The term "resting in the spirit" or "slain in the spirit" has come up recently in conversation and one person in particular has expressed a desire to have this happen to him. What I'm talking about is the experience of dropping to the floor, unable to move or speak, as a result of the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. As one who ministers healing prayer I've seen people overcome by the presence of the Holy Spirit such that they trembled beyond control. They've become radiant being in the presence of the flow of God's wonderful Holy Spirit. But, they didn't seek that experience when coming for healing; it just happened.
The person who spoke to me about wanting to be overcome by the Holy Spirit is a God-serving person; an associate pastor, worker in the mission fields, and a genuinely good soul. He has seen it happen to others and is now expressing a desire to have it happen to him. His expressed desire to be overcome by the Holy Spirit is why I'm writing (thinking) about it now. If it is his desire to simply experience it for the sake of thrill seeking, I tend to shun away from wanting to help him. If, however, he seeks a deep conviction for his sins and desires to know and serve God at a deeper level, then I should be eager to pray with him for God's presence to overwhelm him. I wrestle with discernment in this situation.
I don't ascribe to the overtly charismatic worship, preaching and prayer that fosters "experiential" thrills. I'm called to pray for healing. I preach about healing our relationships with God and each other. I pray that God mercifully restores health and wellness to those who seek His comfort. I believe that if it is within the context of wanting healing that this friend seeks to experience a resting in the spirit, God will lead me to pray with him. If led, I will follow.
As a footnote, some may say that there is no biblical support for being slain in the spirit. In John 18:6 when the Roman soldiers realized that they were in the very presence of God, they fell back. Today, after Christ's resurrection, the Holy Spirit's presence has that same effect.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Healing...it's all about Love
In recent healing services, I've been moved to contemplate upon the courage of those who come. I've also been moved to understand that it is all about the love of those laying hands upon those who come for healing. It is, indeed, all about love.
We sometimes forget that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that the world may be delivered from sin. It is in embracing that love, in a healing worship, that God manifests Himself. In that moment, God heals. Period.
A healing service that is based upon any particular individual's gift is erroneous. Rather, if it is based upon the love of Our Lord, through anyone there, then God's love is present and radiant. It's all about love.
Love. What a notion. Love for another, in the name of Jesus Christ, is all that one needs. Miracles happen, in the name of Jesus Christ. Period.
We sometimes forget that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that the world may be delivered from sin. It is in embracing that love, in a healing worship, that God manifests Himself. In that moment, God heals. Period.
A healing service that is based upon any particular individual's gift is erroneous. Rather, if it is based upon the love of Our Lord, through anyone there, then God's love is present and radiant. It's all about love.
Love. What a notion. Love for another, in the name of Jesus Christ, is all that one needs. Miracles happen, in the name of Jesus Christ. Period.
Them Thar Prophetic Guest Speakers
I watch the videos...I listen to the sermons...I study them all. There is the Elijah list, the prophetic movement, the word-faith movements, and the prosperity preachers. All a bunch of self-serving profiteers capitalizing upon the lost. I read of charismatic preachers brought up in the family trade. I read of those who've discovered the road to riches in the name of Jesus. How pathetic.
I pray that I learn that there is someone out there in the prophetic movement who isn't attracted more to capital enrichment than sharing the word of God. I fear that my prayers may go unanswered. I'm so drawn by the message they speak, while simultaneously being abhorred by the money they make. Let me illustrate.
A "prophetic" preacher is scheduled to come to our local community. On his website he states that a hosting church needs to be aware of the financial requirements to bring his prophetic message to their church. They must take care of all financial issues, such as airfare, hotel, food and other expenses, plus an "honorarium", plus be willing to have a love offering at all services. Add it up. Whatever the "honorarium" may be, there is the issue of the love offerings. Many ask for a love offering early in the service, then another when healing is offered, and another when they leave. But wait...if that "prophet" speaks at more than one event, the love offerings can really add up. If the "honorarium" is $1000, and the love offerings add to that...on a 3 day "conference" the evangelist can make 3 to 5 or more thousand dollars! More in urban environments. Beware!I pray that I learn that there is someone out there in the prophetic movement who isn't attracted more to capital enrichment than sharing the word of God. I fear that my prayers may go unanswered. I'm so drawn by the message they speak, while simultaneously being abhorred by the money they make. Let me illustrate.
