He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in that darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because darkness hath blinded his eyes.
1 John 2:9-11
The new commandment of which John speaks is the greatest commandment of all: to love.
‘What is the greatest commandment?’ the young lawyer asked the Master.
And Jesus said, ‘How do you read it?’
‘Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and mind and strength,’ the lawyer answered.
‘That’s it,’ Jesus said. ‘And the second is like unto it: Love thy neighbor as thyself,’ (Matthew 22:36-39).
The fresh word for you and me is that we are to love, for if we say we’re walking with the Lord and are close to the Lord but have hatred in our hearts towards our brother, then something is not right.
It’s a wonderful thing to be able to say, ‘To the best of my knowledge, I’m not bitter towards anyone, mad at anyone, or angry with anyone because I know what a sinner I am. I know how much I’ve failed. I know how gracious God has been to me.’ When that’s our heart, we know things are right.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
From www.joncourson.com
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:5
People who are depressed in their spiritual lives because they think being a Christian is so hard don’t match up with true Biblical Christianity because John says there’s no dark side to God; there’s nothing negative about Him; there’s not a mean bone in His body. Therefore, a sour, dour, dark, and discouraged Christian is an oxymoron, a contradiction of terms.
‘Wait a minute,’ you say. ‘Wasn’t Jesus the Man of Sorrows?’ (Isaiah 53:3).
Yes. Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). He wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35). When Jesus wept, however, it was always for others.
What about when He wept in the Garden of Gethsemane?
The night before He would go to the Cross, Jesus sweat blood because He was terrified not by the pain of the Cross, the spittle that would run down His face, or the flagellum that would rip into His back. Jesus was almost literally scared to death by the thought of being temporarily separated from His Father when He would be made sin on our behalf.
‘What if I can’t pay the bills?’ we wonder. ‘What if the car doesn’t work?’ ‘What if I lose a loved one?’ ‘What’s next?’ ‘Who else?’ These are the things which frighten us. But separation from the Father? We don’t even give it a second thought. God have mercy on us. We’re terrified of all the wrong things.
1 John 1:5
People who are depressed in their spiritual lives because they think being a Christian is so hard don’t match up with true Biblical Christianity because John says there’s no dark side to God; there’s nothing negative about Him; there’s not a mean bone in His body. Therefore, a sour, dour, dark, and discouraged Christian is an oxymoron, a contradiction of terms.
‘Wait a minute,’ you say. ‘Wasn’t Jesus the Man of Sorrows?’ (Isaiah 53:3).
Yes. Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). He wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35). When Jesus wept, however, it was always for others.
What about when He wept in the Garden of Gethsemane?
The night before He would go to the Cross, Jesus sweat blood because He was terrified not by the pain of the Cross, the spittle that would run down His face, or the flagellum that would rip into His back. Jesus was almost literally scared to death by the thought of being temporarily separated from His Father when He would be made sin on our behalf.
‘What if I can’t pay the bills?’ we wonder. ‘What if the car doesn’t work?’ ‘What if I lose a loved one?’ ‘What’s next?’ ‘Who else?’ These are the things which frighten us. But separation from the Father? We don’t even give it a second thought. God have mercy on us. We’re terrified of all the wrong things.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
From the Church for all
Every Good Gift Is From Above
JAMES 1:13,16,17 WEYMOUTH
13 Let no one say when passing through trial, "My temptation is
from God;" for God is incapable of being tempted to do evil,
and He Himself tempts no one.
16 Do not be deceived, my dearly-loved brethren.
17 Every gift which is good, and every perfect boon, is from
above, and comes down from the Father, who is the source of all
Light. In Him there is no variation nor the slightest
suggestion of change.
God is not doing evil that good may come from it.
"Do not be deceived," the Bible tells us in verse 16 above.
Obviously then, brethren CAN be deceived -- and many ARE.
God is NOT the one behind the bad things happening. Storms,
earthquakes, and tornados are not acts of my God. Only good
comes down from my Father God -- and He does not change or vary
from day to day.
John 10:10 LB
10 The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My
purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
John 10:10 is the dividing line in the Bible. The purpose of
the devil is made clear: to harm you. The purpose of the Lord
is also clear: life in all its fullness -- life as God intended.
Jesus is for you. The devil is against you. It's as simple as
that.
SAY THIS: The devil is against me, so I am against the devil.
God is for me, so I submit to God.
JAMES 1:13,16,17 WEYMOUTH
13 Let no one say when passing through trial, "My temptation is
from God;" for God is incapable of being tempted to do evil,
and He Himself tempts no one.
16 Do not be deceived, my dearly-loved brethren.
17 Every gift which is good, and every perfect boon, is from
above, and comes down from the Father, who is the source of all
Light. In Him there is no variation nor the slightest
suggestion of change.
God is not doing evil that good may come from it.
"Do not be deceived," the Bible tells us in verse 16 above.
Obviously then, brethren CAN be deceived -- and many ARE.
God is NOT the one behind the bad things happening. Storms,
earthquakes, and tornados are not acts of my God. Only good
comes down from my Father God -- and He does not change or vary
from day to day.
John 10:10 LB
10 The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My
purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
John 10:10 is the dividing line in the Bible. The purpose of
the devil is made clear: to harm you. The purpose of the Lord
is also clear: life in all its fullness -- life as God intended.
Jesus is for you. The devil is against you. It's as simple as
that.
SAY THIS: The devil is against me, so I am against the devil.
God is for me, so I submit to God.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
From the www.churchforall.org
The Lord Is Good
PSALM 145:8-9 NKJ
8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger
and great in mercy.
9 The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all
His works.
The greatest deception is making people think God is bad. God
is not guilty -- of anything bad!
The devil wants us to believe God is bad: that He is uncaring,
that He does bad things to us, and that He is holding out on us
-- keeping us from enjoying good. But it isn't true. God loves
you more than you can imagine.
The devil is a liar -- he works by deception. The devil tries
to make us believe God is like him, and he is like God, which
is, of course, not true.
Because of satan's efforts to distort the truth, many people's
idea of God is actually what the devil is like.
PSALM 34:8 NKJ
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man
who trusts in Him!
We must, as Scripture admonishes, taste and see that the Lord
is good. Unless you have a relationship with God, you won't
know how good He is.
1 JOHN 4:8 NKJ
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God is a God of love. He puts the interests of others first. He
is not selfish. He desires the best for everyone.
SAY THIS: God is good to me. Thank You Lord for being good to
me. I refuse to believe the devil's lie that You are bad.
PSALM 145:8-9 NKJ
8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger
and great in mercy.
9 The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all
His works.
The greatest deception is making people think God is bad. God
is not guilty -- of anything bad!
The devil wants us to believe God is bad: that He is uncaring,
that He does bad things to us, and that He is holding out on us
-- keeping us from enjoying good. But it isn't true. God loves
you more than you can imagine.
The devil is a liar -- he works by deception. The devil tries
to make us believe God is like him, and he is like God, which
is, of course, not true.
Because of satan's efforts to distort the truth, many people's
idea of God is actually what the devil is like.
PSALM 34:8 NKJ
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man
who trusts in Him!
We must, as Scripture admonishes, taste and see that the Lord
is good. Unless you have a relationship with God, you won't
know how good He is.
1 JOHN 4:8 NKJ
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God is a God of love. He puts the interests of others first. He
is not selfish. He desires the best for everyone.
SAY THIS: God is good to me. Thank You Lord for being good to
me. I refuse to believe the devil's lie that You are bad.
Monday, November 16, 2009
from http://www.jewsforjesus.org
A NOTE FROM DAVID BRICKNER: In the Name of God by David Brickner
November 15, 2009
Once again, news headlines are confronting us with the ugly face of religious extremism. While our nation mourns the Fort Hood massacre of thirteen people carried out by the Islamist murderer, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, Israel is grappling with the implications of its own religious Jewish terrorist, Yaacov Teitel, who murdered Arabs and attempted to murder other Jews, including a Messianic Jewish family. Meanwhile, Scott Roeder has trotted out his own Christian convictions to justify his murder of abortion doctor George Tiller in the narthex of Tiller's own church. These are only a few recent examples of people using religion to justify their evil actions. From 9/11 stretching back in time through the medieval Crusades and into the misty past, history is spattered with blood from unspeakable atrocities people have committed in the name of God.
Many hold God personally responsible for these horrors, never stopping to realize that such acts don't represent God at all, but are in fact, egregious abuses of His name. People always seek justification for their wicked behavior and what justification could be more potent than divine imprimatur? It is human nature to make God responsible for our own wickedness.
A contemporary group of proselytizing atheists has twisted this tendency a bit further. They point to evil actions perpetrated in the name of God as evidence that belief in God is not only senseless and ignorant, but causes hatred, violence and other dangers to society that ought easily to be avoided:
"The Bible may, indeed does, contain a warrant for trafficking in humans, for ethnic cleansing, for slavery, for bride-price, and for indiscriminate massacre, but we are not bound by any of it because it was put together by crude, uncultured human mammals."
— Christopher Hitchens (from God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything)
But when Hitchens and others like him point to how evil religionists can be, they are actually making God's point: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)
The entire drama of God's engagement with humanity is aimed at rescuing us from ourselves and our sin. Doesn't it make sense that the greatest evidence of our depravity would be the intentional corruption and undermining of God's reputation, and the scandalizing of His saving grace? The fact that human beings are willing to use God as justification for their own selfish, self-aggrandizing and self-righteous actions squares entirely with what the Bible actually says about us.
The religious abuse of God by His own creation dramatizes how thoroughly we deserve His just judgment and demonstrates our desperate need for His love and forgiveness. Besides, one need not be religious at all to be what Hitchens calls "crude, uncultured human mammals." Stalin, Mao, Hitler and Pol Pot needed no religious justification whatsoever to carry out the most horrific acts of terror in the twentieth century, if not of all time.
Evangelists for atheism need not point their fingers at conservative Christians or any other religious people to find the source of the problem. When religious extremists commit horrible acts of violence, the rest of the world, secular or religious need not blame God: they need only to look in the mirror. Self-righteousness is part of the sinful human condition; it blinds us to our own wrongs so that we feel free to lash out at others. One need not be religious to be self-righteous ... but religion can serve as a blind for the condition.
In Jews for Jesus, our efforts to reach out to the Jewish people are often met with extreme antagonism. Our most aggressive opponents are not secular, but religious people. They often justify their behavior by blaming Jesus for the horrific acts of anti-Semitic rage committed by those who claimed to act on His behalf. True followers of Jesus can never justify such violence, especially against people who are the very flesh and blood of the One they claim to follow. All bigotry and hatred is contrary to the express teaching of the Jewish Savior, and whoever claims it is God's will is abusing His name in the process.
Jesus is the one person who could have acted out of truly righteous indignation in the name of God. Yet even when the majority of Y'shua's own people turned against Him, when His closest friends betrayed Him, when the leaders of His own people handed Him over to the authorities to be tortured and executed, Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34).
This was perfectly consistent with what He had taught His followers: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you" (Luke 6:27-8). What person, religious or otherwise, actually lives this way and follows this teaching?
From the beginning of time, we have blamed God for our sin. Remember Adam's excuse concerning the forbidden fruit ... "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate" (Genesis 3:12). But though we may find it natural to blame God for our sin, doing His will almost always goes against our own nature and is contrary to our own inclinations. It requires us to do the difficult thing—that which we would usually shrink from and resist in our natural selves. Obedience to God is counter-self and it is counter-culture. That is why it is so rare these days. But it is needed; in fact it is required of those who truly seek to act and speak in the name of God.
Those of us who want to be God's representatives in this world must be willing to follow in the footsteps of our Messiah, who taught us to love in word and in deed. In fact, if we really followed the life and teachings of Jesus, we would ignite the kind of spiritual dynamite that can turn the world upside down. Y'shua's earliest followers did just that, and I believe God will use His obedient followers to do so again in the future.
Those early disciples were willing to bear the burden of reproach, to suffer for Jesus' name, to forgive those who despitefully used them and to speak the truth in love without fear of the consequences. They willingly endured imprisonment, torture and death for the privilege of speaking in the name of God. Who among us speaks for God today with that kind of authority? Only those who by His Spirit and grace will submit to His way of sacrificial love. It is not those who see themselves as instruments of God's judgment and wrath who truly speak in His name, but grateful and forgiven sinners who are willing to endure scorn and humiliation that others might also know His forgiveness.
November 15, 2009
Once again, news headlines are confronting us with the ugly face of religious extremism. While our nation mourns the Fort Hood massacre of thirteen people carried out by the Islamist murderer, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, Israel is grappling with the implications of its own religious Jewish terrorist, Yaacov Teitel, who murdered Arabs and attempted to murder other Jews, including a Messianic Jewish family. Meanwhile, Scott Roeder has trotted out his own Christian convictions to justify his murder of abortion doctor George Tiller in the narthex of Tiller's own church. These are only a few recent examples of people using religion to justify their evil actions. From 9/11 stretching back in time through the medieval Crusades and into the misty past, history is spattered with blood from unspeakable atrocities people have committed in the name of God.
Many hold God personally responsible for these horrors, never stopping to realize that such acts don't represent God at all, but are in fact, egregious abuses of His name. People always seek justification for their wicked behavior and what justification could be more potent than divine imprimatur? It is human nature to make God responsible for our own wickedness.
A contemporary group of proselytizing atheists has twisted this tendency a bit further. They point to evil actions perpetrated in the name of God as evidence that belief in God is not only senseless and ignorant, but causes hatred, violence and other dangers to society that ought easily to be avoided:
"The Bible may, indeed does, contain a warrant for trafficking in humans, for ethnic cleansing, for slavery, for bride-price, and for indiscriminate massacre, but we are not bound by any of it because it was put together by crude, uncultured human mammals."
— Christopher Hitchens (from God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything)
But when Hitchens and others like him point to how evil religionists can be, they are actually making God's point: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)
The entire drama of God's engagement with humanity is aimed at rescuing us from ourselves and our sin. Doesn't it make sense that the greatest evidence of our depravity would be the intentional corruption and undermining of God's reputation, and the scandalizing of His saving grace? The fact that human beings are willing to use God as justification for their own selfish, self-aggrandizing and self-righteous actions squares entirely with what the Bible actually says about us.
The religious abuse of God by His own creation dramatizes how thoroughly we deserve His just judgment and demonstrates our desperate need for His love and forgiveness. Besides, one need not be religious at all to be what Hitchens calls "crude, uncultured human mammals." Stalin, Mao, Hitler and Pol Pot needed no religious justification whatsoever to carry out the most horrific acts of terror in the twentieth century, if not of all time.
Evangelists for atheism need not point their fingers at conservative Christians or any other religious people to find the source of the problem. When religious extremists commit horrible acts of violence, the rest of the world, secular or religious need not blame God: they need only to look in the mirror. Self-righteousness is part of the sinful human condition; it blinds us to our own wrongs so that we feel free to lash out at others. One need not be religious to be self-righteous ... but religion can serve as a blind for the condition.
In Jews for Jesus, our efforts to reach out to the Jewish people are often met with extreme antagonism. Our most aggressive opponents are not secular, but religious people. They often justify their behavior by blaming Jesus for the horrific acts of anti-Semitic rage committed by those who claimed to act on His behalf. True followers of Jesus can never justify such violence, especially against people who are the very flesh and blood of the One they claim to follow. All bigotry and hatred is contrary to the express teaching of the Jewish Savior, and whoever claims it is God's will is abusing His name in the process.
Jesus is the one person who could have acted out of truly righteous indignation in the name of God. Yet even when the majority of Y'shua's own people turned against Him, when His closest friends betrayed Him, when the leaders of His own people handed Him over to the authorities to be tortured and executed, Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34).
This was perfectly consistent with what He had taught His followers: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you" (Luke 6:27-8). What person, religious or otherwise, actually lives this way and follows this teaching?
From the beginning of time, we have blamed God for our sin. Remember Adam's excuse concerning the forbidden fruit ... "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate" (Genesis 3:12). But though we may find it natural to blame God for our sin, doing His will almost always goes against our own nature and is contrary to our own inclinations. It requires us to do the difficult thing—that which we would usually shrink from and resist in our natural selves. Obedience to God is counter-self and it is counter-culture. That is why it is so rare these days. But it is needed; in fact it is required of those who truly seek to act and speak in the name of God.
Those of us who want to be God's representatives in this world must be willing to follow in the footsteps of our Messiah, who taught us to love in word and in deed. In fact, if we really followed the life and teachings of Jesus, we would ignite the kind of spiritual dynamite that can turn the world upside down. Y'shua's earliest followers did just that, and I believe God will use His obedient followers to do so again in the future.
Those early disciples were willing to bear the burden of reproach, to suffer for Jesus' name, to forgive those who despitefully used them and to speak the truth in love without fear of the consequences. They willingly endured imprisonment, torture and death for the privilege of speaking in the name of God. Who among us speaks for God today with that kind of authority? Only those who by His Spirit and grace will submit to His way of sacrificial love. It is not those who see themselves as instruments of God's judgment and wrath who truly speak in His name, but grateful and forgiven sinners who are willing to endure scorn and humiliation that others might also know His forgiveness.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
From the Church for all . org
God Is Your Father
2 CORINTHIANS 6:18 NKJ
18 "I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and
daughters, Says the Lord Almighty."
I am truly sorry if your earthly father was not a good father.
But there are good fathers -- and certainly God is one.
Have you really thought about what it means to have God as your
Father?
Think of His power, His wisdom, His wealth. Then remember that
God loves you more than anyone else has ever loved you -- even
more than you love yourself.
No earthly father ever loved his children more than God loves
you.
Are you living your life in the light of this knowledge? Or,
are you acting like an orphan and worrying like you have no one
to take care of you?
JOHN 14:18 NIV
18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
SAY THIS: God is MY Father. He loves me and takes good care of
me. I am not facing life all alone.
