anymore.  For the deaf, our response would be to hire a “signer” so they can follow along with the sermon on how miracles died out with the last of the apostles.

Man’s idea of compassion is not Jesus idea of compassion.  In their fear, pastors preach their experience and avoid any topic that actually involves them exercising their faith.  Shame. Shame.  Jesus said we would do greater works.  Now we lay on buses and learn to sign.  We would rather drive the old lady to church for 20 years than have the courage to pray until she gets relief…

Don’t misread me.  I’m not churlish.  I’m not against buses and signers.  Use them if you need them. Especially if healing takes time.  But Jesus showed us He has something better than pity.  Its called healing.

No wonder the world largely ignores the gospel.  Why?  Because there is no power.  Paul came with power.  Philip came with power (and no, Philip wasn’t an apostle, so let’s stop that silly line of thinking before it starts!).  Know what happened whan Philip came to Samaria with power?

^Acts8:5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. ⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷ For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So there was great joy in that city.

It was when they heard Philip AND saw the signs he performed that they paid attention to him and there was revival. Perhaps that’s why few pay attention to the Christian message today.  Perhaps too few signs are performed.

In the case of the old woman bowed over eighteen years, I believe Jesus teaches us a thing about true compassion here. We seldom have true compassion anymore, just something that passes for it in our minds.  We won’t pay the price to see the greater works, so we delight in the works of our hands.

The legalists as usual, were concerned about Jesus healing on the Sabbath.  So Jesus poses the question to those hard-hearted ones… after suffering for 18 years, should Jesus have had to wait for the Sabbath to heal her?

Glory to God, she should be healed immediately. If she was your mother or sister or daughter, your answer would be yes!

So if you are sick, Jesus, who never changes, says: You should be healed! The mind of God would not have us sick a single day longer.

The minute we renew our minds with the Word of God and not the ways of men, and we begin to believe and act this way, that is the time we allow the Holy Spirit within us to move us unto “greater works”.

Here is Part 2 as promised…. The same woman who first walked with halting steps after being helped out of a wheelchair a few days before. Not an “unknown” (although we are all known by God), but someone who is well known.

Funny how people fight to disbelieve. It is a tough system – the world system. Unbelief and doubt are easier to settle into than faith for most. After we grow in the Word though, faith becomes easier than unbelief. In sticky situations, I always end up looking for God’s move and fully expecting it to come. It is just easier for me to believe for supernatural intervention than to drop down.

I’m sure the naysayers will step up soon. But who cares. Think about this. Jesus did numerous and spectacular miracles, none of which could be contended with. The response? They killed him.

He couldn’t (not wouldn’t, but couldn’t) do any powerful miracles in his own hometown because of their unbelief. Perhaps its like a pastor once said, grimly: “healing is not for everyone, just those who believe…” Sometimes I want to lean into that tree, but I know it is just bad widespread poor teaching that leaves the church so far short of the miracles Jesus said we would do in his Name.

Enjoy the second video..and no, it is not CGI (computer generated imagery)either.

The most interesting thing about this video is that the normal naysayers and skeptics have had to shut their mouths about Delia Knox.  I have searched the Internet for skeptics and found none.. or perhaps none .. yet.

Here’s the deal.  Delia Knox is a well-known gospel singer who was rendered a paraplegic after a car accident 20 years ago.  Well-known is the key, so that no one can doubt the authenticity of her condition.  She is healed in this video.

Sad that you can almost hear the doubt of video-watchers (Christian, not even unbelievers)…  But wait until you see the second video…  Glory to God, it is something else!! Watch Part 1 to the end and then watch part 2!!

That's Why We Praise God

Actually, why would I praise God for my sickness?  He obviously didn’t do it, so why praise Him for it?  John 10:10 tells me that: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.“  If you believe sickness is anything other than destruction, sorry, but we are not called to be masochists.

Listen to what Leah praised the Lord for in Genesis 29:35: She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the LORD.”

David praised the Lord also: David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies.