When inviting some traveling evangelist to come share the word of God for you, in this time and age, beware. In all too many cases, it is a family craft handed down through the generations, as a means of making a good living. It isn't always about Christ...all too often about them making a good living.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Praying for a Cousin
Never thought I'd be moved to pray for someone at a family BBQ....but it happened. This last Saturday we were attending a family BBQ and I was overcome with the notion to pray for someone there. A second cousin...(at least, I understand that to be the relationship via my wife's relation) was in need of prayer. I didn't know it but she was pronounced with a terminal disorder, and I was compelled to pray with her. We prayed.
She was overwhelmed with the notion that someone would care enough to pray for her. I prayed for her. And she was overwhelmed by the spirit of Our Lord at that moment...in that prayer.
God rested mercifully upon her soul.
I don't know if any healing came from that experience, but I know that God spoke to me, to her, and to the prayer partner there...and it spoke powerfully. May God work mercifully in her situation. I just don't know what healing came from it.
I share this as I'm just a servant. I speak and pray where God tells me. I hope to be more open to this calling as I'm brought to it...but more importantly, to lift it up for all to come and receive His healing mercies. May God's mercy prevail!
She was overwhelmed with the notion that someone would care enough to pray for her. I prayed for her. And she was overwhelmed by the spirit of Our Lord at that moment...in that prayer.
God rested mercifully upon her soul.
I don't know if any healing came from that experience, but I know that God spoke to me, to her, and to the prayer partner there...and it spoke powerfully. May God work mercifully in her situation. I just don't know what healing came from it.
I share this as I'm just a servant. I speak and pray where God tells me. I hope to be more open to this calling as I'm brought to it...but more importantly, to lift it up for all to come and receive His healing mercies. May God's mercy prevail!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Bask in God's Love at Every Opportunity
My pastor said, "We need to have a healing service". A week later she said, again, "We need to have a healing service". Why I didn't embrace that invitation the first time I don't know. This past Thursday we had the service. I put the notice on our church sign on Monday and Thursday evening we had 6 people come, along with their spouses and other supporters. God brought us 2 with cancer, one with fibromyalgia and depression, one with heart problems and diverticulitis, one with demonic possession, and one who just wanted to be covered with love and compassion. The presence of the Holy Spirit was experienced.
What made this service so awesome is that we made it a formal service with holy communion. The presence of Christ at that time, through the confession, pardon, and the experience of dining with Him via the sacrament of holy communion was humbling and invigorating at the same time. I felt like God had set the stage to use our prayer team in a deeper, more loving way than in the past. And He did.
Each person prayed for had a joy and peace come over them that they expressed with thanks and gratitude to Our Father. How healing comes to each is unique. One felt an overwhelming of the Holy Spirit while being prayed for, another jerked with a sudden indwelling, another went limp and cried tears of joy, while the others simply smiled and felt peace for the first time in a long time. How awesome is the God we serve!
Friday I got a call from my pastor sharing how one of the attendees came to see her to testify how well he was feeling. I know nothing of the others as they aren't part of our community and haven't had any feedback as of yet. I do know this: Each of us experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in a deep, personal, yet corporate way. It was as if the church building itself was aglow and everyone inside was filled with joy and peace following the prayer time.
Prior to the service God put it in my heart to meditate on the courage that it takes for someone to come ask for healing prayer. I was moved to tears by it. My only prayer was that we would all come to understand that God's love is more than we can comprehend. It is more than we could ever give. All we have to do is be open to it, accept it, and trust in it. Experiencing that love washes away the things that ail us. We experienced that love Thursday evening.
Having to be asked twice embarrasses me. Why would anyone not want to jump at the opportunity to bask in God's love whenever the invitation is given? I'll not have to be asked twice again.
What made this service so awesome is that we made it a formal service with holy communion. The presence of Christ at that time, through the confession, pardon, and the experience of dining with Him via the sacrament of holy communion was humbling and invigorating at the same time. I felt like God had set the stage to use our prayer team in a deeper, more loving way than in the past. And He did.
Each person prayed for had a joy and peace come over them that they expressed with thanks and gratitude to Our Father. How healing comes to each is unique. One felt an overwhelming of the Holy Spirit while being prayed for, another jerked with a sudden indwelling, another went limp and cried tears of joy, while the others simply smiled and felt peace for the first time in a long time. How awesome is the God we serve!