2 CORINTHIANS 6:18 NKJ
18 "I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and
daughters, Says the Lord Almighty."
I am truly sorry if your earthly father was not a good father.
But there are good fathers -- and certainly God is one.
Have you really thought about what it means to have God as your
Father?
Think of His power, His wisdom, His wealth. Then remember that
God loves you more than anyone else has ever loved you -- even
more than you love yourself.
No earthly father ever loved his children more than God loves
you.
Are you living your life in the light of this knowledge? Or,
are you acting like an orphan and worrying like you have no one
to take care of you?
JOHN 14:18 NIV
18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
SAY THIS: God is MY Father. He loves me and takes good care of
me. I am not facing life all alone.
Friday, November 13, 2009
From the www.churchforall.org
Jesus Will Not Reject You
JOHN 6:37 LB
37 But some will come to me--those the Father has given me--
and I will never, never reject them.
People may reject you. But Jesus won't.
Jesus died for sinners. He loves them and will help them -- if
only they will come to Him.
Jesus didn't come to condemn us, but to help us. Think of the
Bible account of the woman caught in adultery.
JOHN 8:11 NIV
11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you,"
Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Religious people will reject you for any number of reasons. The
length of your hair, the food you eat, or the clothes you wear
are only examples of reasons they may reject you.
But Jesus is different. He will accept you just as you are.
Many people think they need to clean up their life and get
their act together before coming to Jesus. But they have it
backwards. They should come to Jesus now, and let Him "clean
them up."
If we could make ourselves perfect -- we wouldn't need a
Savior.
SAY THIS: Jesus is my Savior.
JOHN 6:37 LB
37 But some will come to me--those the Father has given me--
and I will never, never reject them.
People may reject you. But Jesus won't.
Jesus died for sinners. He loves them and will help them -- if
only they will come to Him.
Jesus didn't come to condemn us, but to help us. Think of the
Bible account of the woman caught in adultery.
JOHN 8:11 NIV
11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you,"
Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Religious people will reject you for any number of reasons. The
length of your hair, the food you eat, or the clothes you wear
are only examples of reasons they may reject you.
But Jesus is different. He will accept you just as you are.
Many people think they need to clean up their life and get
their act together before coming to Jesus. But they have it
backwards. They should come to Jesus now, and let Him "clean
them up."
If we could make ourselves perfect -- we wouldn't need a
Savior.
SAY THIS: Jesus is my Savior.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
http://powerofaith.com/salvation.htm
~ ARE YOU SAVED? ~
~ HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE SAVED? ~
~ WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO BE SAVED? ~
~ GOT SALVATION? ~
Jesus said: "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved". Peter was the only one in history that I know of, that actually got to test this theory in real life. I'm sure you remember the story.
Romans 10:13 - For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Peter stepped out of the boat and started walking on the water. "But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Of course you all know the rest of the story. It was at that very moment that Jesus whipped out a pad an pencil from his robe and said: "Wait a minute Peter", Before I save you, I have just a few questions.
1. Did you tithe this month?
2. Are you circumcised?
3. Have you drank wine since your last confession?
4. You haven't smoked any cigarettes, have you?
It was at that point that Jesus realized his error and said: "Whoa! It just occurred to me, that you obviously didn't use faith, or you wouldn't have started sinking to begin with" Peter, There's just no need to ask you the other 609 questions.
So, as Jesus was putting away his pad and pencil, he said: "It was nice knowing you Peter, you've been allot of laughs" - "See ya later"
Of course you all remember that story, it was written right there in "The book of Idiocy", and it must be true because it's the same standards all the modern day Churches follow! However, the true gospel puts a slightly different twist on this story. According to the book of Matthew ~
Matthew 14:31 - Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
If this story sounds ridicules to you, it's not nearly as ridicules as what you have been taught, if you are following a checklist of laws and rules to be saved by. If Christ does not hold us to the standards above, neither should your Church, preacher or anyone else.
We do what is right for no other reason than to please God. (Because we love him) "IT'S NOT A BARTER SYSTEM" It is not about "what you do for God", "it's about what his son did for you" - And nothing else!
Do you put on a different face when you step through the Church doors? Do you act slightly different there, than you do at work or at home? Then get out of that Church and find one with real people in it, where you can be yourself. (a sinner whom God loves and has forgiven)
WHO IS WORTHY?
Everyone from the preacher, down to the janitor, is a sinner, and not worthy to be saved or go to heaven. No action or deed they can perform will change that fact. (including yourself)
However, Jesus is quite worthy. He already paid for your ticket! It was a gift. Get away from the people who are giving you formulas to earn it. AS FAST AS YOU CAN!
Think about it. What if you worked really hard and even made sacrifices to buy someone a new Cadillac, then gave it to them as a gift. Then suppose that person goes around telling everyone "I earned it". I raked leaves, took out the garbage and did a bunch of stuff, so, I deserve the Cadillac.
It would be insulting wouldn't it? Oh, buy the way, it "is" insulting! You might want to be careful who you insult. If you don't know what "Fear of the Lord" means, you might find out!
Beware of "Feel Good Ministries". Sermons that put the focus on "you", offer little having to do with salvation. Stay away from ministries that more resemble a New Age "Self Help" seminar. You can easily spot them by the way they focus on "you" instead of God. (This is my Bible, I can do what it says I can do . . . Blah . . .Blah . . etc....)
Quit seeking the power and start seeking the one who has the power! The focus should always be on Christ and what he has already done for you.
Dan Douglass
~ HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE SAVED? ~
~ WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO BE SAVED? ~
~ GOT SALVATION? ~
Jesus said: "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved". Peter was the only one in history that I know of, that actually got to test this theory in real life. I'm sure you remember the story.
Romans 10:13 - For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Peter stepped out of the boat and started walking on the water. "But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Of course you all know the rest of the story. It was at that very moment that Jesus whipped out a pad an pencil from his robe and said: "Wait a minute Peter", Before I save you, I have just a few questions.
1. Did you tithe this month?
2. Are you circumcised?
3. Have you drank wine since your last confession?
4. You haven't smoked any cigarettes, have you?
It was at that point that Jesus realized his error and said: "Whoa! It just occurred to me, that you obviously didn't use faith, or you wouldn't have started sinking to begin with" Peter, There's just no need to ask you the other 609 questions.
So, as Jesus was putting away his pad and pencil, he said: "It was nice knowing you Peter, you've been allot of laughs" - "See ya later"
Of course you all remember that story, it was written right there in "The book of Idiocy", and it must be true because it's the same standards all the modern day Churches follow! However, the true gospel puts a slightly different twist on this story. According to the book of Matthew ~
Matthew 14:31 - Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
If this story sounds ridicules to you, it's not nearly as ridicules as what you have been taught, if you are following a checklist of laws and rules to be saved by. If Christ does not hold us to the standards above, neither should your Church, preacher or anyone else.
We do what is right for no other reason than to please God. (Because we love him) "IT'S NOT A BARTER SYSTEM" It is not about "what you do for God", "it's about what his son did for you" - And nothing else!
Do you put on a different face when you step through the Church doors? Do you act slightly different there, than you do at work or at home? Then get out of that Church and find one with real people in it, where you can be yourself. (a sinner whom God loves and has forgiven)
WHO IS WORTHY?
Everyone from the preacher, down to the janitor, is a sinner, and not worthy to be saved or go to heaven. No action or deed they can perform will change that fact. (including yourself)
However, Jesus is quite worthy. He already paid for your ticket! It was a gift. Get away from the people who are giving you formulas to earn it. AS FAST AS YOU CAN!
Think about it. What if you worked really hard and even made sacrifices to buy someone a new Cadillac, then gave it to them as a gift. Then suppose that person goes around telling everyone "I earned it". I raked leaves, took out the garbage and did a bunch of stuff, so, I deserve the Cadillac.
It would be insulting wouldn't it? Oh, buy the way, it "is" insulting! You might want to be careful who you insult. If you don't know what "Fear of the Lord" means, you might find out!
Beware of "Feel Good Ministries". Sermons that put the focus on "you", offer little having to do with salvation. Stay away from ministries that more resemble a New Age "Self Help" seminar. You can easily spot them by the way they focus on "you" instead of God. (This is my Bible, I can do what it says I can do . . . Blah . . .Blah . . etc....)
Quit seeking the power and start seeking the one who has the power! The focus should always be on Christ and what he has already done for you.
Dan Douglass
http://upperumgeni.wordpress.com/2009/05/03/medics-testimony-from-mighty-men-2009/
Medic’s Testimony from Mighty Men 2009
May 3, 2009
Impressions of a Medic at Mighty Men 09 - 28 April 2009
3 months ago the deal was finalized. I would supply the medical cover at this years event. I was competing against a rival company, and was prepared to equal their quote for 3 vehicles on site. I promise 3 vehicles, but would throw in a field hospital, 2 quads and 10 outstations in at the same price. These would be manned from Friday morning to Sunday night. Having done the event last year, I knew what I was letting myself in for. After all, last year we had 65 000 men attending, and we coped with them with our 10 medics, all volunteers. With the 200 000 expected, we would have many more volunteers, and the money we would be paid, would cover our disposables and travelling expenses, as well as our meals. I planned to discount whatever we did not spend, as this was an event I would not do for money…..
3 days to go. I have not slept very well for the last 3 weeks. I have searched high and low for medics, but have only 3. Myself and one ambulance that I am standing down from my operations. I phone my stepson, who is one of the ambulance staff and plead with him to find me more staff. Even the medics who attended last year have pulled out. I have phoned my competitors and asked them to take over the event, assuring them that the exposure they will get far exceeds the little money they will get paid. Again I am turned down.
Then I receive a SMS from my step-son: “DEPEND ON IT – GOD KEEPS HIS WORD. DOUBT IS A DEMONIC DETOUR. WHEN YOU GET TO WHERE GOD WANTS YOU TO BE, HIS PROVISION WILL ALREADY BE IN PLACE, NO TURNING BACK“.
OK, But I have already prayed and asked…. I am now in panic mode, and I change my requirements from Christian Male Volunteers to Christian Male Medics that will be paid, and eventually to any Male Medic who is prepared to work for money. This will be financial ruin, but I no longer care.
One Day to go. Thursday morning I receive a message that my North Coast manager has managed to find some medics, as has someone in Durban, and 5 are available in Pietermaritzburg. I proceed to Mighty Men to set up the Field Hospital for Friday morning. Buy sunset the first patients arrive, even though we are only on duty from Friday. Already 60 000 men are on site. My ambulance is dispatched immediately to cover the event during the night, and by sunrise 6 patients have been treated, all minor ailments.
Friday morning dawns, without any sleep. Two medics from Durban do not show up, two from North Coast and 3 from Pietermaritzburg. I am left with 20. Not quite what I was hoping for, but manageable all the same. I hate myself for doubting in the first place. However, I am the only paramedic, and should we have to move a serious patient, the event will be left with nothing but ambulance staff. It will just have to do! By 10am the patients are starting to arrive. Flu, runny tummy, asthma, allergy, silly things that mean a lot to the patient, but are not what we are trained for. We need the serious stuff to make our life worth while….. A Provincial Ambulance response vehicle pulls up with a doctor, required by Disaster Management to be in the OPS CENTER in case of disaster. This center is based about 10 meters from our field hospital. The Doctor strolls in and introduces himself in a heavy Zulu accent. Great I think, just what I need, an intern who is forced to do his work at a provincial ambulance service. He promptly announces to the organizers and police manning the OPS Center that should they require him, he will be at the field hospital, and promptly starts to scratch through our equipment. I am too busy to arrange medics at the outstations to worry about him at this stage anyway.
By the time I have everyone arranged, stations worked out, instructions given, I become aware that the Doctor is the only one in the tent, treating patients. I wander across for a closer look, and discover that he is not just handing out the few medications we have, but is actually examining the patients with their aches and pains, and actually treating them. “This simply wont do” he announces, and drives off to Greytown and returns shortly afterwards with half the hospital pharmacy, handing out anti-biotics and medications that you need to study at least 7 years just to pronounce. Wow, now this is what was needed in the first place. In addition, he unpacks ventilators, heart monitors, vital signs monitors etc from his vehicle. When the going gets really tuff, another doctor arrives to help out. Another 3 doctors treat patients at the outposts….”his provision will already be in place!!!!!”
Friday night Angus does a altar call and sees literally 1000’s give their live to the Lord. Awesome! Out the corner of my eye I catch one of my medics holding his hand high up. Wow, and I wanted only Christian medics here. The night offers little sleep. Some patients need hospitalization. There are some broken bones from falls on the motorcycles, some medical cases, all stable, none life threatening. When things do quieten down, I am amazed to see medics sitting in small groups, bible in hand. Words are falling on fertile land everywhere. Another piece of the Lords way falls into place. God has a plan with everything. His way, not ours. Why is this repeated over and over again and again I am still surprised by it.
Saturday morning breaks cool and clear. Soon the heat takes over, but all runs well. The medics are doing their job, the doctor is amazing. The service is electrifying. Men are called to honor God, to put him first, to honor their family. Angus talks of the war that the devil is waging against all believers. We need to be fit to fight the war. He does pushups, runs on the stage, tells us that God loves us and wants a personal relationship with us, and tells us that God talks to us. He tells us to read the bible, and makes us promise that we will. “Good people don’t go to heaven, BELIEVERS go to heaven!”
He tells us how he has had a restless night with no sleep. He has had a fever, but after his wife prayed for him, the fever has left him. He tells us that he is tired, but must fight the war. After 2 hours he is visibly exhausted and after praise and worship we make our way back, slowly, between 200 000 men. No sooner do we reach out tent when a marshal rushes over with the news that we are needed urgently at the main stage for a patient who had collapsed. We make our way back through the endless crowds, eventually reaching the stage, only to find one of our ambulances already there. I find it strange that the patient is under the stage, but push through anyway. Maybe they needed the shade for the patient. Near the entrance I find an elderly gentleman lying on the floor. He is covered in sweat, already has a drip up, and has an oxygen mask on. I kneel down next to him to asses him, and discover it is Angus. Even lying there, he keeps telling us that this is a war, the Devil will attack every where. He explains that he is exhausted! Whilst still lying on the floor he makes plans for the night service. He will take it easy tonight, maybe even sit on a chair whilst preaching. We all know that this will be impossible for him. Even so, we remove the drip and help him to his feet. Outside the stage area, men are praying and singing, and shout and clap when Angus appears. He is taken to his house by car, still weak.
30 minutes after we arrive back at the tent, another usher appears. We need a stretcher urgently at Angus’s house. No other information. Could be someone who has come for prayer, or could be Angus himself. We fly through the crowds. Security men let us through, and we grab the stretcher and jump-bags before rushing into his modest house. The walls are thick, with small windows, and little light. We are spotted and chased out. Once we get out into the light, we are recognized and sent around the house to the front lawn. There we find Angus, on his side, unresponsive, our Zulu Dr and another Dr at his side. The heart monitor is already attached, a new drip running full speed. I ask the doctor for an update. He informs me that Angus collapsed, and glances at the monitor. One look, and my worst fears are realized. The rhythm is very abnormal, with a Inverted “T” wave, typically found with a Heart Attack. I look at the Blood Pressure monitor – More bad news, it reads 80 / 40. The oxygen mask is already on, with all holes masked up to try and increase the concentration of Oxygen delivered to Angus. I have seen this many times before. I know what happens next. These are the precious few seconds we are given to prepare for the inevitable. CPR is just seconds away. Angus has already received his Disprin and TNT Spray to dilate blood-vessels around the heart and assist with the breaking down of blood-clots. He is deeply unconscious. I know the drill, so I pull out my Drug bag and break open the resuscitation drugs we will need shortly. Adrenaline in one syringe, Atropine in another. Calcium Gluconate in a third. To counteract acidosis that occurs during CPR, I set up the Sodium BiCarbonate Drip, but don’t attach it yet. Angus is still going, barely, which gives me a chance to select the tube that will shortly go down his throat to assist in his breathing. I check the equipment to do this with. He is still going, barely. I pull out the paddles from the heart machine, and place the gel next to it. This will be needed to deliver the shocks to his chest to attempt the re-starting of his heart. At this stage Angus’s blood-pressure remains low, despite the drip running full-out. I select another, smaller drip and add to it 4 ampoules of adrenaline. Sometimes this helps to increase the blood-pressure. It seems to be working. His blood-pressure climbs slowly to 100 / 60, still dangerously low, but better. Now we need to decide on how to move him to a specialist as quickly as possible. A helicopter has already landed, but a quick inspection shows that we cannot lie Angus down anywhere inside the cramped aircraft, and his condition is too critical to take a chance. A medical Helicopter is required, and is summonsed. How lucky that I know the manager personally, and can dispense with all formalities of protocols and Guarantees of payments. Is this luck? It leaves immediately.
In the distance, I hear the call over the massive speakers for the men to get together and pray. Tens of Thousands heed the call and move in that direction. Thousands more collect around Angus’s house. Loud prayers are heard everywhere. I am acutely aware of the chill in the air, the clouds that are suddenly building up. THIS IS WAR keeps going through my mind. If this is a war, I am living in the middle of it. This servant of GOD is being struck down.
Angus slowly regains consciousness. His family is by his side. There is no panic, no fear. I have never experienced this before. They are just by his side, holding his hand. Such peace. There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that Angus is about to meet the Lord. The helicopter lands, and another paramedic jumps out. Caleb, one of the best paramedics I know and trust. After a quick handover, Angus is loaded into the Helicopter and takes off. I can still see his face, straining to look out, waving with both hands. I feel exhausted, and spend a long time picking up the medical waste. With a heavy heart I get back to the tent. I am dismayed at the number of people packing up their tents and leaving. At the same time, I have no doubt that Angus will not be back soon, if at all. However, I know that I am not here to meet Angus. I am here to meet Jesus. That night, rumors spread that Angus has been discharged. However, I know better. I was there, I had seen the cardiac rhythm, had seen the low blood-pressure, had personally infused the adrenalin. Either way, I attend the night meeting, and find peace and joy in knowing God.
