About a month ago a friend of mine informed me that one of her husband’s lungs collapsed. She also mentioned that this had happened before. Well her husband went to the hospital and they eventually re-inflated his collapsed lung. The problem is the lung continued to leak, so they had to insert a tube to prevent this lung from collapsing again. Needless to say she was stressing out about this and her husband was miserable.
Now my friend and her husband have been attending the same church for several years now. This church is a rather large Church of the Nazarene. I’ve also attended a Church of the Nazarene and I can attest to the very conservative nature of this particular denomination, very similar to Baptists in this regard. Her husband is a very conservative man as well and not prone to such drastic measures, as perhaps seeking out healing. Well, their church decided to have an altar call for anyone needing prayer. Now their church, in her memory, has never done anything like this before, but for some reason they decided to do it this time. Anyway, her husband decided to heed this call and so he walked up front to receive prayer. It is my joy to share that my friend’s husband was healed. They went into their doctor for a check up and found that his lung was no longer leaking. My friend’s husband was desperate, much like the folks Jesus and the disciples healed. They tried the medical community and they did what they could and helped, but they were unable to cure his medical condition. In his desperation he made the decision to seek out God in faith, for an answer, and he was healed in front of the entire church. What a great way for God to encourage His church to continue bringing their concerns and praises before His throne.
Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe in spiritual gifts? Do you truly believe God is sovereign? Why aren’t we being taught that miracles are still possible? Of course we all acknowledge miracles with our mouth because to do otherwise would be to deny much of the Bible, but I can’t remember the last time I saw an actual laying on of hands in prayer by the elders/leaders, nor can I even remember the last time I heard a sermon dedicated to this topic. I guess it’s viewed as too charismatic? Too kooky? Too unbelievable? We’re too smart and sophisticated to believe God would condescend to us in this way. Yet we believe God would condescend to us through the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ. Such a wondrous/miraculous act of love and faith that words cannot fully communicate and yet the effects reach throughout all of creation for all of eternity. Surely this is much more miraculous then a simple healing? Surely this is much more glorious to God then anything any of us could ever do or say. Then why do we believe in our hearts that God is incapable of or unwilling to heal the body? Hasn’t He already healed our hearts?
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Now I’m not writing about a desperate Santa-God/genie-God approach to healing. No I’m not referring to an “I’m a good Christian I deserved to be healed” approach. I’m trying to convey my belief that the gift of healing is nothing more, or less, then an act of worship and praise to our Father in heaven and an act of encouragement to the body. An act many Christians are missing out on.
James 4 in particular James 4:2-3
Of course as with everything it’s all about intentions. Why are you doing what you’re doing? Is the purpose of having an alter call to boost attendance or make someone look great in the eyes of others? Or is the intention to provide an opportunity for the church to praise and glorify Jesus Christ and seek Him out?
1 Peter 4:7-11
Miracles do happen, as can be witnessed anytime a new life is brought into this world. Jesus Christ raised Lazarus from the dead and He Himself was later raised from the dead. This miracle is on going in the salvation of the church.
No comments:
Post a Comment