Friday I got a call from my pastor sharing how one of the attendees came to see her to testify how well he was feeling. I know nothing of the others as they aren't part of our community and haven't had any feedback as of yet. I do know this: Each of us experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in a deep, personal, yet corporate way. It was as if the church building itself was aglow and everyone inside was filled with joy and peace following the prayer time.
Prior to the service God put it in my heart to meditate on the courage that it takes for someone to come ask for healing prayer. I was moved to tears by it. My only prayer was that we would all come to understand that God's love is more than we can comprehend. It is more than we could ever give. All we have to do is be open to it, accept it, and trust in it. Experiencing that love washes away the things that ail us. We experienced that love Thursday evening.
Having to be asked twice embarrasses me. Why would anyone not want to jump at the opportunity to bask in God's love whenever the invitation is given? I'll not have to be asked twice again.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Prayers Do Get Answered - It Rained!
I came across a sermon illustration a year or so back about how to pray and what to expect when you pray. It goes something like this:
In the old west a community was in the midst of a severe drought. Everyone was desperate for rain. At church Sunday morning the parson told the congregation that if they sincerely prayed and truly believed, God would bring rain. He told them to go home, pray all week, believe with all their hearts, and surely the rains will come. Sunday morning as the people were coming to church, the parson was furious. He said "there'll be no church today, for there are no believers. You didn't do what I told you to do!" The people said, "Yes, Parson, we did as you said; we prayed all week and believed it would rain." The parson said, "You did not...where's your umbrella?"
Like the people in the illustration, we're in a severe drought in parts of Alabama and Georgia. Hydrologists are calling it a 100-year drought...as in it is the worst drought in a hundred years. Crops are failing, municipal water use is restricted, deep wells are going dry, it's bad.
At times like this, in our rural area, we are aware of those people who desperately need their crops to make it to harvest. For many it will make the difference between having food for the year or not. The only rain that comes is in the form of what they call "isolated popcorn showers", that is, in some areas a brief period of rain may come (typically late afternoon). With this as the backdrop, let me share our compassionate, sincere, prayer from this past Sunday:
"Dear Lord, you know the desperation of those who need your nurturing rains; you know that families need their gardens to provide for them for the year ahead. Have mercy on them. We pray that you bring the elements of your creation together for those who need it most, the families who need it most, and we trust that you will deliver. Thank you, Lord."
That was Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon, with no rain showing anywhere on the radar, a "popcorn" shower cropped up over our town. It rained! Monday, with no rain showing up for over a hundred miles on the radar...a "popcorn" shower developed and rested over our town for two hours. Tuesday, with no rain anywhere near, again it rained - over an inch - over our town.
A church member stopped by my office Monday and said: "God answers our prayers!" Monday night another member of our church commented on how special the Sunday prayer felt, and how they believed God would answer our prayer. Tuesday afternoon I was at the auto parts store and a local hay farmer came in and said, "I don't know where this rain's come from but it's just in the nick of time".
In that Sunday service, we weren't praying for relief from water restrictions; our lawns or flowers...no. We prayed that God would be merciful for those who needed His mercy the most. We didn't pray for ourselves, we prayed for others.
Intercessory prayer, even when it comes to petitioning for rain, is pleasing in the eye of Our Lord. May we all be inspired to pray for others with no thought for ourselves.
God answers our prayers when we believe He will. I believe.
In the old west a community was in the midst of a severe drought. Everyone was desperate for rain. At church Sunday morning the parson told the congregation that if they sincerely prayed and truly believed, God would bring rain. He told them to go home, pray all week, believe with all their hearts, and surely the rains will come. Sunday morning as the people were coming to church, the parson was furious. He said "there'll be no church today, for there are no believers. You didn't do what I told you to do!" The people said, "Yes, Parson, we did as you said; we prayed all week and believed it would rain." The parson said, "You did not...where's your umbrella?"
Like the people in the illustration, we're in a severe drought in parts of Alabama and Georgia. Hydrologists are calling it a 100-year drought...as in it is the worst drought in a hundred years. Crops are failing, municipal water use is restricted, deep wells are going dry, it's bad.
At times like this, in our rural area, we are aware of those people who desperately need their crops to make it to harvest. For many it will make the difference between having food for the year or not. The only rain that comes is in the form of what they call "isolated popcorn showers", that is, in some areas a brief period of rain may come (typically late afternoon). With this as the backdrop, let me share our compassionate, sincere, prayer from this past Sunday:
"Dear Lord, you know the desperation of those who need your nurturing rains; you know that families need their gardens to provide for them for the year ahead. Have mercy on them. We pray that you bring the elements of your creation together for those who need it most, the families who need it most, and we trust that you will deliver. Thank you, Lord."