The next morning I am summonsed to set up a station under the stage. Angus will preach! How can that be? Obviously he has forced himself out of hospital, and barely clinging to life, will now attempt a sermon in spite of his condition! How wrong I am. He arrives with his family and friends, is full of life, kneels and prays before going up to the stage to present his sermon. He talks of his day lying helpless on his lawn, and asks if we are ready to meet the Lord? He was close to meeting him yesterday, but he was healed. The cardiologist ran stress tests; they ran blood tests, and every other conceivable test. Final diagnosis – NOTHING. NO ABNORMALITIES DETECTED. No abnormal chemical levels, no traces of heart damage, NOTHING. He is discharged 3 hours after arriving at the hospital. Either I need to go back to study, because after 25 years I have no idea what I am doing, or accept that God is capable of great miracles. Personally, I believe the latter.
Angus has his preach, and many more give their live to the Lord. It is a war, and those that left before Sunday, are the casualties of this war. Those that stayed saw the greatness of our God. Those that came to meet Angus, were disappointed. Those that came to meet God, met him.
Sunday afternoon comes, and we pack up. We are exhausted, but feel alive. My body tells me it’s been through hell. Every joint aches, every muscle complains. It feels like its been at war. My sole is alive and on fire. God is mighty, He is good. I pay my medics. Total cost? EXACTLY the amount quoted 3 months before the event!!! Travelling costs, meals and disposables will be recovered from the few ambulance transfers done by the ambulance. “….his provision will ALREADY be in place” just does not want to get out of my mind.
At the debrief, we hear of testimonies of men who’s business back home improved dramatically whilst he was serving at Mighty Men, we hear of SMS’s that were received before Angus’s collapse of impending danger, people phoning from around the world with prayers and words of encouragement. What a awesome GOD we serve! We are warned or the devils attack in the week to come, where he will try and destroy all the good that has been done. Already there is talk of Angus having been flown to Hospital with a stroke, that this is done only for money etc. The Devil is at work, and THIS IS WAR. OUR GOD IS GOOD….ALL THE TIME!!!!
In total we treated close to 200 patients. Dr Ntuli was awesome. The experience was great. It allowed me to serve with the gift that God has given me. It allowed me to grow in my faith. Would I do it again? ANYDAY! Should we do it again? The devil will have won the battle in the end if we don’t.
Hans Hartmann
Paramedic
Believer
May 3, 2009
Impressions of a Medic at Mighty Men 09 - 28 April 2009
3 months ago the deal was finalized. I would supply the medical cover at this years event. I was competing against a rival company, and was prepared to equal their quote for 3 vehicles on site. I promise 3 vehicles, but would throw in a field hospital, 2 quads and 10 outstations in at the same price. These would be manned from Friday morning to Sunday night. Having done the event last year, I knew what I was letting myself in for. After all, last year we had 65 000 men attending, and we coped with them with our 10 medics, all volunteers. With the 200 000 expected, we would have many more volunteers, and the money we would be paid, would cover our disposables and travelling expenses, as well as our meals. I planned to discount whatever we did not spend, as this was an event I would not do for money…..
3 days to go. I have not slept very well for the last 3 weeks. I have searched high and low for medics, but have only 3. Myself and one ambulance that I am standing down from my operations. I phone my stepson, who is one of the ambulance staff and plead with him to find me more staff. Even the medics who attended last year have pulled out. I have phoned my competitors and asked them to take over the event, assuring them that the exposure they will get far exceeds the little money they will get paid. Again I am turned down.
Then I receive a SMS from my step-son: “DEPEND ON IT – GOD KEEPS HIS WORD. DOUBT IS A DEMONIC DETOUR. WHEN YOU GET TO WHERE GOD WANTS YOU TO BE, HIS PROVISION WILL ALREADY BE IN PLACE, NO TURNING BACK“.
OK, But I have already prayed and asked…. I am now in panic mode, and I change my requirements from Christian Male Volunteers to Christian Male Medics that will be paid, and eventually to any Male Medic who is prepared to work for money. This will be financial ruin, but I no longer care.
One Day to go. Thursday morning I receive a message that my North Coast manager has managed to find some medics, as has someone in Durban, and 5 are available in Pietermaritzburg. I proceed to Mighty Men to set up the Field Hospital for Friday morning. Buy sunset the first patients arrive, even though we are only on duty from Friday. Already 60 000 men are on site. My ambulance is dispatched immediately to cover the event during the night, and by sunrise 6 patients have been treated, all minor ailments.
Friday morning dawns, without any sleep. Two medics from Durban do not show up, two from North Coast and 3 from Pietermaritzburg. I am left with 20. Not quite what I was hoping for, but manageable all the same. I hate myself for doubting in the first place. However, I am the only paramedic, and should we have to move a serious patient, the event will be left with nothing but ambulance staff. It will just have to do! By 10am the patients are starting to arrive. Flu, runny tummy, asthma, allergy, silly things that mean a lot to the patient, but are not what we are trained for. We need the serious stuff to make our life worth while….. A Provincial Ambulance response vehicle pulls up with a doctor, required by Disaster Management to be in the OPS CENTER in case of disaster. This center is based about 10 meters from our field hospital. The Doctor strolls in and introduces himself in a heavy Zulu accent. Great I think, just what I need, an intern who is forced to do his work at a provincial ambulance service. He promptly announces to the organizers and police manning the OPS Center that should they require him, he will be at the field hospital, and promptly starts to scratch through our equipment. I am too busy to arrange medics at the outstations to worry about him at this stage anyway.
By the time I have everyone arranged, stations worked out, instructions given, I become aware that the Doctor is the only one in the tent, treating patients. I wander across for a closer look, and discover that he is not just handing out the few medications we have, but is actually examining the patients with their aches and pains, and actually treating them. “This simply wont do” he announces, and drives off to Greytown and returns shortly afterwards with half the hospital pharmacy, handing out anti-biotics and medications that you need to study at least 7 years just to pronounce. Wow, now this is what was needed in the first place. In addition, he unpacks ventilators, heart monitors, vital signs monitors etc from his vehicle. When the going gets really tuff, another doctor arrives to help out. Another 3 doctors treat patients at the outposts….”his provision will already be in place!!!!!”
Friday night Angus does a altar call and sees literally 1000’s give their live to the Lord. Awesome! Out the corner of my eye I catch one of my medics holding his hand high up. Wow, and I wanted only Christian medics here. The night offers little sleep. Some patients need hospitalization. There are some broken bones from falls on the motorcycles, some medical cases, all stable, none life threatening. When things do quieten down, I am amazed to see medics sitting in small groups, bible in hand. Words are falling on fertile land everywhere. Another piece of the Lords way falls into place. God has a plan with everything. His way, not ours. Why is this repeated over and over again and again I am still surprised by it.
Saturday morning breaks cool and clear. Soon the heat takes over, but all runs well. The medics are doing their job, the doctor is amazing. The service is electrifying. Men are called to honor God, to put him first, to honor their family. Angus talks of the war that the devil is waging against all believers. We need to be fit to fight the war. He does pushups, runs on the stage, tells us that God loves us and wants a personal relationship with us, and tells us that God talks to us. He tells us to read the bible, and makes us promise that we will. “Good people don’t go to heaven, BELIEVERS go to heaven!”
He tells us how he has had a restless night with no sleep. He has had a fever, but after his wife prayed for him, the fever has left him. He tells us that he is tired, but must fight the war. After 2 hours he is visibly exhausted and after praise and worship we make our way back, slowly, between 200 000 men. No sooner do we reach out tent when a marshal rushes over with the news that we are needed urgently at the main stage for a patient who had collapsed. We make our way back through the endless crowds, eventually reaching the stage, only to find one of our ambulances already there. I find it strange that the patient is under the stage, but push through anyway. Maybe they needed the shade for the patient. Near the entrance I find an elderly gentleman lying on the floor. He is covered in sweat, already has a drip up, and has an oxygen mask on. I kneel down next to him to asses him, and discover it is Angus. Even lying there, he keeps telling us that this is a war, the Devil will attack every where. He explains that he is exhausted! Whilst still lying on the floor he makes plans for the night service. He will take it easy tonight, maybe even sit on a chair whilst preaching. We all know that this will be impossible for him. Even so, we remove the drip and help him to his feet. Outside the stage area, men are praying and singing, and shout and clap when Angus appears. He is taken to his house by car, still weak.
30 minutes after we arrive back at the tent, another usher appears. We need a stretcher urgently at Angus’s house. No other information. Could be someone who has come for prayer, or could be Angus himself. We fly through the crowds. Security men let us through, and we grab the stretcher and jump-bags before rushing into his modest house. The walls are thick, with small windows, and little light. We are spotted and chased out. Once we get out into the light, we are recognized and sent around the house to the front lawn. There we find Angus, on his side, unresponsive, our Zulu Dr and another Dr at his side. The heart monitor is already attached, a new drip running full speed. I ask the doctor for an update. He informs me that Angus collapsed, and glances at the monitor. One look, and my worst fears are realized. The rhythm is very abnormal, with a Inverted “T” wave, typically found with a Heart Attack. I look at the Blood Pressure monitor – More bad news, it reads 80 / 40. The oxygen mask is already on, with all holes masked up to try and increase the concentration of Oxygen delivered to Angus. I have seen this many times before. I know what happens next. These are the precious few seconds we are given to prepare for the inevitable. CPR is just seconds away. Angus has already received his Disprin and TNT Spray to dilate blood-vessels around the heart and assist with the breaking down of blood-clots. He is deeply unconscious. I know the drill, so I pull out my Drug bag and break open the resuscitation drugs we will need shortly. Adrenaline in one syringe, Atropine in another. Calcium Gluconate in a third. To counteract acidosis that occurs during CPR, I set up the Sodium BiCarbonate Drip, but don’t attach it yet. Angus is still going, barely, which gives me a chance to select the tube that will shortly go down his throat to assist in his breathing. I check the equipment to do this with. He is still going, barely. I pull out the paddles from the heart machine, and place the gel next to it. This will be needed to deliver the shocks to his chest to attempt the re-starting of his heart. At this stage Angus’s blood-pressure remains low, despite the drip running full-out. I select another, smaller drip and add to it 4 ampoules of adrenaline. Sometimes this helps to increase the blood-pressure. It seems to be working. His blood-pressure climbs slowly to 100 / 60, still dangerously low, but better. Now we need to decide on how to move him to a specialist as quickly as possible. A helicopter has already landed, but a quick inspection shows that we cannot lie Angus down anywhere inside the cramped aircraft, and his condition is too critical to take a chance. A medical Helicopter is required, and is summonsed. How lucky that I know the manager personally, and can dispense with all formalities of protocols and Guarantees of payments. Is this luck? It leaves immediately.
In the distance, I hear the call over the massive speakers for the men to get together and pray. Tens of Thousands heed the call and move in that direction. Thousands more collect around Angus’s house. Loud prayers are heard everywhere. I am acutely aware of the chill in the air, the clouds that are suddenly building up. THIS IS WAR keeps going through my mind. If this is a war, I am living in the middle of it. This servant of GOD is being struck down.
Angus slowly regains consciousness. His family is by his side. There is no panic, no fear. I have never experienced this before. They are just by his side, holding his hand. Such peace. There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that Angus is about to meet the Lord. The helicopter lands, and another paramedic jumps out. Caleb, one of the best paramedics I know and trust. After a quick handover, Angus is loaded into the Helicopter and takes off. I can still see his face, straining to look out, waving with both hands. I feel exhausted, and spend a long time picking up the medical waste. With a heavy heart I get back to the tent. I am dismayed at the number of people packing up their tents and leaving. At the same time, I have no doubt that Angus will not be back soon, if at all. However, I know that I am not here to meet Angus. I am here to meet Jesus. That night, rumors spread that Angus has been discharged. However, I know better. I was there, I had seen the cardiac rhythm, had seen the low blood-pressure, had personally infused the adrenalin. Either way, I attend the night meeting, and find peace and joy in knowing God.
The next morning I am summonsed to set up a station under the stage. Angus will preach! How can that be? Obviously he has forced himself out of hospital, and barely clinging to life, will now attempt a sermon in spite of his condition! How wrong I am. He arrives with his family and friends, is full of life, kneels and prays before going up to the stage to present his sermon. He talks of his day lying helpless on his lawn, and asks if we are ready to meet the Lord? He was close to meeting him yesterday, but he was healed. The cardiologist ran stress tests; they ran blood tests, and every other conceivable test. Final diagnosis – NOTHING. NO ABNORMALITIES DETECTED. No abnormal chemical levels, no traces of heart damage, NOTHING. He is discharged 3 hours after arriving at the hospital. Either I need to go back to study, because after 25 years I have no idea what I am doing, or accept that God is capable of great miracles. Personally, I believe the latter.
Angus has his preach, and many more give their live to the Lord. It is a war, and those that left before Sunday, are the casualties of this war. Those that stayed saw the greatness of our God. Those that came to meet Angus, were disappointed. Those that came to meet God, met him.
Sunday afternoon comes, and we pack up. We are exhausted, but feel alive. My body tells me it’s been through hell. Every joint aches, every muscle complains. It feels like its been at war. My sole is alive and on fire. God is mighty, He is good. I pay my medics. Total cost? EXACTLY the amount quoted 3 months before the event!!! Travelling costs, meals and disposables will be recovered from the few ambulance transfers done by the ambulance. “….his provision will ALREADY be in place” just does not want to get out of my mind.
At the debrief, we hear of testimonies of men who’s business back home improved dramatically whilst he was serving at Mighty Men, we hear of SMS’s that were received before Angus’s collapse of impending danger, people phoning from around the world with prayers and words of encouragement. What a awesome GOD we serve! We are warned or the devils attack in the week to come, where he will try and destroy all the good that has been done. Already there is talk of Angus having been flown to Hospital with a stroke, that this is done only for money etc. The Devil is at work, and THIS IS WAR. OUR GOD IS GOOD….ALL THE TIME!!!!
In total we treated close to 200 patients. Dr Ntuli was awesome. The experience was great. It allowed me to serve with the gift that God has given me. It allowed me to grow in my faith. Would I do it again? ANYDAY! Should we do it again? The devil will have won the battle in the end if we don’t.
Hans Hartmann
Paramedic
Believer
From the www.churchforall.org
The Message Of Reconciliation
2 CORINTHIANS 5:19 NIV
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not
counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us
the message of reconciliation.
The Good News is about reconciliation between God and man.
Jesus Christ accomplished it.
Mankind was estranged from God. We had gone our own way, were
lost, and couldn't find our way back to fellowship with God.
Fortunately, God loved us and did something to help us.
Two extremely important ideas are presented in the above verse.
First, God is not holding people's sins against them! As far as
God is concerned, Christ's sacrifice paid the penalty for all
sin -- and God considers the world reconciled back to Him.
Second, this wonderful good news of what God has done has been
committed to us. Human beings must tell it. If we don't -- it
won't be told.
People can live and die and never know the glorious truth that
God is not holding any sins against them -- if no one tells
them. They need to know they are forgiven, loved by God, and
welcome to come back into fellowship with Him through Christ.
Think about this: God is interested in reconciliation. Not in
shutting you, or others, out. He is inviting humanity in,
saying all is forgiven.
SAY THIS: Thank You Father God for reconciling me and not
holding my sins against me. Please help me to share this
message with the right people in the right way.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:19 NIV
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not
counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us
the message of reconciliation.
The Good News is about reconciliation between God and man.
Jesus Christ accomplished it.
Mankind was estranged from God. We had gone our own way, were
lost, and couldn't find our way back to fellowship with God.
Fortunately, God loved us and did something to help us.
Two extremely important ideas are presented in the above verse.
First, God is not holding people's sins against them! As far as
God is concerned, Christ's sacrifice paid the penalty for all
sin -- and God considers the world reconciled back to Him.
Second, this wonderful good news of what God has done has been
committed to us. Human beings must tell it. If we don't -- it
won't be told.
People can live and die and never know the glorious truth that
God is not holding any sins against them -- if no one tells
them. They need to know they are forgiven, loved by God, and
welcome to come back into fellowship with Him through Christ.
Think about this: God is interested in reconciliation. Not in
shutting you, or others, out. He is inviting humanity in,
saying all is forgiven.
SAY THIS: Thank You Father God for reconciling me and not
holding my sins against me. Please help me to share this
message with the right people in the right way.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
From Jon Courson www.joncourson.com
My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
James 3:10-12
‘We live in a pleasant area,’ said the men of Jericho to the newly-anointed prophet. ‘But our crops are dying because our water is poisoned.’
So what did Elisha do?
He poured salt into the water, and the water became sweet once again (2 Kings 2).
Salt into polluted water? Yes, because Paul tells us our speech is always to be seasoned with salt, that is grace (Colossians 4:6).
What does this mean? It means that in any given moment, I can bring healing to an otherwise poisonous situation by speaking grace. If I keep talking about how gracious God has been to me, and how gracious He’ll be towards others, the polluted puddles of put-downs and pettiness will become pools of purity and praise.
I want this in my life so badly I can taste it. Oh, I’m far from what I should be — but I see the wisdom of James, for I’ve known people who have refused to listen to gossip and who have instead learned to speak graciously. And there is a beauty about their lives and a refreshment from their lives I so desire. If you want to be the man or woman God uses, join me in praying that we will be those who add the salt of grace to everything we say.
James 3:10-12
‘We live in a pleasant area,’ said the men of Jericho to the newly-anointed prophet. ‘But our crops are dying because our water is poisoned.’
So what did Elisha do?
He poured salt into the water, and the water became sweet once again (2 Kings 2).
Salt into polluted water? Yes, because Paul tells us our speech is always to be seasoned with salt, that is grace (Colossians 4:6).