We also glorify God, being:  a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

In Matthew 15:31, hear what happened:  The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

People praise God for deliverance, for creating the heavens and earth, creating man (not sick!), for healing, for giving us an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.  I don’t see where we are told to praise God for sickness.

We need to understand these things better.  If a strange man came your house and demanded your kids, you would fight him with all of your might, even if he had a knife or gun.  But for many church folk, when sickness appears, some of us start praising and thanking God for it.  Why is that?!!

One dear lady told me she praised God for being sick, so she could rest.  Another told me that she praised God for her sickness because it gave her time to be with her family.  Can you see how twisted this thinking is?  Do you have to be sick to rest?  Do you have to be sick to spend time with your family?  Of course not!  Just do it!

To be continued…

The woman bowed over 18 years

You may be familiar with the account of the old woman Jesus healed, who had been bowed over for eighteen years. Here’s the account, beginning in Luke 13:

Luke 13:10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Just a few notes here.  This woman had been crippled, not by osteoarthritis or other physical causes, but by a spirit, an evil spirit.  Some believe there are only physical causes for sickness, but the Bible disagrees.  She was crippled by a spirit that had made its home on her for 18 years.

One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is “discerning of spirits” or the ability to sense if a spirit is present, usually in a ministry situation.  The gifts are rarely taught today, so unfortunately, many who might have otherwise received relief do not receive such.

Does this mean that all sickness has a spirit as a direct cause?  No, that is not supported by scripture.  Many times, Jesus would simply declare healing or lay hands on the sick for healing.  Besides, gifts of healing would not be needed if this was so; we would simply cast a demon out each time and minister healing that way.  (This has not stopped some ministers from doing this though!)

There are sicknesses caused by or rooted solely in physical reasons, but it is clear from the Word that there are also sicknesses caused solely by evil spirits. And there are likely to be combinations also.

When Jesus put his hands on her, the spirit had to leave, it could not remain in the presence of the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Some think that casting out devils is the only way to deal with them.  This is not the case.  Jesus did not cast it out, he ministered by the laying on of hands.

A word of caution – please be trained and mentored in deliverance before you do deliverance this way.  Also, if you go around laying hands on folk with unsavory secrets in your own life, it may be risky for you.  You clearly should not be involved in deliverance if you are bound in sin.  Let the wise reader understand.

I love the fact that Jesus interrupted his sermon to minister to this old woman.  He did not let programs interfere with compassion.  He called her forward right away and ministered healing to her and she was healed.  Don’t let programs interfere with compassion.  Jesus did not.

The old woman was immediately healed and praised God for it.  Can you see that God gets glory when people are healed, not by people being sick?  After she was healed, what did she do?  I love it.   She straightened up and praised God!!

When was she praising God, before or after her healing? Afterwards, Glory to God!  Yes, you might say, but we should praise God all the time.  Agreed.  However, praise is for something done.  She could not and did not praise God for healing her before she got healed.  She praised God AFTER she got healed.

Some praise God for their sickness.  Sorry, I’m not in that select group.  The Bible says in James: “Is anyone sick?  Let him call the elders to anoint him with oil….”  Not let him praise God. God receives praise when you are well, so get healed and praise Him for healing you.

To be continued..

"There will be terrible times in the last days..."

The news these days is quite instructive. If I were a baby Christian, I would have said “depressing”, but it is worthwhile to read the news in context of the Word of God.  Wordwide, there is great disappointment with political leaders, there is state-sponsored terror, and impunity. For the story about persecution of Christians in the picture, click on it.

People and governments are increasingly not just immoral, but amoral, without any sense of right or wrong. Even in churches, many pastors believe righteousness is a means to financial gain – to the extent that I cannot even bear the sight of so many on TV – posturing and being so theatrical, having the form, but lacking the power.

However, we have confidence and foreknowledge in that Paul warned us of what would occur in the last days, as in these words in 2 Timothy 3;

” 1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

As we see the evil become more evil, the insatiable greed of corporations and their managers; and the growing secularity of nations, it should encourage us that Christ is coming soon. It should also inspire us towards good works which He has prepared in advance for us to do. The time is short.