That was Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon, with no rain showing anywhere on the radar, a "popcorn" shower cropped up over our town. It rained! Monday, with no rain showing up for over a hundred miles on the radar...a "popcorn" shower developed and rested over our town for two hours. Tuesday, with no rain anywhere near, again it rained - over an inch - over our town.
A church member stopped by my office Monday and said: "God answers our prayers!" Monday night another member of our church commented on how special the Sunday prayer felt, and how they believed God would answer our prayer. Tuesday afternoon I was at the auto parts store and a local hay farmer came in and said, "I don't know where this rain's come from but it's just in the nick of time".
In that Sunday service, we weren't praying for relief from water restrictions; our lawns or flowers...no. We prayed that God would be merciful for those who needed His mercy the most. We didn't pray for ourselves, we prayed for others.
Intercessory prayer, even when it comes to petitioning for rain, is pleasing in the eye of Our Lord. May we all be inspired to pray for others with no thought for ourselves.
God answers our prayers when we believe He will. I believe.
Revivals - Do They Lack Something?
In the deep South in rural churches "revival" seems like a term lost in antiquity. I've been attending revivals throughout the summer and have made some observations:
Most attendees come to revivals to support their church.
Most revivals are not much more than something to do on otherwise routine evenings.
Most revivals are not much more than regular church, but with special music and guest preachers.
Not much reviving comes from revivals.
Are these offbeat perspectives of revival? I think revivals fall short of reviving any spirits; fall short of bringing someone to Christ; fall short of anything more than "church at night". Sad perspective...at least for me.
I have a revival sermon inside me, one that is waiting for a forum. I believe that revival without a genuine change in one's walk with Christ is nothing more than "church at night". What of you and your church?
Mind you, I'm in a very rural area where only the churched come to revivals. No outreach to the unchurched. But I believe that is because the message doesn't reach beyond believers. What about the unbelievers who seek something to make sense of the world? They are the targets of revivals and the ones who should be coming and experiencing Christ's love for the first time in their lives.
I have a revival sermon inside me. I'll hone it, and perfect it, so that it is ready for when the call comes. Do any preachers or pastors have a revival sermon that they're anxious to share? Just wondering...after evenings of "church at night"...I'm just wondering.
I believe that revival for practicing Christians comes from being baptized in the Holy Spirit. That's an awkward and uncomfortable notion for most...but the only true path to being revived in the Spirit. So, if the attendees at your revival are just the "already churched"...what message do you bring to them?
Just wondering.
Most attendees come to revivals to support their church.
Most revivals are not much more than something to do on otherwise routine evenings.
Most revivals are not much more than regular church, but with special music and guest preachers.
Not much reviving comes from revivals.
Are these offbeat perspectives of revival? I think revivals fall short of reviving any spirits; fall short of bringing someone to Christ; fall short of anything more than "church at night". Sad perspective...at least for me.
I have a revival sermon inside me, one that is waiting for a forum. I believe that revival without a genuine change in one's walk with Christ is nothing more than "church at night". What of you and your church?
Mind you, I'm in a very rural area where only the churched come to revivals. No outreach to the unchurched. But I believe that is because the message doesn't reach beyond believers. What about the unbelievers who seek something to make sense of the world? They are the targets of revivals and the ones who should be coming and experiencing Christ's love for the first time in their lives.
I have a revival sermon inside me. I'll hone it, and perfect it, so that it is ready for when the call comes. Do any preachers or pastors have a revival sermon that they're anxious to share? Just wondering...after evenings of "church at night"...I'm just wondering.
I believe that revival for practicing Christians comes from being baptized in the Holy Spirit. That's an awkward and uncomfortable notion for most...but the only true path to being revived in the Spirit. So, if the attendees at your revival are just the "already churched"...what message do you bring to them?
Just wondering.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Gets "Smelly" When Asking for Money
I could and would buy into the ministries of those who offer the gift of healing if they only didn't ask for donations, love offerings, MONEY, in exchange for the loving mercies of Christ's healing power. Starts to kinda...stink...when money gets involved.