What does this mean? It means that in any given moment, I can bring healing to an otherwise poisonous situation by speaking grace. If I keep talking about how gracious God has been to me, and how gracious He’ll be towards others, the polluted puddles of put-downs and pettiness will become pools of purity and praise.
I want this in my life so badly I can taste it. Oh, I’m far from what I should be — but I see the wisdom of James, for I’ve known people who have refused to listen to gossip and who have instead learned to speak graciously. And there is a beauty about their lives and a refreshment from their lives I so desire. If you want to be the man or woman God uses, join me in praying that we will be those who add the salt of grace to everything we say.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
From the Church for all - on healing!
Dear ChurchForAll Family,
The world is worried about pandemic swine flu, but we who
are believers should keep our focus on Jesus Christ and His
victory.
Jesus Christ is a healer!
Unfortunately, most people don't yet know that.
So would you please tell all your friends and loved ones about
the free book on healing that is available to them online at
http://healing-book.com ?
Also, remember that you as a believer have the promise of Mark
16:18 that believers "will lay hands on the sick, and they will
recover." This does not promise that people will instantly
receive healing when you lay hands on them, but that they will
recover.
This is a message people need to hear today!
You, as a believer in Jesus Christ, have authority over
sickness and all the works of the enemy. Laying hands in the
Name of Jesus on a person being attacked by sickness is a way
of exercising authority. So be bold in laying hands on sick
people.
When you lay hands on a sick person say something like, "I lay
hands on you in the Name of Jesus Christ and according to the
Word of God in Mark 16:18 you will recover. Sickness leave this
body now. Be healed and healthy in Jesus' Name."
You are a member of the Body of Christ on the earth. You are
the answer to someone's prayer. So go forth boldly and share
the Good News with those who need it!
God bless you,
Dean Wall
http://ChurchForAll.org
The world is worried about pandemic swine flu, but we who
are believers should keep our focus on Jesus Christ and His
victory.
Jesus Christ is a healer!
Unfortunately, most people don't yet know that.
So would you please tell all your friends and loved ones about
the free book on healing that is available to them online at
http://healing-book.com ?
Also, remember that you as a believer have the promise of Mark
16:18 that believers "will lay hands on the sick, and they will
recover." This does not promise that people will instantly
receive healing when you lay hands on them, but that they will
recover.
This is a message people need to hear today!
You, as a believer in Jesus Christ, have authority over
sickness and all the works of the enemy. Laying hands in the
Name of Jesus on a person being attacked by sickness is a way
of exercising authority. So be bold in laying hands on sick
people.
When you lay hands on a sick person say something like, "I lay
hands on you in the Name of Jesus Christ and according to the
Word of God in Mark 16:18 you will recover. Sickness leave this
body now. Be healed and healthy in Jesus' Name."
You are a member of the Body of Christ on the earth. You are
the answer to someone's prayer. So go forth boldly and share
the Good News with those who need it!
God bless you,
Dean Wall
http://ChurchForAll.org
Thursday, November 5, 2009
From the beautiful Osborns: http://osbornministries.blogspot.com/2009/11/your-debt-is-wiped-out.html
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Your Debt Is Wiped Out
The word “forgiven” means “to grant relief from payment of a debt or obligation.” Jesus Christ paid our debt for us. The penalty of our sins is paid in full, like a debt that has been paid off.
Jesus assumed our guilt and suffered the full penalty of our sins, in our name, in our place.
The entire debt against the one who believes on Christ is wiped out. There is absolutely no sin which can be held against anyone who believes in Jesus Christ. Such a person shall never have to face God’s judgment for sin. Jesus did that, in our name, when He suffered the judgment of our sins in His death for us on the cross.
Jesus said, I say emphatically that anyone who believes in God who sent me has eternal life. And will never be damned ( or condemned or judged) for his or her sins, but has already passed out of death into life. –John 5:24LB
There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, -Romans 8:1 for show shall accuse those whom God has chosen? God himself declares them not guilty! Can anyone, then, condemn them?...Jesus Christ is the one who died (for them) who then can separate us from the love of Christ? –Romans 8:33-35
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. -Psalm 103: 12
God’s big love-plan provides the way for us to be restored to God as though no sin had ever been committed.
Your Debt Is Wiped Out
The word “forgiven” means “to grant relief from payment of a debt or obligation.” Jesus Christ paid our debt for us. The penalty of our sins is paid in full, like a debt that has been paid off.
Jesus assumed our guilt and suffered the full penalty of our sins, in our name, in our place.
The entire debt against the one who believes on Christ is wiped out. There is absolutely no sin which can be held against anyone who believes in Jesus Christ. Such a person shall never have to face God’s judgment for sin. Jesus did that, in our name, when He suffered the judgment of our sins in His death for us on the cross.
Jesus said, I say emphatically that anyone who believes in God who sent me has eternal life. And will never be damned ( or condemned or judged) for his or her sins, but has already passed out of death into life. –John 5:24LB
There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, -Romans 8:1 for show shall accuse those whom God has chosen? God himself declares them not guilty! Can anyone, then, condemn them?...Jesus Christ is the one who died (for them) who then can separate us from the love of Christ? –Romans 8:33-35
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. -Psalm 103: 12
God’s big love-plan provides the way for us to be restored to God as though no sin had ever been committed.
The New Covenant - article from www.deloreswinder.com
The New Covenant
The New Covenant is an unconditional one. It is the fulfillment of all God promised us through the sacrifice of Jesus. The new Covenant is for Jews and Gentiles alike.
In the New Covenant, God proves what he can do for man, even knowing we are unfaithful and weak. The New Covenant will never be broken; it is an everlasting covenant.
Jeremiah 31:31-33 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, "declares the LORD."This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD."I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Hebrews 8:7-13 “For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
What is the New Covenant?
The New Covenant is a bloodshed covenant through Jesus. It is the fulfillment of the Old and New Testament promises made by God to man. It is an unconditional covenant because no matter what we do, once we allow the Lord to enter our hearts, that covenant cannot be broken. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. He, who had no sin, took on all of our sins when he died for us. When we give our life to Him we enter into covenant. Covenant says “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and Jesus meant that when He died for us. He is always there even when we feel far from Him. Jesus will rescue us in our time of need. All we have to do is call out to Him and He will appear. A covenant is an agreement, and because this one is an unconditional one, Jesus cannot get out of it even if he wanted to. He promised to be there always and forever and He will because He loves us with an everlasting, unconditional love.
God declares what he will do to those who trust in Him.
John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me will I never drive away.”
John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”
Now, mankind has a responsibility to believe in Jesus because He died for us.
The New Covenant came about by the sacrifice of Jesus.
Romans 8:2-4 “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”
Galatians 3:13-29 secures the eternal blessing under the Abrahamic Covenant, and of all who believe.
The new covenant is for Jews and Gentiles alike. This is the uniting of the people of God- Jews and Gentiles who believe and accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Hebrews 8:8 But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
The Blessings of the New Covenant:
After we enter into the New Covenant with Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to be here with us at all times. “I will not leave you alone.” John 14-17 The Holy Spirit brings gifts for our use to glorify God, and His people. Jesus truly is the Lord of all Lords and the King of all Kings!
o Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
o 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”
The Kingdom of God is ours. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added unto you!
o Matthew 6:33-34 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
The New Covenant gives us life, blessings, and freedom through Jesus. He said, “Abundant life” here on earth. Abundant life means living life to the fullest through Him. Because of Jesus our best days are ahead of us. Most of us do not appropriate all the life and power that was purchased through His death and resurrection.
o John 8:31-32, 36 “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
o John 8:36” So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
o John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Living life on the earth for the Lord means He will never leave us or forsake us. Then when we die, we go into eternity to be with Him. What could be better than that?
o Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
http://www.deloreswinder.com/PDF/Covenants/The%20New%20Covenant.pdf
The New Covenant is an unconditional one. It is the fulfillment of all God promised us through the sacrifice of Jesus. The new Covenant is for Jews and Gentiles alike.
In the New Covenant, God proves what he can do for man, even knowing we are unfaithful and weak. The New Covenant will never be broken; it is an everlasting covenant.
Jeremiah 31:31-33 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, "declares the LORD."This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD."I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Hebrews 8:7-13 “For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
What is the New Covenant?
The New Covenant is a bloodshed covenant through Jesus. It is the fulfillment of the Old and New Testament promises made by God to man. It is an unconditional covenant because no matter what we do, once we allow the Lord to enter our hearts, that covenant cannot be broken. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. He, who had no sin, took on all of our sins when he died for us. When we give our life to Him we enter into covenant. Covenant says “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and Jesus meant that when He died for us. He is always there even when we feel far from Him. Jesus will rescue us in our time of need. All we have to do is call out to Him and He will appear. A covenant is an agreement, and because this one is an unconditional one, Jesus cannot get out of it even if he wanted to. He promised to be there always and forever and He will because He loves us with an everlasting, unconditional love.
God declares what he will do to those who trust in Him.
John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me will I never drive away.”
John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”
Now, mankind has a responsibility to believe in Jesus because He died for us.
The New Covenant came about by the sacrifice of Jesus.
Romans 8:2-4 “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”
Galatians 3:13-29 secures the eternal blessing under the Abrahamic Covenant, and of all who believe.
The new covenant is for Jews and Gentiles alike. This is the uniting of the people of God- Jews and Gentiles who believe and accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Hebrews 8:8 But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
The Blessings of the New Covenant:
After we enter into the New Covenant with Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to be here with us at all times. “I will not leave you alone.” John 14-17 The Holy Spirit brings gifts for our use to glorify God, and His people. Jesus truly is the Lord of all Lords and the King of all Kings!
o Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
o 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”
The Kingdom of God is ours. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added unto you!
o Matthew 6:33-34 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
The New Covenant gives us life, blessings, and freedom through Jesus. He said, “Abundant life” here on earth. Abundant life means living life to the fullest through Him. Because of Jesus our best days are ahead of us. Most of us do not appropriate all the life and power that was purchased through His death and resurrection.
o John 8:31-32, 36 “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
o John 8:36” So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
o John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Living life on the earth for the Lord means He will never leave us or forsake us. Then when we die, we go into eternity to be with Him. What could be better than that?
o Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
http://www.deloreswinder.com/PDF/Covenants/The%20New%20Covenant.pdf
From www.churchforall.org on words
Your Words Are Important
MATTHEW 12:36-37 NIV
36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day
of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words
you will be condemned."
Few people realize the importance of the words they speak.
There is almost no way to overemphasize the importance of what
we say. Yet most people give it almost no thought -- usually
speaking without even thinking.
Jesus came from Heaven and revealed to us that words are
important. Very important. The Bible has much to say on this
subject. We ignore it at our own peril.
You may not be familiar with what the Bible says about the
importance of words, but if you knew only the verse above,
Matthew 12:36-37, that should be enough to convince you. Your
judgment will be determined by the words you have spoken.
Certainly, this is not a negative message. When we understand
the importance and power of words, we can use them for good.
The Bible says death and life are in the power of the tongue
(Proverbs 18:21). Just as fire can cause great destruction,
tamed and controlled it can be a great blessing to us. So it is
with words. Life is in the power of the tongue. That means life
is controlled by words.
I repeat: life is controlled by words. Words release authority.
Words determine the course of events. Words matter.
What should you do about this?
First, you need to study what the Bible says about words. Jesus
said if you continue in His Word you would know the truth and
the truth would make you free (John 8:31-32).
Also, you need to ask the Lord to teach you and help you to
speak correctly -- because we must have God's help to tame our
tongue.
SAY THIS: Lord, please teach me and help me to speak the right
words.
["ps.Of course this does not mean that we speak in formulas but that we speak from loving-kindness with empowering intentions" - added by the owner of the www.loveforsummer.blogspot.com blog]
MATTHEW 12:36-37 NIV
36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day
of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words
you will be condemned."
Few people realize the importance of the words they speak.
There is almost no way to overemphasize the importance of what
we say. Yet most people give it almost no thought -- usually
speaking without even thinking.
Jesus came from Heaven and revealed to us that words are
important. Very important. The Bible has much to say on this
subject. We ignore it at our own peril.
You may not be familiar with what the Bible says about the
importance of words, but if you knew only the verse above,
Matthew 12:36-37, that should be enough to convince you. Your
judgment will be determined by the words you have spoken.
Certainly, this is not a negative message. When we understand
the importance and power of words, we can use them for good.
The Bible says death and life are in the power of the tongue
(Proverbs 18:21). Just as fire can cause great destruction,
tamed and controlled it can be a great blessing to us. So it is
with words. Life is in the power of the tongue. That means life
is controlled by words.
I repeat: life is controlled by words. Words release authority.
Words determine the course of events. Words matter.
What should you do about this?
First, you need to study what the Bible says about words. Jesus
said if you continue in His Word you would know the truth and
the truth would make you free (John 8:31-32).
Also, you need to ask the Lord to teach you and help you to
speak correctly -- because we must have God's help to tame our
tongue.
SAY THIS: Lord, please teach me and help me to speak the right
words.
["ps.Of course this does not mean that we speak in formulas but that we speak from loving-kindness with empowering intentions" - added by the owner of the www.loveforsummer.blogspot.com blog]
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Jeff or Liz Harshbarger pointed this article by Bob Dwaay out to me.
A Biblically based commentary on current issues that impact you
Inner Healing
How God Heals the Soul
by Bob DeWaay
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives, And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."(Isaiah 61:1-3)
The focus of the last several issues of CIC has been Biblical counseling, specifically as it concerns sin as the basic root problem of all human beings. There is another important related issue: things that have happened to a person over which he or she had no control. Clearly, because of the fallen world in which we live, all people have experienced hurtful or traumatic events that have a lasting influence on them. God gave us the ability to remember the past. Sometimes these memories are painful. What help or remedy does the Bible offer to those who are hurting emotionally from unchosen experiences?
Jesus Heals the Soul Jesus quoted part of the prophetic passage referenced above as he read from the book of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth, His home town. He made a startling claim to His friends and relatives, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21). The Anointed One (Messiah) had come to set people free. The poor, the captives, the downtrodden, the blind, and all those who have suffered in this life hear the good news of deliverance through Israel's promised Messiah. The "favorable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:19) is a reference to the year of Jubilee when every Israelite who had become enslaved was to be set free. The Anointed One of God had come to bring freedom to those suffering the consequences of past events over which they never or no longer had any control.
In 1976 I was asked to teach a class on inner healing for people being trained to be phone counselors for a Christian crisis line. I had not read any of the books that were then becoming popular on inner healing. I used the King James Bible at the time that included the phrase "to bind up the broken hearted" (from Isaiah 61:1) in Luke 4:18. I reasoned that if Jesus said He came to heal the broken hearted, He must have done so. I then proceeded with a study of the ministry and teaching of Jesus Christ to hurting people as recorded in the Gospels. Little did I realize that I was avoiding much error and confusion by using this simple approach rather than following the teachings of the inner healers who were to become popular in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The outline from which I taught included the following seven points: repentance, forgiveness, confession, right relationships to the body of Christ (being a part of God's family), the renewal of the mind through God's word, deliverance, and faith. These were the things that Jesus did and taught as He ministered to hurting people. This simple approach will always be valid because it is based on timeless truths that are foundational to Biblical Christianity.
Why the Confusion
Confusion over inner healing has multiplied to this day. It is not that Christ does not heal the inner person, but popular teachers who joined certain Biblical concepts with deterministic, psychological theories so defined "inner healing" in the popular arena that the term became obscured and perhaps tainted. It was taught that past events, even events that happened in our mother's womb, determine who and what we are. It was taught that we have a "subconscious mind" (equated by some with the Biblical word "heart") with unknown content that determines our thoughts and actions. It was taught that we need a "healer" who can use personal revelation to discover forgotten events of our past and thereby deliver us from their influence.
It was taught that unknown "curses" placed upon us from previous generations determine our attitudes and actions until such time that an inner healer can ascertain the source of the curses and break them. It was taught that we must "visualize Jesus." This visualized Jesus would take us on a journey back through our childhood. Some Christians were taken by a counselor on a journey starting from the point of conception, month by month, year by year, identifying and healing each hurt (discovered by supernatural revelation) until they were finally (after months and years of therapy) freed from the past. The first trip through the past often did not work, requiring another inner healer who could go through the process again, finding things missed by the first healer.
These are only a few examples of the many teachings that have made their way through the popular Christian press and counseling room during the last few decades. Now, newer versions are arising, taking their cue from the recovery movement and the dysfunctional family approaches that have eclipsed the earlier versions of inner healing. The recovery of the "inner child" is now a hot item in religious circles. Our problems are deemed to have come from parents who messed up the sinless, pristine child which we were by nature (this of course is a denial of the sin nature).
What these theories have in common is that they are not what Jesus taught and not what He did. Mark succinctly tells of Jesus' message, "And after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, `The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1:14,- 15). Repentance for the forgiveness of sins does result in inner healing! People have been hurt and abused by others. People have suffered traumas that were not caused by their own sin. People have been rejected by family members. However, we all must enter the kingdom the same way, by faith through grace. Jesus said "repent and believe the gospel," not "repent and believe the gospel unless you are a victim of someone else's wrong doing." Jesus' message is compassionate. It puts us all on the same level of need. Those who suffered the most are often those who responded most readily to Messiah. The "healthy" did not see their need for a physician. God calls the hurting, rejected, downtrodden, and hopeless to Himself, and many of them respond (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-30). Others are called, but many fail to heed the call due to self-sufficiency or self-righteousness.
Forgiveness and Inner Healing
A fundamental aspect of inner healing is that Christ offers us healing of our inner person; but to obtain it requires forgiveness. Jesus forgave sins and He taught His followers that they must forgive. We cannot change the past because it is forever locked in history; but we can change our relationship to the past! This is what forgiveness does. Forgiveness deals with our own sin and what was done to us. Just as there is no depth of sin that the blood of Jesus cannot cleanse, there is no hurt inflicted upon us so great that He does not ask us to forgive.