God is not impressed by the nations that rage and the people who plot in vain. In fact He laughs and scoffs at them (Psalm 2) and soon will rule them with an iron scepter, dashing them to pieces like pottery.

I’ve been focusing too much on the world these days, terrorism, wickedness, impunity, corruption, greed, and too little on what God is doing. That must change. I will instead, focus on what God is doing and what He is calling me too. I will fix my heart and thoughts on things above, where Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand. That is the wisest course. When the dust settles over His creation, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Then we will see that it was the best decision to serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling and take refuge in Him. May you be similarly encouraged in Jesus. Amen.

The grace of God in action

I picked up the ringing telephone about 3 weeks ago to hear my distraught cousin tell me about her twin 6 year old boy who was in the hospital with H1N1 or swine flu.  His twin sister had also had the flu but had recovered. He, on the other hand, was not doing well.

She asked me to pray and I said I would.  I took time off and entered the “peaceful room” – what we call one of our bedrooms and spent maybe a half hour praying for the boy.  I immediately got a sense that this would be more of a challenge than her original report indicated, but I declared that he would live and not die.

The next day, she called me even more distressed, with the news that one of his lungs had collapsed, he was now in intensive care, in an induced coma, as his discomfort was acute. His doctors did not know what else to do.

She asked me to pray again as the hospital outlook was bleak and getting bleaker.  I wasn’t too surprised by the turn of events based on what  had heard the first time, although a bit surprised at the speedy deterioration.

I’ll tell you what I did and what I did NOT do.  I did not call a prayer line or a prayer chain.  I didn’t get on the telephone with masses of people.  If the Lord led me to, I would have, but as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I believe it is a disgrace for hundreds of Christians to pray against one or a few spirits of infirmity.  One believer should be able to minister effectively against the attacks of a horde of demons, with Greater One on the inside.

I entered my “prayer closet” and took the offensive against this infirmity.  I prayed in the Spirit and I prayed with my understanding.  I took authority over the situation and spoke healing over the boy.  I prayed a couple of times – perhaps an hour each time.  When the burden lifted, I stopped, called the mother and told her I believed her son would be fine. At this point, there simply was no outward evidence of this, but I was convinced it would be so.

Although she called me the next day with grimmer news of how his collapsed lung was scarring and he was now unable to breathe on his own, I was not moved.  OK, maybe some concern in the flesh – I’ll be honest – but I’ve learned that the flesh and mind will sometimes react to stimuli in ways that you cannot fully control.  If someone jumps out with a gun, your  adrenaline will spike even if you know the angels of God are protecting you.  That’s what I mean. You must realize though, that this is separate from faith.  Faith is what you KNOW, not what you feel.

In my heart and mind and words to her, I knew and told her he would be fine – but it was interesting watching my own emotions at times.  Sometimes even amusing.

OK, what happened?  Two days after that bleak report, he began recovering rapidly and was out of the Intensive Care.  The doctors and nurses who treated him in intensive care were all coming by to marvel at his “miraculous” recovery.  Another two days and he was home, playing with his siblings like nothing ever happened.

The doctors had said that the scarring in his lung would take at least 2 years to heal, but at his last visit, there was no trace of scarring, the doctors pronouncing his lungs to be “like Lance Armstrong’s”!!

So praise God for this all.  This is not about anyone’s greatness of faithfulness, but God’s.  He preserved my cousin from “sorrow upon sorrow” and kept the life of a boy who will live to serve Him and glorify His Name.  I pray that your hearts might be encouraged, just as mine and my cousin (and her family) have been, through the Lord’s healing mercy. Amen.

You must make up your mind what you believe

I had been a Christian for a few months and found myself sitting on a platform in London on this particular day, waiting for the next train.

A man came by and sat down on my left and I thought nothing of it.A minute later, I saw a man on the opposite platform walking to and fro, mumbling to himself and occasionally calling out to no-one in particular.

Viewing this as a ministry opportunity, I leaned over to the man on my left and asked, “Do you know what his problem is?” He answered right back, “What’s his problem?” I smiled and responded, “He’s probably demonically oppressed,” and then continued, “do you know there’s a world beyond this physical one?”