I've encountered some who have the genuine gift, but it somewhat spoils when they offer personal prayer...for a price. Kind of seems as if they are preying upon those willing to do anything for a fleeting grasp of hope. Am I the only one who sees these tactics as manipulative and capitalistic, first, and seeking to do kingdom work second? Just my perspective.
I've often thought about quitting the "working for a living" routine in exchange for doing The Lord's work and trusting that He will provide. As it relates to the healing ministry, I don't think I'm there yet. Maybe someday, but not yet. Something about mortgages, gas for the car, and all those other worldly expenses that make me just say NO to hanging a "healing" shingle. At this point in my life I'm afraid I'd be tempted to ask for money. Ain't going there!
When the time is right...in The Lord's time...I'll go there. He isn't moving me there yet. When it happens, I'll gladly sacrifice security for prosperity in love and healing...till then, I'm at His beck and call without me asking for financial security.
This may seem an offbeat perspective for a servant seemingly anointed with a gift from God, but I have to trust that God will lead me to where I need to be in His kingdom, in His time and for His purpose. Who knows...tomorrow I may sell my business and give it all to God. Till that happens, I'll work by day, heal by night, and be open to the call to rethink my perspective.
I'd suggest that God challenges me daily to ask..."is today the day?". I'd further suggest that His honing my spirit in this way makes me further committed, day by day, to be drawn closer to His ministry for me. Frankly, doing the business thing while being overwhelmed by a fast or day of prayer is, indeed, making me more and more ready to accept a full time calling. I look forward to the day when I'm totally committed to being His tool. Again, till then, I'm like a marine in boot camp. Getting ready to face the enemy with full armor, but not out of boot camp...yet.
I've encountered some who have the genuine gift, but it somewhat spoils when they offer personal prayer...for a price. Kind of seems as if they are preying upon those willing to do anything for a fleeting grasp of hope. Am I the only one who sees these tactics as manipulative and capitalistic, first, and seeking to do kingdom work second? Just my perspective.
I've often thought about quitting the "working for a living" routine in exchange for doing The Lord's work and trusting that He will provide. As it relates to the healing ministry, I don't think I'm there yet. Maybe someday, but not yet. Something about mortgages, gas for the car, and all those other worldly expenses that make me just say NO to hanging a "healing" shingle. At this point in my life I'm afraid I'd be tempted to ask for money. Ain't going there!
When the time is right...in The Lord's time...I'll go there. He isn't moving me there yet. When it happens, I'll gladly sacrifice security for prosperity in love and healing...till then, I'm at His beck and call without me asking for financial security.
This may seem an offbeat perspective for a servant seemingly anointed with a gift from God, but I have to trust that God will lead me to where I need to be in His kingdom, in His time and for His purpose. Who knows...tomorrow I may sell my business and give it all to God. Till that happens, I'll work by day, heal by night, and be open to the call to rethink my perspective.
I'd suggest that God challenges me daily to ask..."is today the day?". I'd further suggest that His honing my spirit in this way makes me further committed, day by day, to be drawn closer to His ministry for me. Frankly, doing the business thing while being overwhelmed by a fast or day of prayer is, indeed, making me more and more ready to accept a full time calling. I look forward to the day when I'm totally committed to being His tool. Again, till then, I'm like a marine in boot camp. Getting ready to face the enemy with full armor, but not out of boot camp...yet.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Orthodoxy Repels Healing Services
I'm moved to comment about the consideration that Christian healing is in the outer fringes of orthodox worship. All too many pastors fear that inviting the healing mercy of Christ into a congregation's worship will make them out to be lunatics. A justifiable position.
All too many congregants view church on Sunday morning as a thing that they must do to keep up appearances. But when challenged to dig deeper and hold a healing service, they repel. They call it hocus-pocus. Sad. But there are those who welcome it but in their welcoming comes a divisiveness within the congregation. I've seen it and pray that it doesn't grow to the point of rejection of any pastor who believes in, and worships in, healing services.
On my soapbox...Christ heals! He does it when we drop all personality, when we drop all expectation, when we drop trying to manipulate outcomings...Christ heals at a very personal level. Some are willing to lay themselves open to being ministered to, while others just want enough to guarantee their salvation. They don't mix. The healing ministry is "uncomfortable" for so many because it is as if they have to say that they believe more in a mysterious influence on their lives than the tangent, visible, medical community.
If someone cannot afford the scientifically proven medical solutions to their maladies, or, if they are at the end of their ropes because nothing that science has to offer provides a cure, that's where Jesus comes into the situation and provides a solution...a cure. I've seen it too many times to deny it.