The classic passage of Scripture about this is Matthew 18:23-35. Jesus used this parable to illustrate the need to forgive. A man who had been forgiven a huge debt later re- fused to forgive some else who owed him a small debt. The meaning of the parable is that God forgave us a enormous debt (our sin against Him) and therefore we must forgive people who "owe" us. The Lord's prayer involves a commitment to this type of forgiveness. Many stumble over this because they erroneously think that forgiveness is a feeling or an erasure of the past. Forgiveness is an act of the will (enabled by God's grace) that releases another person from debt. It is like a financial transaction. The forgiveness of a financial debt involves a commitment never to seek to collect on the note again - it becomes history.
Forgiveness of a wrong someone has done to us involves a commitment to release that person from the responsibility of repayment and to live life without blaming that person for one's present condition. We cannot erase the past or blank out memories of it because the past is fixed in history and God created us with the ability to remember. The good news is that our motivation and perspective can change.
Joseph's response to his brothers who had done him much harm and injustice serves as a wonderful example of a gracious, faith-filled response to wrongs one has suffered. It is recorded in these two passages: "And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. . . And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive" (Genesis 45:5; 50:20).
This attitude of forgiveness toward others and faith in God is a great deliverance because harboring unforgiveness and bitterness causes one to be held in perpetual bondage to the past. This attitude often results in personal failures because a person carries around a load of excuses (the things people did) and reasons why the person is not responsible for his or her own actions and attitudes. Forgiveness releases us from the past not by changing or erasing the past, but by changing our relationship to it. Now those things people may have meant for evil are viewed as things that God sovereignly allowed and will ultimately use for His glory and our greater good!
God Changes Us
The fact that the past is unchangeable causes hopelessness only if we believe the deterministic lies of our modern culture. I once heard an inner healing teacher state, "we are the sum total of our experiences." Wherever he got that statement, it does not reflect a Biblical view of man. It is mechanistic, like saying that the input equals the output; as if we are determined by the laws of the conservation of matter and the conservation of energy. This de-humanizing concept is much less than the Biblical view of man created in God's image. We are more that our experiences and memories, we have the ability to love God and love our neighbors that is not determined by the past -- it is a part of what being human is in its essence. The fallenness that has perverted and distorted this capacity to love and relate has not obliterated it beyond remedy.
God loves us and we can love Him through the Holy Spirit whom He has given us - Romans 5:5. The commands to love God and others summarize the requirements of the law (Matthew 22:37-40). Those who walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh are characterized by love (see Galatians 5:13-16). The events of the past cannot keep the child of God from God's love! (Romans 8:33-39)The Bible teaches that God's love is revealed to us through the person of Jesus the Messiah (see John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16). Jesus said that He would set free the downtrodden and that He does. The message of God's love revealed through Messiah is neither trite nor impertinent.
We stumble over the simple things as we seek those which are hopelessly complex and confusing. This is the tragedy of the inner healing movement in its excesses. Seeking to analyze and comprehend things that defy understanding will confuse people as they search for healing. Jesus' teaching to needy people like the immoral woman who cried on His feet (Luke 7:37-50), the Samaritan woman (John 4), and blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52) was very simple and compassionate. The complex, modern theories now taught have little or no similarity to the teaching and ministry of Jesus. Do they work as well?
Doubtless I will be accused of trivializing the nature of the problem and the complexity of the human situation. I realize that life is complex. The variables are many and no two people are the same. There are more intricacies in the inner workings of the human heart than we can possibly comprehend. However, the issue is how we approach healing. Is it possible that we will never comprehend the complex maize of factors that makes each human unique?
The problem with inner healing theories that depend upon often secret, revelational knowledge of hidden processes of the mind and dimly remembered or forgotten events of the pass is that they give no assurance that the healing process is or ever will be complete. Those who have an inner healer take them on a journey through their past can only possibly be touching a tiny fraction of all the experiences, remembered or forgotten, that influenced them. We continue to have more experiences moment to moment and these influence us. If we had a one hour counseling session each week, we would be losing ground. Most people have at least an hour of negative experiences of some sort each week! Healing is not based on memories, knowledge, utterances, or psychic processes, it is based on a relationship with Messiah.
Grace and Inner Healing
God alone knows the desperate condition of the heart (Jeremiah 17:9,10). When we can look at our past as Joseph did, even when purposeful wrong doing has been perpe- trated upon us, and say "God sent me," we are experiencing God's healing. The situation is so complex that only a supernatural remedy will suffice. The inner healing remedy of Scripture is a remedy of God's grace revealed through the crucified Messiah.
Often grace is thought of only in terms of personal salvation. The New Testament word for grace comes from a root that means "gift." God gives us, in Christ, that which we did not deserve and could not attain. Grace is not only unmerited favor, but it is enabling power. Grace that is sufficient is grace that is efficacious. At issue in inner healing are those un- pleasant and seemingly harmful past experiences that we cannot change. Often the events of the past have left us changed in many ways, physically and emotionally. God heals us by changing our relationship to the past. We change from being bitter victims to thankful victors!
Paul said that "forgetting what lies behind", he pressed on toward the goal (Philippians 3:13). This does not mean an inability to recall the past as is shown by Philippians 3:4-7 in which he tells of his past. It means that the past now has a different significance. Paul was doubtless influenced by his training under Gamaliel and his rigid background as a Pharisee, as well as his sin of persecuting the church. This past made up part of what made Paul who he was; yet they were not the determinative things! "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10). Grace was the factor that determined the condition of the redeemed Paul; but this grace did not lessen Paul's responsibility to work hard in obedience to God by the grace of God.
Inner healing does not necessitate changing the past or "deprogramming" ourselves. We were not "programmed" like a computer to begin with. Inner healing requires forgiveness, faith, relationship with God and His people, and a life of o bedience by God's grace. We are responsible moral agents, offered grace and forgiveness through the work of Christ. We are not programmed robots mechanistically trudging through life until someone tinkers with the program to make us mechanistically go in some new, determined direction.
When Jesus heals us from the bondage of the past, grace becomes the significant factor in our lives, taking those things about us from the unchangeable past and making them opportu- nities for God's use. God can use the tax gatherer, the fisherman, and even the Pharisee; but only when they are crucified tax gathers, fishermen and Pharisees. Grace does not mean the past does not influence us, it means that it does not determine us in an evil way. The scars that persist can be marks of God's mercy rather than marks of self-conscious shame.
In 2 Corinthians 12, God answered Paul's request for the removal of his "thorn in the flesh" as follows: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weak- ness" (verse 9). The issue was not forgiveness of sins, but living in the present with an unchangeable weakness. If there are things about us that we cannot change and God does not change, these are candidates for grace. Grace turns the weakness into a testimony of God's power.
I have counseled people who have suffered with many unchangeable things that persist from past events. Some have lost families, with no possibility of reconciliation. Some have memories of things they wish never happened. Yet each one can find the grace that God has to live in His power now. We remember the past, we even live with certain conse- quences of the past (some Christians are serving God in jail with life sentences) but we are not doomed by the past. God gives grace that His will might be done in our lives now. Is this not His ultimate purpose for us, that we might love Him, our neighbor, and live for His glory?
Providence and Inner Healing
Providence is God's sovereign hand that works all things together for His purpose and the ultimate good of His people. We must believe that what God has allowed, He has allowed for a greater purpose and for our ultimate good. Some ridicule this notion, but it is Biblical. God allowed wicked men to crucify Messiah for the greater good of our eternal redemption (Acts 2:22-24). We reject the Biblical teaching on providence to our own loss and to the depreciation of the message of Scripture. We gladly see God's hand in the rain that falls on the crops, but see the drought as evil that is somehow outside God's control and providential purpose. "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). We cannot say that we sought God and He did not reward us because He did not change things that we thought He should have changed.
Some have taught that we must "forgive God" for allowing negative circumstances. I recoil at this notion because it seems to presuppose that God has done evil. Romans 8:18-39 teaches God's good purpose for us that is being providentially worked out. God has done all things right and deserves our worship but needs not forgiveness from man. We need His forgiveness! Since God has never done anything wrong or to our detriment, we must worship Him and confess His goodness. How God can use us in spite of our own past sin and the evil motives of others is beyond complete explanation, but we know it is true.
1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Everyone has regrets, yet God is greater that our sin and has provided for forgiveness and redemption. There are often "scars," residual damages we carry around physically and mentally because of our previous rebellion. God graciously uses us in spite of these things and sees us spotless, holy, and acceptable in Christ. Practically, the Holy Spirit is at work to enable us to obey God now in spite of hindrances and handicaps form the past.
Paul said ". . .but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20b). Biblical counsel involves starting where we are now and going on by grace. The feeling of being unworthy, yet thankful is a good one. 1 Timothy 1:15, "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all."
The Promise of Inner Healing
We read in Isaiah 61:1-3 (referenced in Luke 4:18,19 by Christ) that He, Messiah, came to heal the broken hearted, the downtrodden, the poor, and whoever may be in bondage due to things past. We can be assured that He did and does just what He promised. We can be assured that the promise of these passages did not sit ineffective and unapplied for centuries of church history until the modern inner healing movement happened in the last two decades. Jesus healed the brokenness of people's hearts in His own ministry, and has done so for those who have fallen upon Him in faith and dependence throughout the church age. He takes our wretchedness and gives us a new life of meaning and eternal relationship.
The issue of inner healing is not "how to" (as the titles of the pop books suggest) but who. We do not have an engineering problem, but a relational problem. Human beings are relational beings, made to love God and others. Inner healing involves a supernatural renovation of our relationships, beginning with our relationship with God. It is not totally complete until the resurrection of the dead, but it is substantial and effectual now. Our relationship to the past is changed, though the past itself remains the same.
When viewed through the eyes of faith, those things that we thought were the worst evils that caused hopelessness and despair turn out to be the very things God turns to His good purpose. We could say that inner healing is re-relationship. We are re-related to God, others, and our own past. This happens through the agency of the crucified Messiah. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me" (Galatians 2:20). God has a new life for us, just as we are, the past as it is, but changed and transformed through His supernatural, renovating work of grace.
Inner Healing
How God Heals the Soul
by Bob DeWaay
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives, And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."(Isaiah 61:1-3)
The focus of the last several issues of CIC has been Biblical counseling, specifically as it concerns sin as the basic root problem of all human beings. There is another important related issue: things that have happened to a person over which he or she had no control. Clearly, because of the fallen world in which we live, all people have experienced hurtful or traumatic events that have a lasting influence on them. God gave us the ability to remember the past. Sometimes these memories are painful. What help or remedy does the Bible offer to those who are hurting emotionally from unchosen experiences?
Jesus Heals the Soul Jesus quoted part of the prophetic passage referenced above as he read from the book of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth, His home town. He made a startling claim to His friends and relatives, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21). The Anointed One (Messiah) had come to set people free. The poor, the captives, the downtrodden, the blind, and all those who have suffered in this life hear the good news of deliverance through Israel's promised Messiah. The "favorable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:19) is a reference to the year of Jubilee when every Israelite who had become enslaved was to be set free. The Anointed One of God had come to bring freedom to those suffering the consequences of past events over which they never or no longer had any control.
In 1976 I was asked to teach a class on inner healing for people being trained to be phone counselors for a Christian crisis line. I had not read any of the books that were then becoming popular on inner healing. I used the King James Bible at the time that included the phrase "to bind up the broken hearted" (from Isaiah 61:1) in Luke 4:18. I reasoned that if Jesus said He came to heal the broken hearted, He must have done so. I then proceeded with a study of the ministry and teaching of Jesus Christ to hurting people as recorded in the Gospels. Little did I realize that I was avoiding much error and confusion by using this simple approach rather than following the teachings of the inner healers who were to become popular in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The outline from which I taught included the following seven points: repentance, forgiveness, confession, right relationships to the body of Christ (being a part of God's family), the renewal of the mind through God's word, deliverance, and faith. These were the things that Jesus did and taught as He ministered to hurting people. This simple approach will always be valid because it is based on timeless truths that are foundational to Biblical Christianity.
Why the Confusion
Confusion over inner healing has multiplied to this day. It is not that Christ does not heal the inner person, but popular teachers who joined certain Biblical concepts with deterministic, psychological theories so defined "inner healing" in the popular arena that the term became obscured and perhaps tainted. It was taught that past events, even events that happened in our mother's womb, determine who and what we are. It was taught that we have a "subconscious mind" (equated by some with the Biblical word "heart") with unknown content that determines our thoughts and actions. It was taught that we need a "healer" who can use personal revelation to discover forgotten events of our past and thereby deliver us from their influence.
It was taught that unknown "curses" placed upon us from previous generations determine our attitudes and actions until such time that an inner healer can ascertain the source of the curses and break them. It was taught that we must "visualize Jesus." This visualized Jesus would take us on a journey back through our childhood. Some Christians were taken by a counselor on a journey starting from the point of conception, month by month, year by year, identifying and healing each hurt (discovered by supernatural revelation) until they were finally (after months and years of therapy) freed from the past. The first trip through the past often did not work, requiring another inner healer who could go through the process again, finding things missed by the first healer.
These are only a few examples of the many teachings that have made their way through the popular Christian press and counseling room during the last few decades. Now, newer versions are arising, taking their cue from the recovery movement and the dysfunctional family approaches that have eclipsed the earlier versions of inner healing. The recovery of the "inner child" is now a hot item in religious circles. Our problems are deemed to have come from parents who messed up the sinless, pristine child which we were by nature (this of course is a denial of the sin nature).
What these theories have in common is that they are not what Jesus taught and not what He did. Mark succinctly tells of Jesus' message, "And after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, `The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1:14,- 15). Repentance for the forgiveness of sins does result in inner healing! People have been hurt and abused by others. People have suffered traumas that were not caused by their own sin. People have been rejected by family members. However, we all must enter the kingdom the same way, by faith through grace. Jesus said "repent and believe the gospel," not "repent and believe the gospel unless you are a victim of someone else's wrong doing." Jesus' message is compassionate. It puts us all on the same level of need. Those who suffered the most are often those who responded most readily to Messiah. The "healthy" did not see their need for a physician. God calls the hurting, rejected, downtrodden, and hopeless to Himself, and many of them respond (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-30). Others are called, but many fail to heed the call due to self-sufficiency or self-righteousness.
Forgiveness and Inner Healing
A fundamental aspect of inner healing is that Christ offers us healing of our inner person; but to obtain it requires forgiveness. Jesus forgave sins and He taught His followers that they must forgive. We cannot change the past because it is forever locked in history; but we can change our relationship to the past! This is what forgiveness does. Forgiveness deals with our own sin and what was done to us. Just as there is no depth of sin that the blood of Jesus cannot cleanse, there is no hurt inflicted upon us so great that He does not ask us to forgive.
The classic passage of Scripture about this is Matthew 18:23-35. Jesus used this parable to illustrate the need to forgive. A man who had been forgiven a huge debt later re- fused to forgive some else who owed him a small debt. The meaning of the parable is that God forgave us a enormous debt (our sin against Him) and therefore we must forgive people who "owe" us. The Lord's prayer involves a commitment to this type of forgiveness. Many stumble over this because they erroneously think that forgiveness is a feeling or an erasure of the past. Forgiveness is an act of the will (enabled by God's grace) that releases another person from debt. It is like a financial transaction. The forgiveness of a financial debt involves a commitment never to seek to collect on the note again - it becomes history.
Forgiveness of a wrong someone has done to us involves a commitment to release that person from the responsibility of repayment and to live life without blaming that person for one's present condition. We cannot erase the past or blank out memories of it because the past is fixed in history and God created us with the ability to remember. The good news is that our motivation and perspective can change.
Joseph's response to his brothers who had done him much harm and injustice serves as a wonderful example of a gracious, faith-filled response to wrongs one has suffered. It is recorded in these two passages: "And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. . . And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive" (Genesis 45:5; 50:20).
This attitude of forgiveness toward others and faith in God is a great deliverance because harboring unforgiveness and bitterness causes one to be held in perpetual bondage to the past. This attitude often results in personal failures because a person carries around a load of excuses (the things people did) and reasons why the person is not responsible for his or her own actions and attitudes. Forgiveness releases us from the past not by changing or erasing the past, but by changing our relationship to it. Now those things people may have meant for evil are viewed as things that God sovereignly allowed and will ultimately use for His glory and our greater good!
God Changes Us
The fact that the past is unchangeable causes hopelessness only if we believe the deterministic lies of our modern culture. I once heard an inner healing teacher state, "we are the sum total of our experiences." Wherever he got that statement, it does not reflect a Biblical view of man. It is mechanistic, like saying that the input equals the output; as if we are determined by the laws of the conservation of matter and the conservation of energy. This de-humanizing concept is much less than the Biblical view of man created in God's image. We are more that our experiences and memories, we have the ability to love God and love our neighbors that is not determined by the past -- it is a part of what being human is in its essence. The fallenness that has perverted and distorted this capacity to love and relate has not obliterated it beyond remedy.
God loves us and we can love Him through the Holy Spirit whom He has given us - Romans 5:5. The commands to love God and others summarize the requirements of the law (Matthew 22:37-40). Those who walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh are characterized by love (see Galatians 5:13-16). The events of the past cannot keep the child of God from God's love! (Romans 8:33-39)The Bible teaches that God's love is revealed to us through the person of Jesus the Messiah (see John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16). Jesus said that He would set free the downtrodden and that He does. The message of God's love revealed through Messiah is neither trite nor impertinent.
We stumble over the simple things as we seek those which are hopelessly complex and confusing. This is the tragedy of the inner healing movement in its excesses. Seeking to analyze and comprehend things that defy understanding will confuse people as they search for healing. Jesus' teaching to needy people like the immoral woman who cried on His feet (Luke 7:37-50), the Samaritan woman (John 4), and blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52) was very simple and compassionate. The complex, modern theories now taught have little or no similarity to the teaching and ministry of Jesus. Do they work as well?