This is when things got interesting.He gave me a wan smile and said to me, “I guess you’re a Christian.Listen to this…”He then launched into a short burst of speaking in tongues.I was surprised but managed to recover.“I guess you’ve probably heard the gospel before”, I said with a grin.

“You listen to me,” he demanded.“I was in the ministry for years and was in ministry school.”“But,” he continued, “we prayed and prayed and God didn’t heal the seven sick people we prayed for.They all died.That’s when I left the ministry.”

I didn’t know too much about the Word but I replied that our faith in God did not depend on who got healed or not.I told him I didn’t understand why those people didn’t get healed as I wasn’t there.But I said, God was still faithful and He was and is still our Healer.

He wasn’t moved, as our train pulled in.“All I want”, he said, “is one minute when I die, to say my piece and tell God how I feel about it.So much power over there when we need it here!”I patiently responded that it wouldn’t play out that way, that no one gets to vent in heaven.

The funny thing was that as he kept telling me how he didn’t want anything to do with Christianity, he kept talking about God and what he wanted to say to him.I tried to talk with him before my stop, about 15 minutes later and he kept asking me to refute what he was saying, but he was way too angry.I just told Him over and over that God loved him and was faithful.My stop came along first and I got off the train.

This man was in a place that I’ve seen others get to over the years since that day in 1987.I refer to people who have seen failures over and over, particularly ministers- folks who have had to comfort the bereaved again and again.It can be heartbreaking and I can even understand mentally, how he arrived at that place.I have been tempted too.Tempted to just walk away and not even bother to pray any more – just send people to the doctors and leave it to others who are willing to test their faith and face the risk of failure.

I’ll be honest though and share the determination I made years ago that no matter how many tragedies I see, God is still a Healer and His Word is still true.What’s the worst that could happen?We go to be with the Lord, which is better by far.Why would I want to arrive in heaven, with the thought in my heart: “you didn’t believe in God’s healing promises!”No, I won’t be condemned for it, but why not fight, why not believe, why not engage?

Paul said, “Fight the good fight of faith..” (1 Timothy 6:12).He said “We wrestle not against flesh and blood…”(Ephesians 6:12) .He continues, “Run in such a way as to win the prize…” (1 Corinthians 9:24).

Do we have this thought that it will always be easy, especially in the West?Do we think that healings are not a prize to be fought bitterly for, in prayer?

Jesus said, “This kind can come out only by prayer.….” (Mark 9:29).Do we still pray and fast, or are we caught up with activities that just engage the flesh?Is there too much “seeker-friendliness”, with mime and dance and too little all-night prayer and intercession?God help us!Philip didn’t need street mime and dance to cause Holy Spirit-led havoc in Samaria, did he?

As we struggle with church programs and ‘church growth’ activities, we’re wearing ourselves out with “stuff”.If one blind person received sight in your church each week, even with 4 services on Sunday, you would have lines that stretched for blocks.You would need the police to keep order.

Our leaders are so afraid to preach, teach and demonstrate healing though, that for many, this is beyond their reach. It’s at a point where so many just don’t believe anymore.Like my friend on the train, they may have started with zeal, but disappointments got the better of them.They not only refuse to believe now, but are deeply bitter at unrealized hope.

Like my friend the real cause of the bitterness is that they know healing is there and is real, but somehow or the other, they could never attain it. That’s where the broken heart and deep bitterness comes from, “..so much power over there when we need it here!”

There is a path to healing in our churches.It is not easy, but it is not obscure either.Preach it, teach it, pray for it, minister it, and repeat over and over until breakthrough comes.What if it tarries?Read John Wimber’s story if you find the time (Power Healing).You simply continue as a church until breakthrough comes.

Well, what if it still doesn’t come, you ask?Better to enter heaven declaring the truths of God’s Word and kingdom than to give up.I will never give in or give up.For me though, healing has already come, over and over again.  May such steadfastness undergird your own soul, may the Holy Spirit encourage you and reward as you persist in seeing the manifest promises of God fulfilled in your life and the lives of those around you. Amen.