Doubtless I will be accused of trivializing the nature of the problem and the complexity of the human situation. I realize that life is complex. The variables are many and no two people are the same. There are more intricacies in the inner workings of the human heart than we can possibly comprehend. However, the issue is how we approach healing. Is it possible that we will never comprehend the complex maize of factors that makes each human unique?
The problem with inner healing theories that depend upon often secret, revelational knowledge of hidden processes of the mind and dimly remembered or forgotten events of the pass is that they give no assurance that the healing process is or ever will be complete. Those who have an inner healer take them on a journey through their past can only possibly be touching a tiny fraction of all the experiences, remembered or forgotten, that influenced them. We continue to have more experiences moment to moment and these influence us. If we had a one hour counseling session each week, we would be losing ground. Most people have at least an hour of negative experiences of some sort each week! Healing is not based on memories, knowledge, utterances, or psychic processes, it is based on a relationship with Messiah.
Grace and Inner Healing
God alone knows the desperate condition of the heart (Jeremiah 17:9,10). When we can look at our past as Joseph did, even when purposeful wrong doing has been perpe- trated upon us, and say "God sent me," we are experiencing God's healing. The situation is so complex that only a supernatural remedy will suffice. The inner healing remedy of Scripture is a remedy of God's grace revealed through the crucified Messiah.
Often grace is thought of only in terms of personal salvation. The New Testament word for grace comes from a root that means "gift." God gives us, in Christ, that which we did not deserve and could not attain. Grace is not only unmerited favor, but it is enabling power. Grace that is sufficient is grace that is efficacious. At issue in inner healing are those un- pleasant and seemingly harmful past experiences that we cannot change. Often the events of the past have left us changed in many ways, physically and emotionally. God heals us by changing our relationship to the past. We change from being bitter victims to thankful victors!
Paul said that "forgetting what lies behind", he pressed on toward the goal (Philippians 3:13). This does not mean an inability to recall the past as is shown by Philippians 3:4-7 in which he tells of his past. It means that the past now has a different significance. Paul was doubtless influenced by his training under Gamaliel and his rigid background as a Pharisee, as well as his sin of persecuting the church. This past made up part of what made Paul who he was; yet they were not the determinative things! "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10). Grace was the factor that determined the condition of the redeemed Paul; but this grace did not lessen Paul's responsibility to work hard in obedience to God by the grace of God.
Inner healing does not necessitate changing the past or "deprogramming" ourselves. We were not "programmed" like a computer to begin with. Inner healing requires forgiveness, faith, relationship with God and His people, and a life of o bedience by God's grace. We are responsible moral agents, offered grace and forgiveness through the work of Christ. We are not programmed robots mechanistically trudging through life until someone tinkers with the program to make us mechanistically go in some new, determined direction.
When Jesus heals us from the bondage of the past, grace becomes the significant factor in our lives, taking those things about us from the unchangeable past and making them opportu- nities for God's use. God can use the tax gatherer, the fisherman, and even the Pharisee; but only when they are crucified tax gathers, fishermen and Pharisees. Grace does not mean the past does not influence us, it means that it does not determine us in an evil way. The scars that persist can be marks of God's mercy rather than marks of self-conscious shame.
In 2 Corinthians 12, God answered Paul's request for the removal of his "thorn in the flesh" as follows: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weak- ness" (verse 9). The issue was not forgiveness of sins, but living in the present with an unchangeable weakness. If there are things about us that we cannot change and God does not change, these are candidates for grace. Grace turns the weakness into a testimony of God's power.
I have counseled people who have suffered with many unchangeable things that persist from past events. Some have lost families, with no possibility of reconciliation. Some have memories of things they wish never happened. Yet each one can find the grace that God has to live in His power now. We remember the past, we even live with certain conse- quences of the past (some Christians are serving God in jail with life sentences) but we are not doomed by the past. God gives grace that His will might be done in our lives now. Is this not His ultimate purpose for us, that we might love Him, our neighbor, and live for His glory?
Providence and Inner Healing
Providence is God's sovereign hand that works all things together for His purpose and the ultimate good of His people. We must believe that what God has allowed, He has allowed for a greater purpose and for our ultimate good. Some ridicule this notion, but it is Biblical. God allowed wicked men to crucify Messiah for the greater good of our eternal redemption (Acts 2:22-24). We reject the Biblical teaching on providence to our own loss and to the depreciation of the message of Scripture. We gladly see God's hand in the rain that falls on the crops, but see the drought as evil that is somehow outside God's control and providential purpose. "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). We cannot say that we sought God and He did not reward us because He did not change things that we thought He should have changed.
Some have taught that we must "forgive God" for allowing negative circumstances. I recoil at this notion because it seems to presuppose that God has done evil. Romans 8:18-39 teaches God's good purpose for us that is being providentially worked out. God has done all things right and deserves our worship but needs not forgiveness from man. We need His forgiveness! Since God has never done anything wrong or to our detriment, we must worship Him and confess His goodness. How God can use us in spite of our own past sin and the evil motives of others is beyond complete explanation, but we know it is true.
1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Everyone has regrets, yet God is greater that our sin and has provided for forgiveness and redemption. There are often "scars," residual damages we carry around physically and mentally because of our previous rebellion. God graciously uses us in spite of these things and sees us spotless, holy, and acceptable in Christ. Practically, the Holy Spirit is at work to enable us to obey God now in spite of hindrances and handicaps form the past.
Paul said ". . .but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20b). Biblical counsel involves starting where we are now and going on by grace. The feeling of being unworthy, yet thankful is a good one. 1 Timothy 1:15, "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all."
The Promise of Inner Healing
We read in Isaiah 61:1-3 (referenced in Luke 4:18,19 by Christ) that He, Messiah, came to heal the broken hearted, the downtrodden, the poor, and whoever may be in bondage due to things past. We can be assured that He did and does just what He promised. We can be assured that the promise of these passages did not sit ineffective and unapplied for centuries of church history until the modern inner healing movement happened in the last two decades. Jesus healed the brokenness of people's hearts in His own ministry, and has done so for those who have fallen upon Him in faith and dependence throughout the church age. He takes our wretchedness and gives us a new life of meaning and eternal relationship.
The issue of inner healing is not "how to" (as the titles of the pop books suggest) but who. We do not have an engineering problem, but a relational problem. Human beings are relational beings, made to love God and others. Inner healing involves a supernatural renovation of our relationships, beginning with our relationship with God. It is not totally complete until the resurrection of the dead, but it is substantial and effectual now. Our relationship to the past is changed, though the past itself remains the same.
When viewed through the eyes of faith, those things that we thought were the worst evils that caused hopelessness and despair turn out to be the very things God turns to His good purpose. We could say that inner healing is re-relationship. We are re-related to God, others, and our own past. This happens through the agency of the crucified Messiah. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me" (Galatians 2:20). God has a new life for us, just as we are, the past as it is, but changed and transformed through His supernatural, renovating work of grace.
An article by Albert Mohler - from www.christianity.com
Why Moralism Is Not the Gospel -- And Why So Many Christians Think It Is
BY Albert Mohler -Author, Speaker, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
One of the most amazing statements by the Apostle Paul is his indictment of the Galatian Christians for abandoning the Gospel. "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel," Paul declared. As he stated so emphatically, the Galatians had failed in the crucial test of discerning the authentic Gospel from its counterfeits.
His words could not be more clear: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you have received, he is to be accursed!" [Gal. 1:6-7]
This warning from the Apostle Paul, expressed in the language of the Apostle's shock and grief, is addressed not only to the church in Galatia, but to every congregation in every age. In our own day -- and in our own churches -- we desperately need to hear and to heed this warning. In our own time, we face false gospels no less subversive and seductive than those encountered and embraced by the Galatians.
In our own context, one of the most seductive false gospels is moralism. This false gospel can take many forms and can emerge from any number of political and cultural impulses. Nevertheless, the basic structure of moralism comes down to this -- the belief that the Gospel can be reduced to improvements in behavior.
Sadly, this false gospel is particularly attractive to those who believe themselves to be evangelicals motivated by a biblical impulse. Far too many believers and their churches succumb to the logic of moralism and reduce the Gospel to a message of moral improvement. In other words, we communicate to lost persons the message that what God desires for them and demands of them is to get their lives straight.
In one sense, we are born to be moralists. Created in God's image, we have been given the moral capacity of conscience. From our earliest days our conscience cries out to us the knowledge of our guilt, shortcomings, and misbehaviors. In other words, our conscience communicates our sinfulness.
Add to this the fact that the process of parenting and child rearing tends to inculcate moralism from our earliest years. Very quickly we learn that our parents are concerned with our behavior. Well behaved children are rewarded with parental approval, while misbehavior brings parental sanction. This message is reinforced by other authorities in young lives and pervades the culture at large.
Writing about his own childhood in rural Georgia, the novelist Ferrol Sams described the deeply-ingrained tradition of being "raised right." As he explained, the child who is "raised right" pleases his parents and other adults by adhering to moral conventions and social etiquette. A young person who is "raised right" emerges as an adult who obeys the laws, respects his neighbors, gives at least lip service to religious expectations, and stays away from scandal. The point is clear -- this is what parents expect, the culture affirms, and many churches celebrate. But our communities are filled with people who have been "raised right" but are headed for hell.
The seduction of moralism is the essence of its power. We are so easily seduced into believing that we actually can gain all the approval we need by our behavior. Of course, in order to participate in this seduction, we must negotiate a moral code that defines acceptable behavior with innumerable loopholes. Most moralists would not claim to be without sin, but merely beyond scandal. That is considered sufficient.
Moralists can be categorized as both liberal and conservative. In each case, a specific set of moral concerns frames the moral expectation. As a generalization, it is often true that liberals focus on a set of moral expectations related to social ethics while conservatives tend to focus on personal ethics. The essence of moralism is apparent in both -- the belief that we can achieve righteousness by means of proper behavior.
The theological temptation of moralism is one many Christians and churches find it difficult to resist. The danger is that the church will communicate by both direct and indirect means that what God expects of fallen humanity is moral improvement. In so doing, the church subverts the Gospel and communicates a false gospel to a fallen world.
Christ's Church has no option but to teach the Word of God, and the Bible faithfully reveals the law of God and a comprehensive moral code. Christians understand that God has revealed Himself throughout creation in such a way that He has gifted all humanity with the restraining power of the law. Furthermore, He has spoken to us in His word with the gift of specific commands and comprehensive moral instruction. The faithful Church of the Lord Jesus Christ must contend for the righteousness of these commands and the grace given to us in the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. We also have a responsibility to bear witness of this knowledge of good and evil to our neighbors. The restraining power of the law is essential to human community and to civilization.
Just as parents rightly teach their children to obey moral instruction, the church also bears responsibility to teach its own the moral commands of God and to bear witness to the larger society of what God has declared to be right and good for His human creatures.
But these impulses, right and necessary as they are, are not the Gospel. Indeed, one of the most insidious false gospels is a moralism that promises the favor of God and the satisfaction of God's righteousness to sinners if they will only behave and commit themselves to moral improvement.
The moralist impulse in the church reduces the Bible to a codebook for human behavior and substitutes moral instruction for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Far too many evangelical pulpits are given over to moralistic messages rather than the preaching of the Gospel.
The corrective to moralism comes directly from the Apostle Paul when he insists that "a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus." Salvation comes to those who are "justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified." [Gal. 2:16]
We sin against Christ and we misrepresent the Gospel when we suggest to sinners that what God demands of them is moral improvement in accordance with the Law. Moralism makes sense to sinners, for it is but an expansion of what we have been taught from our earliest days. But moralism is not the Gospel, and it will not save. The only gospel that saves is the Gospel of Christ. As Paul reminded the Galatians, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." [Gal. 4:4-5]
We are justified by faith alone, saved by grace alone, and redeemed from our sin by Christ alone. Moralism produces sinners who are (potentially) better behaved. The Gospel of Christ transforms sinners into the adopted sons and daughters of God.
The Church must never evade, accommodate, revise, or hide the law of God. Indeed, it is the Law that shows us our sin and makes clear our inadequacy and our total lack of righteousness. The Law cannot impart life but, as Paul insists, it "has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith." [Gal. 3:24]
The deadly danger of moralism has been a constant temptation to the church and an ever-convenient substitute for the Gospel. Clearly, millions of our neighbors believe that moralism is our message. Nothing less than the boldest preaching of the Gospel will suffice to correct this impression and to lead sinners to salvation in Christ.
Hell will be highly populated with those who were "raised right." The citizens of heaven will be those who, by the sheer grace and mercy of God, are there solely because of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Moralism is not the gospel.
BY Albert Mohler -Author, Speaker, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
One of the most amazing statements by the Apostle Paul is his indictment of the Galatian Christians for abandoning the Gospel. "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel," Paul declared. As he stated so emphatically, the Galatians had failed in the crucial test of discerning the authentic Gospel from its counterfeits.
His words could not be more clear: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you have received, he is to be accursed!" [Gal. 1:6-7]
This warning from the Apostle Paul, expressed in the language of the Apostle's shock and grief, is addressed not only to the church in Galatia, but to every congregation in every age. In our own day -- and in our own churches -- we desperately need to hear and to heed this warning. In our own time, we face false gospels no less subversive and seductive than those encountered and embraced by the Galatians.
In our own context, one of the most seductive false gospels is moralism. This false gospel can take many forms and can emerge from any number of political and cultural impulses. Nevertheless, the basic structure of moralism comes down to this -- the belief that the Gospel can be reduced to improvements in behavior.
Sadly, this false gospel is particularly attractive to those who believe themselves to be evangelicals motivated by a biblical impulse. Far too many believers and their churches succumb to the logic of moralism and reduce the Gospel to a message of moral improvement. In other words, we communicate to lost persons the message that what God desires for them and demands of them is to get their lives straight.
In one sense, we are born to be moralists. Created in God's image, we have been given the moral capacity of conscience. From our earliest days our conscience cries out to us the knowledge of our guilt, shortcomings, and misbehaviors. In other words, our conscience communicates our sinfulness.
Add to this the fact that the process of parenting and child rearing tends to inculcate moralism from our earliest years. Very quickly we learn that our parents are concerned with our behavior. Well behaved children are rewarded with parental approval, while misbehavior brings parental sanction. This message is reinforced by other authorities in young lives and pervades the culture at large.
Writing about his own childhood in rural Georgia, the novelist Ferrol Sams described the deeply-ingrained tradition of being "raised right." As he explained, the child who is "raised right" pleases his parents and other adults by adhering to moral conventions and social etiquette. A young person who is "raised right" emerges as an adult who obeys the laws, respects his neighbors, gives at least lip service to religious expectations, and stays away from scandal. The point is clear -- this is what parents expect, the culture affirms, and many churches celebrate. But our communities are filled with people who have been "raised right" but are headed for hell.
The seduction of moralism is the essence of its power. We are so easily seduced into believing that we actually can gain all the approval we need by our behavior. Of course, in order to participate in this seduction, we must negotiate a moral code that defines acceptable behavior with innumerable loopholes. Most moralists would not claim to be without sin, but merely beyond scandal. That is considered sufficient.
Moralists can be categorized as both liberal and conservative. In each case, a specific set of moral concerns frames the moral expectation. As a generalization, it is often true that liberals focus on a set of moral expectations related to social ethics while conservatives tend to focus on personal ethics. The essence of moralism is apparent in both -- the belief that we can achieve righteousness by means of proper behavior.
The theological temptation of moralism is one many Christians and churches find it difficult to resist. The danger is that the church will communicate by both direct and indirect means that what God expects of fallen humanity is moral improvement. In so doing, the church subverts the Gospel and communicates a false gospel to a fallen world.
Christ's Church has no option but to teach the Word of God, and the Bible faithfully reveals the law of God and a comprehensive moral code. Christians understand that God has revealed Himself throughout creation in such a way that He has gifted all humanity with the restraining power of the law. Furthermore, He has spoken to us in His word with the gift of specific commands and comprehensive moral instruction. The faithful Church of the Lord Jesus Christ must contend for the righteousness of these commands and the grace given to us in the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. We also have a responsibility to bear witness of this knowledge of good and evil to our neighbors. The restraining power of the law is essential to human community and to civilization.
Just as parents rightly teach their children to obey moral instruction, the church also bears responsibility to teach its own the moral commands of God and to bear witness to the larger society of what God has declared to be right and good for His human creatures.
But these impulses, right and necessary as they are, are not the Gospel. Indeed, one of the most insidious false gospels is a moralism that promises the favor of God and the satisfaction of God's righteousness to sinners if they will only behave and commit themselves to moral improvement.
The moralist impulse in the church reduces the Bible to a codebook for human behavior and substitutes moral instruction for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Far too many evangelical pulpits are given over to moralistic messages rather than the preaching of the Gospel.
The corrective to moralism comes directly from the Apostle Paul when he insists that "a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus." Salvation comes to those who are "justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified." [Gal. 2:16]
We sin against Christ and we misrepresent the Gospel when we suggest to sinners that what God demands of them is moral improvement in accordance with the Law. Moralism makes sense to sinners, for it is but an expansion of what we have been taught from our earliest days. But moralism is not the Gospel, and it will not save. The only gospel that saves is the Gospel of Christ. As Paul reminded the Galatians, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." [Gal. 4:4-5]
We are justified by faith alone, saved by grace alone, and redeemed from our sin by Christ alone. Moralism produces sinners who are (potentially) better behaved. The Gospel of Christ transforms sinners into the adopted sons and daughters of God.
The Church must never evade, accommodate, revise, or hide the law of God. Indeed, it is the Law that shows us our sin and makes clear our inadequacy and our total lack of righteousness. The Law cannot impart life but, as Paul insists, it "has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith." [Gal. 3:24]
The deadly danger of moralism has been a constant temptation to the church and an ever-convenient substitute for the Gospel. Clearly, millions of our neighbors believe that moralism is our message. Nothing less than the boldest preaching of the Gospel will suffice to correct this impression and to lead sinners to salvation in Christ.
Hell will be highly populated with those who were "raised right." The citizens of heaven will be those who, by the sheer grace and mercy of God, are there solely because of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Moralism is not the gospel.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Faith Healers or Fake Healers? By Rev. Keith Gibson
Faith Healers or Fake Healers?
By Rev. Keith Gibson
Among the celebrities in the Word Faith Movement, none is more well known than Benny Hinn. From his lavish life-style to his on-stage performances, Benny Hinn has become the modern stereotype of the faith healers, even providing at least partial inspiration for Steve Martin’s character in the movie Leap of Faith. Hinn claims that thousands have been healed in his crusades. There have even been claims of the dead being raised. But when pressed for documentation, the ministry has been woefully unable to provide much, if any, evidence for these assertions. Despite years of exposé’s by both Christian and secular sources alike, his ministry continues to have thousands of ardent followers. It is estimated by various sources that his organization takes in over one hundred million dollars per year, though this amount is disputed and is impossible to verify as the ministry refuses to publicly disclose its finances.
The purpose of this article will be to take another look at faith healing by focusing on the ministry of Benny Hinn and attempting to evaluate his results. Undoubtedly, some will see this article as simply “anti-charismatic.” Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no intent to disparage any branch of Christianity. It is essential, however, that Christians test those who claim to speak for God and who claim a special anointing from God (cf. 1 John 4:1; 1 Cor. 14:29). It is hoped that, by looking at Hinn’s ministry, discernment may be gained for evaluating other purported faith healers as well. It is certain that we have not seen the last of them.
What Is a Miracle?
As we begin to evaluate the claims of Benny Hinn, we must first determine the boundaries for ascertaining a true miracle. Often, in articles of this sort, the assumption is made that a general consensus exists regarding what constitutes a miraculous event. However, the word itself has become so commonplace in modern usage as to simply indicate a stroke of good fortune. But a true miracle is more than an unusual, fortuitous event. Webster’s Dictionary defines a miracle as, “an extraordinary event manifesting a supernatural work of God.” (1) Norman Geisler similarly defines a miracle as, “a special act of God in the world, a supernatural interference into nature, a special divine intervention.” (2) He further goes on to state, “A miracle is not simply an extraordinary event but one that would not have occurred without special divine intervention.” (3)
This definition of miracles is significant for evaluating modern faith healers, including Hinn. It may be conceded that many sick and hurting people leave the crusades feeling better, but this is not the same as saying that they have been cured miraculously. There are numerous possible explanations for apparent healings as we will see.
Comparison to Christ
One way to evaluate whether or not ministers like Hinn possess healing power would be to compare their miracles to those of Christ. When this is done, striking differences begin to appear. First, Christ healed specific individuals. Never once do we read a passage where Jesus say’s anything like,
A muscle condition has been healed. I give you the praise. Just now lift your hands and call upon His precious name, dear Jesus, dear Jesus, dear Jesus. Sinuses have just been healed, I give you praise. A neck injury has been healed, I give you the praise. In the audience God is touching people right now right here, the Lord is touching many of you in this audience right here in this studio, I give you praise Jesus. In your homes, many of you are being healed. Someone’s shoulders have just been released from pain, someone with a shoulder problem has just been healed, I give you praise Jesus. (4)
Yet this is standard fare among healers like Hinn who regularly stands at the front of the auditorium and recites illnesses supposedly being healed as though he is taking roll. Those who think they are among the recipients of healing are then invited to come to the front to testify.
It should be noted too that all of this is carefully orchestrated by Hinn’s associates. Many who are not considered a good healing risk are restricted from access to Hinn. Dr. Stephen Winzenburg, a professor at Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa has conducted research into evangelists’ ministries. Concerning Hinn, Dr. Winzenburg states, “He’s very much like a circus ringmaster when he’s there in the arena. People may be coming for healing, but it’s very much controlled hysteria.” (5)
Another difference is that the miracles of Christ were immediate. Christ never commands a follower to claim a healing that did not occur or to go home confessing a healing and waiting for it to materialize. But again, this is common in Word Faith circles.
Those Jesus healed did not relapse, either. But compare this to the case of Ernestine Rodriguez of Santa Fe, NM who was pronounced healed of brain cancer by Hinn during a 1992 broadcast. Tests performed three weeks later demonstrated the cancer remained. Hinn’s explanation on a later broadcast was, “I do know this: Healing is received by and must be kept by faith. There’s been the cases where they’ve lost their healings.” (6) Another example is Jordie Gibson, who determined to stop kidney dialysis and fly to a Hinn crusade in Anaheim. Gibson is still a believer and believes that he experienced God’s healing power, though he has had to return to dialysis. (7) Yet, never do we see Jesus instructing those He has touched to maintain their healing by faith.
Christ’s healings were always successful. But listen to the story of William Vandenkolk of Las Vegas as related in the Los Angeles Times,
Sitting cross-legged in front of a big-screen TV, the 11-year-old squints through Coke-bottle glasses at a Miracle Crusade video made more than two years ago in which he starred as a boy who miraculously recovered from blindness. “I liked it at first because I thought I was being healed,” says Williams in the living room of his aunt and uncle’s home. On the screen, Hinn bends down to William, his hands on the child’s face. “Look at these tears, “ says Hinn, peering into the child’s eyes. “William, baby, can you see me?” Before more than 15,000 people in a Las Vegas arena, William nods. In a small voice, the boy says, “As soon as God healed me, I could see better.” Hinn, an arm wrapped around William, tells the audience that God has told him to pay the child’s medical expenses and education. People weep. Today William is still legally blind and says his sight never improved, and that his onstage comments were wishful thinking.” Incidentally, the family has yet to receive any of the promised money for medical or educational expenses. (8)
An HBO special documented Hinn’s crusade in Portland, Oregon. On stage Hinn performed 76 alleged miracles. The documentary’s producers asked the ministry for the names of the healed. Thirteen weeks later, only five names were received. Upon investigation, none had received an actual healing. One of those was 10 year-old Ashmil Prakash who had been stricken with two brain tumors. Despite the “healing” pronounced by Hinn and the pledge made by his impoverished parents to give thousands of dollars to Hinn’s ministry, the child died seven weeks after the crusade. (9)
Lastly, the healings of Jesus were not psychosomatic. Jesus raised the dead and gave sight to those born blind and lame. Despite the claims, no good documentation exists that any of today’s healers have done similar miracles. The sad fact is they can’t even heal their own family members. Hinn’s mother was diabetic and his father died of cancer. (10) The stories of other faith healers are similar.
What Is Going On?
So what is one to make of all of the testimonies of miraculous occurrences? What of all those who every day are paraded on a host of shows on TBN and other networks including Hinn’s own, This Is Your Day? Several items must be considered by the discerning Christian.
1. Some of the healings are psychosomatic. People whose primary problems are psychosocial in nature respond positively to placebo affects such as faith healers. In fact, the entire atmosphere of the crusades is orchestrated to build to a climax at the appearance of Hinn and the healing touch. Jesus never had to set the mood in order to be able to work. These emotionally charged events can have great impact on those whose conditions are more psychological than physical.
2. Many are not healed at all. Having a person stand on stage and claim to be healed of cancer or other ailment doesn’t prove the healing has actually taken place. Such healings should be verified by a qualified physician using proper medical studies. These claims to healing can be the result of:
Temporary euphoria- many people are caught up in the moment. The adrenaline rush and anticipation, even the excitement of being in the presence of one considered so anointed, may be enough to provide momentary relief. This is especially true of conditions whose primary symptom is pain.
Positive Confession- what happens at these crusades cannot be separated from a theology that teaches its adherents they possess what they confess. In the belief system of many of these people, to confess that they are not yet healed would be to guarantee that they wouldn’t receive it. Many of them are simply confessing what they believe they will receive at some point.
Hero Worship- There is tremendous desire on the part of many of these participants not to embarrass the healer. They believe so much in the person that they will react as they are instructed, even when they know it is not true. Consider the story of a woman supposedly healed of blindness by Oral Roberts. When instructed by Roberts onstage, “Tell us what’s happening inside you.” She replied, “There- There was a light.” However when interviewed the next day she admitted that nothing had happened. She stated simply, “I didn’t want to disappoint him.” (11)
3. Some are outright fakes. James Randi, a magician, in his book, Faith Healers, documents many of the tactics used to deceive the gullible. Some are as simple as placing staffers in the audience who pretend to be healed. W.V. Grant would pull the heel of one shoe out slightly to make it appear that he was lengthening a leg. Peter Popoff received his “Words of knowledge” through a transistor in his ear through which his wife, via radio transmission, instructed him as she read from cards collected by staffers. Several faith healers have rented wheelchairs to use as props. Some have even encouraged people who walked into the crusade to sit in one of these chairs so they could be taken up to the front to get a better view. These same people were then pulled out of their wheelchairs to the amazement of the crowds. (12) The list of tricks is almost endless.
4. Some are natural occurrences. The fact is that many illnesses get better naturally. This is true regardless of the treatment provided and sometimes without any treatment at all. These, then, are not miraculous healings, but rather the result of the wonderful way humans have been created by an all-wise God. For instance, ninety percent of all patients with low back pain will recover in approximately six weeks regardless of whether the pain was caused by a simple strain or a herniated, degenerative or bulging disc. (13) Even cancer has been known to have spontaneous remissions. These occur among believers and unbelievers alike, people who were prayed for as well as those who weren’t, and are presently without medical explanation. (14)
Many people claim that their healing began at a crusade and then occurred gradually over time. But simply because a person got better after seeing Benny Hinn does not mean the person got better because of Benny Hinn. In logic, this is referred to as the Post Hoc Fallacy (“After this; therefore, because of this”). An example should demonstrate the problem. A balding man may realize that he didn’t begin to lose his hair until after he had children. He may surmise from this that he lost his hair because of his children and may genuinely believe that to be the case. However, it is also possible, even probable, that the man is losing his hair because of his genetic make-up and would have lost his hair even if he never had children. His children are merely incidental to his hair loss but are not the cause. In the same way, many who are “healed” at Hinn crusades are simply experiencing the natural course of the body healing itself. The visit to see Hinn was merely incidental to their recovery and not the cause of it at all. The recognition of true miracles demands tougher criteria.
5. Despite the lack of evidence, the possibility should be left open that some may be legitimately healed. As Justin Peters, a Southern Baptist minister from Mississippi quoted in the Los Angeles Times, says, “As much disdain as I have for Benny Hinn, the vast majority of people who see him are real Christians….When 25,000 people are praying for God to heal them, it would be surprising if God did not heal some.” (15)
Concerns
So what’s the problem anyway? False hope is better than no hope right? Maybe Benny can’t heal but who’s he hurting? Perhaps we should just leave him alone.
But people are hurt. False hope is actually devastating. Listen to the words of Brian Darby who works with the handicapped in Northern California: “You can’t minimize the impact of not being healed on the person, the family, the extended family….They have a sense of euphoria at the crusade and then crash down.” (16) The effect of not being healed can be terribly disillusioning. However, healers such as Hinn can always deflect criticism by blaming the sick for not having enough faith.
And what about those who might stop taking essential medication thinking they have been healed without medical verification? On the September 30, 2003 episode of Hinn’s, This Is Your Day, a young woman is brought to the platform with what appears to be a blood sugar test kit. It is referred to by Steve Brock as her diabetes “pack”. After stating that God has healed her, she proceeds to throw the pack down on the floor of the platform. (17) Left untreated, diabetes can cause a host of debilitating medical complications and ultimately death. One sincerely hopes this young lady visits her physician to verify her healing. Healings of diseases such as diabetes and cancer cannot be validated within the confines of the crusades. There is serious concern for the welfare of many claiming healing.
There is also concern for the Name of Christ and the reputation of the church. The actions of Hinn and those like him bear little resemblance to Christ’s as we have seen. When did Jesus ever slay anyone in the Spirit? Would Christ throw his coat on people to knock them down? Or blow on them? Despite promises to reduce his theatrics, Hinn can be seen on the same show referenced previously waving his hand at the choir shouting, “Receive it!,” at which point the entire choir falls. Hinn runs through the front rows touching heads causing people to fall. Are any of these actions even remotely reminiscent of Christ? Flamboyant hucksters like Hinn who live in mansions on the donations of the desperate bring reproach on the name of Christ. Those who continue to blindly follow these false teachers cause the church to appear gullible in the eyes of the world and, indeed, far too many who name the Name of Christ are just that.
As Christians, we are a people of faith. There is an aversion to believing that anyone who claims a relationship with Christ would be anything less than honest and ethical. Additionally, many Christians want to believe in healers like Hinn as evidence that God is still at work. And indeed, God is still a God of miracles. But biblical faith is not blind or irrational. It is time for the people of God to demand more than anecdotal stories from those claiming the power of the apostles. While documentation of real miracles is lacking, documentation of those who have died at Hinn crusades, such as in Kenya, is not. (18) The miracles of Christ and the apostles were real. The same cannot be said for Benny Hinn and others like him.
Rev. Keith Gibson
By Rev. Keith Gibson
Among the celebrities in the Word Faith Movement, none is more well known than Benny Hinn. From his lavish life-style to his on-stage performances, Benny Hinn has become the modern stereotype of the faith healers, even providing at least partial inspiration for Steve Martin’s character in the movie Leap of Faith. Hinn claims that thousands have been healed in his crusades. There have even been claims of the dead being raised. But when pressed for documentation, the ministry has been woefully unable to provide much, if any, evidence for these assertions. Despite years of exposé’s by both Christian and secular sources alike, his ministry continues to have thousands of ardent followers. It is estimated by various sources that his organization takes in over one hundred million dollars per year, though this amount is disputed and is impossible to verify as the ministry refuses to publicly disclose its finances.
The purpose of this article will be to take another look at faith healing by focusing on the ministry of Benny Hinn and attempting to evaluate his results. Undoubtedly, some will see this article as simply “anti-charismatic.” Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no intent to disparage any branch of Christianity. It is essential, however, that Christians test those who claim to speak for God and who claim a special anointing from God (cf. 1 John 4:1; 1 Cor. 14:29). It is hoped that, by looking at Hinn’s ministry, discernment may be gained for evaluating other purported faith healers as well. It is certain that we have not seen the last of them.
What Is a Miracle?
As we begin to evaluate the claims of Benny Hinn, we must first determine the boundaries for ascertaining a true miracle. Often, in articles of this sort, the assumption is made that a general consensus exists regarding what constitutes a miraculous event. However, the word itself has become so commonplace in modern usage as to simply indicate a stroke of good fortune. But a true miracle is more than an unusual, fortuitous event. Webster’s Dictionary defines a miracle as, “an extraordinary event manifesting a supernatural work of God.” (1) Norman Geisler similarly defines a miracle as, “a special act of God in the world, a supernatural interference into nature, a special divine intervention.” (2) He further goes on to state, “A miracle is not simply an extraordinary event but one that would not have occurred without special divine intervention.” (3)
This definition of miracles is significant for evaluating modern faith healers, including Hinn. It may be conceded that many sick and hurting people leave the crusades feeling better, but this is not the same as saying that they have been cured miraculously. There are numerous possible explanations for apparent healings as we will see.
Comparison to Christ
One way to evaluate whether or not ministers like Hinn possess healing power would be to compare their miracles to those of Christ. When this is done, striking differences begin to appear. First, Christ healed specific individuals. Never once do we read a passage where Jesus say’s anything like,
A muscle condition has been healed. I give you the praise. Just now lift your hands and call upon His precious name, dear Jesus, dear Jesus, dear Jesus. Sinuses have just been healed, I give you praise. A neck injury has been healed, I give you the praise. In the audience God is touching people right now right here, the Lord is touching many of you in this audience right here in this studio, I give you praise Jesus. In your homes, many of you are being healed. Someone’s shoulders have just been released from pain, someone with a shoulder problem has just been healed, I give you praise Jesus. (4)
Yet this is standard fare among healers like Hinn who regularly stands at the front of the auditorium and recites illnesses supposedly being healed as though he is taking roll. Those who think they are among the recipients of healing are then invited to come to the front to testify.
It should be noted too that all of this is carefully orchestrated by Hinn’s associates. Many who are not considered a good healing risk are restricted from access to Hinn. Dr. Stephen Winzenburg, a professor at Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa has conducted research into evangelists’ ministries. Concerning Hinn, Dr. Winzenburg states, “He’s very much like a circus ringmaster when he’s there in the arena. People may be coming for healing, but it’s very much controlled hysteria.” (5)
Another difference is that the miracles of Christ were immediate. Christ never commands a follower to claim a healing that did not occur or to go home confessing a healing and waiting for it to materialize. But again, this is common in Word Faith circles.
Those Jesus healed did not relapse, either. But compare this to the case of Ernestine Rodriguez of Santa Fe, NM who was pronounced healed of brain cancer by Hinn during a 1992 broadcast. Tests performed three weeks later demonstrated the cancer remained. Hinn’s explanation on a later broadcast was, “I do know this: Healing is received by and must be kept by faith. There’s been the cases where they’ve lost their healings.” (6) Another example is Jordie Gibson, who determined to stop kidney dialysis and fly to a Hinn crusade in Anaheim. Gibson is still a believer and believes that he experienced God’s healing power, though he has had to return to dialysis. (7) Yet, never do we see Jesus instructing those He has touched to maintain their healing by faith.
Christ’s healings were always successful. But listen to the story of William Vandenkolk of Las Vegas as related in the Los Angeles Times,
Sitting cross-legged in front of a big-screen TV, the 11-year-old squints through Coke-bottle glasses at a Miracle Crusade video made more than two years ago in which he starred as a boy who miraculously recovered from blindness. “I liked it at first because I thought I was being healed,” says Williams in the living room of his aunt and uncle’s home. On the screen, Hinn bends down to William, his hands on the child’s face. “Look at these tears, “ says Hinn, peering into the child’s eyes. “William, baby, can you see me?” Before more than 15,000 people in a Las Vegas arena, William nods. In a small voice, the boy says, “As soon as God healed me, I could see better.” Hinn, an arm wrapped around William, tells the audience that God has told him to pay the child’s medical expenses and education. People weep. Today William is still legally blind and says his sight never improved, and that his onstage comments were wishful thinking.” Incidentally, the family has yet to receive any of the promised money for medical or educational expenses. (8)
An HBO special documented Hinn’s crusade in Portland, Oregon. On stage Hinn performed 76 alleged miracles. The documentary’s producers asked the ministry for the names of the healed. Thirteen weeks later, only five names were received. Upon investigation, none had received an actual healing. One of those was 10 year-old Ashmil Prakash who had been stricken with two brain tumors. Despite the “healing” pronounced by Hinn and the pledge made by his impoverished parents to give thousands of dollars to Hinn’s ministry, the child died seven weeks after the crusade. (9)
Lastly, the healings of Jesus were not psychosomatic. Jesus raised the dead and gave sight to those born blind and lame. Despite the claims, no good documentation exists that any of today’s healers have done similar miracles. The sad fact is they can’t even heal their own family members. Hinn’s mother was diabetic and his father died of cancer. (10) The stories of other faith healers are similar.
What Is Going On?
So what is one to make of all of the testimonies of miraculous occurrences? What of all those who every day are paraded on a host of shows on TBN and other networks including Hinn’s own, This Is Your Day? Several items must be considered by the discerning Christian.
1. Some of the healings are psychosomatic. People whose primary problems are psychosocial in nature respond positively to placebo affects such as faith healers. In fact, the entire atmosphere of the crusades is orchestrated to build to a climax at the appearance of Hinn and the healing touch. Jesus never had to set the mood in order to be able to work. These emotionally charged events can have great impact on those whose conditions are more psychological than physical.
2. Many are not healed at all. Having a person stand on stage and claim to be healed of cancer or other ailment doesn’t prove the healing has actually taken place. Such healings should be verified by a qualified physician using proper medical studies. These claims to healing can be the result of:
Temporary euphoria- many people are caught up in the moment. The adrenaline rush and anticipation, even the excitement of being in the presence of one considered so anointed, may be enough to provide momentary relief. This is especially true of conditions whose primary symptom is pain.
Positive Confession- what happens at these crusades cannot be separated from a theology that teaches its adherents they possess what they confess. In the belief system of many of these people, to confess that they are not yet healed would be to guarantee that they wouldn’t receive it. Many of them are simply confessing what they believe they will receive at some point.
Hero Worship- There is tremendous desire on the part of many of these participants not to embarrass the healer. They believe so much in the person that they will react as they are instructed, even when they know it is not true. Consider the story of a woman supposedly healed of blindness by Oral Roberts. When instructed by Roberts onstage, “Tell us what’s happening inside you.” She replied, “There- There was a light.” However when interviewed the next day she admitted that nothing had happened. She stated simply, “I didn’t want to disappoint him.” (11)
3. Some are outright fakes. James Randi, a magician, in his book, Faith Healers, documents many of the tactics used to deceive the gullible. Some are as simple as placing staffers in the audience who pretend to be healed. W.V. Grant would pull the heel of one shoe out slightly to make it appear that he was lengthening a leg. Peter Popoff received his “Words of knowledge” through a transistor in his ear through which his wife, via radio transmission, instructed him as she read from cards collected by staffers. Several faith healers have rented wheelchairs to use as props. Some have even encouraged people who walked into the crusade to sit in one of these chairs so they could be taken up to the front to get a better view. These same people were then pulled out of their wheelchairs to the amazement of the crowds. (12) The list of tricks is almost endless.
4. Some are natural occurrences. The fact is that many illnesses get better naturally. This is true regardless of the treatment provided and sometimes without any treatment at all. These, then, are not miraculous healings, but rather the result of the wonderful way humans have been created by an all-wise God. For instance, ninety percent of all patients with low back pain will recover in approximately six weeks regardless of whether the pain was caused by a simple strain or a herniated, degenerative or bulging disc. (13) Even cancer has been known to have spontaneous remissions. These occur among believers and unbelievers alike, people who were prayed for as well as those who weren’t, and are presently without medical explanation. (14)
Many people claim that their healing began at a crusade and then occurred gradually over time. But simply because a person got better after seeing Benny Hinn does not mean the person got better because of Benny Hinn. In logic, this is referred to as the Post Hoc Fallacy (“After this; therefore, because of this”). An example should demonstrate the problem. A balding man may realize that he didn’t begin to lose his hair until after he had children. He may surmise from this that he lost his hair because of his children and may genuinely believe that to be the case. However, it is also possible, even probable, that the man is losing his hair because of his genetic make-up and would have lost his hair even if he never had children. His children are merely incidental to his hair loss but are not the cause. In the same way, many who are “healed” at Hinn crusades are simply experiencing the natural course of the body healing itself. The visit to see Hinn was merely incidental to their recovery and not the cause of it at all. The recognition of true miracles demands tougher criteria.
5. Despite the lack of evidence, the possibility should be left open that some may be legitimately healed. As Justin Peters, a Southern Baptist minister from Mississippi quoted in the Los Angeles Times, says, “As much disdain as I have for Benny Hinn, the vast majority of people who see him are real Christians….When 25,000 people are praying for God to heal them, it would be surprising if God did not heal some.” (15)
Concerns
So what’s the problem anyway? False hope is better than no hope right? Maybe Benny can’t heal but who’s he hurting? Perhaps we should just leave him alone.
But people are hurt. False hope is actually devastating. Listen to the words of Brian Darby who works with the handicapped in Northern California: “You can’t minimize the impact of not being healed on the person, the family, the extended family….They have a sense of euphoria at the crusade and then crash down.” (16) The effect of not being healed can be terribly disillusioning. However, healers such as Hinn can always deflect criticism by blaming the sick for not having enough faith.
And what about those who might stop taking essential medication thinking they have been healed without medical verification? On the September 30, 2003 episode of Hinn’s, This Is Your Day, a young woman is brought to the platform with what appears to be a blood sugar test kit. It is referred to by Steve Brock as her diabetes “pack”. After stating that God has healed her, she proceeds to throw the pack down on the floor of the platform. (17) Left untreated, diabetes can cause a host of debilitating medical complications and ultimately death. One sincerely hopes this young lady visits her physician to verify her healing. Healings of diseases such as diabetes and cancer cannot be validated within the confines of the crusades. There is serious concern for the welfare of many claiming healing.
There is also concern for the Name of Christ and the reputation of the church. The actions of Hinn and those like him bear little resemblance to Christ’s as we have seen. When did Jesus ever slay anyone in the Spirit? Would Christ throw his coat on people to knock them down? Or blow on them? Despite promises to reduce his theatrics, Hinn can be seen on the same show referenced previously waving his hand at the choir shouting, “Receive it!,” at which point the entire choir falls. Hinn runs through the front rows touching heads causing people to fall. Are any of these actions even remotely reminiscent of Christ? Flamboyant hucksters like Hinn who live in mansions on the donations of the desperate bring reproach on the name of Christ. Those who continue to blindly follow these false teachers cause the church to appear gullible in the eyes of the world and, indeed, far too many who name the Name of Christ are just that.
As Christians, we are a people of faith. There is an aversion to believing that anyone who claims a relationship with Christ would be anything less than honest and ethical. Additionally, many Christians want to believe in healers like Hinn as evidence that God is still at work. And indeed, God is still a God of miracles. But biblical faith is not blind or irrational. It is time for the people of God to demand more than anecdotal stories from those claiming the power of the apostles. While documentation of real miracles is lacking, documentation of those who have died at Hinn crusades, such as in Kenya, is not. (18) The miracles of Christ and the apostles were real. The same cannot be said for Benny Hinn and others like him.
Rev. Keith Gibson
http://www.awmi.net/extra/article/better_pray
A Better Way To Pray
By Andrew Wommack
Related Materials
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Free MP3 download
• Online TV broadcast
• CD album
• DVD album
• Book
Many years ago, actually decades ago, I was participating in an all-night prayer meeting in which we were bombarding the gates of heaven. I remember beating the wall and yelling, “God, if You loved the people in Arlington, Texas, half as much as I do, we’d have revival!” Immediately, my lightning-fast mind realized that there was something seriously wrong with my theology. It stopped me dead in my tracks. What was I thinking?
Did I really believe I loved these people more than God? No, not exactly. Like so many Christians, I believed God was angry with the human condition and that it was up to me to turn Him from His wrath and judgment. I was interceding, pleading with God on the behalf of others. What could possibly be wrong with that? As I learned later, a lot.
I am not saying that anyone who doesn’t pray as I do is “of the devil.” I wasn’t “of the devil” in the way I used to pray. I loved God with all my heart and the Lord loved me, but the results weren’t there.
The things the Lord has revealed to me about prayer since then have totally changed my life, and I’m now seeing miraculous results. If you aren’t getting the results you know the Lord wants you to have, maybe it’s time to consider a better way to pray.
First, we need to recognize that God isn’t angry at mankind anymore. He is no longer imputing or holding our sins against us.
“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19).
We are NOW reconciled to God through Jesus. That means we are in harmony and are friendly with God right now. He isn’t mad; He’s not even in a bad mood. The war between God and man is over. That’s what the angels proclaimed at the birth of Jesus.
Luke 2:14 says,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
These angels weren’t saying that peace would reign on earth and wars between people would cease. That certainly hasn’t happened. They were proclaiming the end of the war between God and man. Jesus paid a price that was infinitely greater than the sins of the whole human race.
God’s wrath and justice have been satisfied. Jesus changed everything. God isn’t angry. His mercy extends to all men. He loves the world, not only the church, but the whole world. He paid for all sin.
The Scriptures say in 1 John 2:2,
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
In the Old Testament, God’s judgment was poured out on both individuals and nations. In the New Testament, God’s judgment was poured out on Jesus. That is the nearly-too-good-to-be-true news of the Gospel. We no longer get what we deserve; we get what Jesus paid the price for, if we will only believe.
Before I understood this, I would say, “If God doesn’t judge America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” Now I say, “If God judges America, He will have to apologize to Jesus.” Understanding what Jesus did completely changes your perspective.
Second, Jesus is now the Mediator. A mediator is one who seeks to reconcile, or make peace between, two opposing parties. In the Old Testament, man had not yet been reconciled to God through Jesus. The people needed a mediator, someone to intercede with God on their behalf. That is where we find men like Abraham and Moses pleading with God.
In Genesis 18:23-25, you find Abraham interceding with God on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah:
“Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
In fact, Abraham actually negotiated with God until He agreed not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there were ten who were righteous. But there weren’t ten righteous people in the whole city, and only some of Lot’s family survived.
Moses actually told God, “Repent!” What nerve! What is even more amazing is that God repented. From these and other stories in the Old Testament, modern-day “intercessors” believe we too must stand in the gap, or mediate, between God and man. Just as I did decades ago, they believe we must plead with God to save the lost, to withhold His wrath from those He is ready to judge, and to be merciful to those whose needs He is unwilling to meet because of their unworthiness.
That couldn’t be further from the truth, but it is what’s being taught in many churches today. It ignores the fact that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 10:12) ever making intercession for us (Heb. 7:25). If Moses or Abraham could persuade God, don’t you think that Jesus could do at least as well?
In 1 Timothy 2:5 we read,
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
In the New Covenant, Jesus is the ONLY mediator needed to stand between God the Father and mankind. Sin is no longer a problem with God; it’s been atoned for and we are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. That is how God sees us. If we understand that, it will change the way we pray.
It was appropriate for Abraham and Moses to pray as they did, because God’s wrath had not yet been appeased through Jesus. Today, under the New Covenant, if you try to mediate in that way, you are actually antichrist—against Christ. You are saying that Jesus was not enough, not esteeming what Christ has done. When Jesus became our Mediator, He put all other mediators out of business, forever. I know these words are strong, but they are the truth.
Satan is behind much of the wrong teaching on “prayer” in the body of Christ today. Consider how crafty his plan is and the fruit it produces. He has convinced believers to stay in their closets taking the place of Jesus in intercession. There, they spend hours pleading with God to turn from His wrath, to pour out His Spirit, and to meet the needs of the people.
Meanwhile, families, co-workers, and neighbors are going to hell and dying from disease. The Bible doesn’t say that salvation comes through intercession, but by the foolishness of preaching (1 Cor. 1:21). And we are not told to pray for the sick, but to heal the sick by commanding healing into their broken bodies (Matt. 10:8).
We have been deceived into believing prayer is all about persuading God to release His power. We believe He can save, heal, and deliver but that He is waiting on us to shape up and earn it. The truth is, we don’t deserve it, and we will never be good enough. Because of Jesus, all that God has is ours. That’s good news. We no longer need to beg or plead; we need to exercise the authority He as given us and receive His blessings.
By Andrew Wommack
Related Materials
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Free MP3 download
• Online TV broadcast
• CD album
• DVD album
• Book
Many years ago, actually decades ago, I was participating in an all-night prayer meeting in which we were bombarding the gates of heaven. I remember beating the wall and yelling, “God, if You loved the people in Arlington, Texas, half as much as I do, we’d have revival!” Immediately, my lightning-fast mind realized that there was something seriously wrong with my theology. It stopped me dead in my tracks. What was I thinking?
Did I really believe I loved these people more than God? No, not exactly. Like so many Christians, I believed God was angry with the human condition and that it was up to me to turn Him from His wrath and judgment. I was interceding, pleading with God on the behalf of others. What could possibly be wrong with that? As I learned later, a lot.
I am not saying that anyone who doesn’t pray as I do is “of the devil.” I wasn’t “of the devil” in the way I used to pray. I loved God with all my heart and the Lord loved me, but the results weren’t there.
The things the Lord has revealed to me about prayer since then have totally changed my life, and I’m now seeing miraculous results. If you aren’t getting the results you know the Lord wants you to have, maybe it’s time to consider a better way to pray.
First, we need to recognize that God isn’t angry at mankind anymore. He is no longer imputing or holding our sins against us.
“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19).
We are NOW reconciled to God through Jesus. That means we are in harmony and are friendly with God right now. He isn’t mad; He’s not even in a bad mood. The war between God and man is over. That’s what the angels proclaimed at the birth of Jesus.
Luke 2:14 says,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
These angels weren’t saying that peace would reign on earth and wars between people would cease. That certainly hasn’t happened. They were proclaiming the end of the war between God and man. Jesus paid a price that was infinitely greater than the sins of the whole human race.
God’s wrath and justice have been satisfied. Jesus changed everything. God isn’t angry. His mercy extends to all men. He loves the world, not only the church, but the whole world. He paid for all sin.
The Scriptures say in 1 John 2:2,
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
In the Old Testament, God’s judgment was poured out on both individuals and nations. In the New Testament, God’s judgment was poured out on Jesus. That is the nearly-too-good-to-be-true news of the Gospel. We no longer get what we deserve; we get what Jesus paid the price for, if we will only believe.
Before I understood this, I would say, “If God doesn’t judge America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” Now I say, “If God judges America, He will have to apologize to Jesus.” Understanding what Jesus did completely changes your perspective.
Second, Jesus is now the Mediator. A mediator is one who seeks to reconcile, or make peace between, two opposing parties. In the Old Testament, man had not yet been reconciled to God through Jesus. The people needed a mediator, someone to intercede with God on their behalf. That is where we find men like Abraham and Moses pleading with God.
In Genesis 18:23-25, you find Abraham interceding with God on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah:
“Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
In fact, Abraham actually negotiated with God until He agreed not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there were ten who were righteous. But there weren’t ten righteous people in the whole city, and only some of Lot’s family survived.
Moses actually told God, “Repent!” What nerve! What is even more amazing is that God repented. From these and other stories in the Old Testament, modern-day “intercessors” believe we too must stand in the gap, or mediate, between God and man. Just as I did decades ago, they believe we must plead with God to save the lost, to withhold His wrath from those He is ready to judge, and to be merciful to those whose needs He is unwilling to meet because of their unworthiness.
That couldn’t be further from the truth, but it is what’s being taught in many churches today. It ignores the fact that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 10:12) ever making intercession for us (Heb. 7:25). If Moses or Abraham could persuade God, don’t you think that Jesus could do at least as well?
In 1 Timothy 2:5 we read,
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
In the New Covenant, Jesus is the ONLY mediator needed to stand between God the Father and mankind. Sin is no longer a problem with God; it’s been atoned for and we are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. That is how God sees us. If we understand that, it will change the way we pray.
It was appropriate for Abraham and Moses to pray as they did, because God’s wrath had not yet been appeased through Jesus. Today, under the New Covenant, if you try to mediate in that way, you are actually antichrist—against Christ. You are saying that Jesus was not enough, not esteeming what Christ has done. When Jesus became our Mediator, He put all other mediators out of business, forever. I know these words are strong, but they are the truth.
Satan is behind much of the wrong teaching on “prayer” in the body of Christ today. Consider how crafty his plan is and the fruit it produces. He has convinced believers to stay in their closets taking the place of Jesus in intercession. There, they spend hours pleading with God to turn from His wrath, to pour out His Spirit, and to meet the needs of the people.
Meanwhile, families, co-workers, and neighbors are going to hell and dying from disease. The Bible doesn’t say that salvation comes through intercession, but by the foolishness of preaching (1 Cor. 1:21). And we are not told to pray for the sick, but to heal the sick by commanding healing into their broken bodies (Matt. 10:8).
We have been deceived into believing prayer is all about persuading God to release His power. We believe He can save, heal, and deliver but that He is waiting on us to shape up and earn it. The truth is, we don’t deserve it, and we will never be good enough. Because of Jesus, all that God has is ours. That’s good news. We no longer need to beg or plead; we need to exercise the authority He as given us and receive His blessings.
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