I'm particularly moved by a modern Catholic priest from the Philippines who has the gift. He prays for each and every individual who comes to him for his healing touch. He may start a service at 8pm and not finish until 4am because he has to touch and pray with each individual who comes for healing. Imagine...2000 people and you have to pray with each and every one of them for God to work in them individually. His ministry was at first not embraced by the orthodoxy of the Catholic Church, but the results of it are unmistakable, and now endorsed. What of protestants?
I believe that an embrace among mainstream orthodox protestant denominations of the healing power of Jesus Christ, and his Great Commission to His followers, will yield phenomenal results. If only we can....BELIEVE! If we can believe, Our Lord will work wonderfully in our midsts. If only we can believe. That's the hardest part...isn't it? To believe that God will work miracles in our midsts...if only we believe.
Let's get off our comfortable positions, people in leadership, and seek the love and mercy and grace of God for healing in our modern churches. Please, don't make people leave to seek what they need elsewhere, when true servants are ready, willing and able, if only they are asked.
I would encourage all pastors to administer a "spiritual gifts assessment test" in your congregation to find what strengths (or weaknesses) you have in your midsts. Everyone who participates will accept what they learn...as well as what is revealed about others. Do you have someone with the gift of healing in your congregation that you don't know about? Do you truly know to whom you are ministering to...or that there are those who can minister to you? Something to think about.
God chooses His servants and the roles they will play in his revelation. Some aren't pastors. Some are just people in the service of Christ. Embrace them if they reveal themselves to you.
In the love of Christ.
Marty
All too many congregants view church on Sunday morning as a thing that they must do to keep up appearances. But when challenged to dig deeper and hold a healing service, they repel. They call it hocus-pocus. Sad. But there are those who welcome it but in their welcoming comes a divisiveness within the congregation. I've seen it and pray that it doesn't grow to the point of rejection of any pastor who believes in, and worships in, healing services.
On my soapbox...Christ heals! He does it when we drop all personality, when we drop all expectation, when we drop trying to manipulate outcomings...Christ heals at a very personal level. Some are willing to lay themselves open to being ministered to, while others just want enough to guarantee their salvation. They don't mix. The healing ministry is "uncomfortable" for so many because it is as if they have to say that they believe more in a mysterious influence on their lives than the tangent, visible, medical community.
If someone cannot afford the scientifically proven medical solutions to their maladies, or, if they are at the end of their ropes because nothing that science has to offer provides a cure, that's where Jesus comes into the situation and provides a solution...a cure. I've seen it too many times to deny it.
I'm particularly moved by a modern Catholic priest from the Philippines who has the gift. He prays for each and every individual who comes to him for his healing touch. He may start a service at 8pm and not finish until 4am because he has to touch and pray with each individual who comes for healing. Imagine...2000 people and you have to pray with each and every one of them for God to work in them individually. His ministry was at first not embraced by the orthodoxy of the Catholic Church, but the results of it are unmistakable, and now endorsed. What of protestants?
I believe that an embrace among mainstream orthodox protestant denominations of the healing power of Jesus Christ, and his Great Commission to His followers, will yield phenomenal results. If only we can....BELIEVE! If we can believe, Our Lord will work wonderfully in our midsts. If only we can believe. That's the hardest part...isn't it? To believe that God will work miracles in our midsts...if only we believe.
Let's get off our comfortable positions, people in leadership, and seek the love and mercy and grace of God for healing in our modern churches. Please, don't make people leave to seek what they need elsewhere, when true servants are ready, willing and able, if only they are asked.
I would encourage all pastors to administer a "spiritual gifts assessment test" in your congregation to find what strengths (or weaknesses) you have in your midsts. Everyone who participates will accept what they learn...as well as what is revealed about others. Do you have someone with the gift of healing in your congregation that you don't know about? Do you truly know to whom you are ministering to...or that there are those who can minister to you? Something to think about.
God chooses His servants and the roles they will play in his revelation. Some aren't pastors. Some are just people in the service of Christ. Embrace them if they reveal themselves to you.
In the love of Christ.
Marty
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Dissing the Faith Healers' Crusuades
I hope that readers will come to understand that I'm not one of those crusading faith healers. Quite the contrary. My ministry is all about the love of Christ and His healing, but not about following in the footsteps of those who make a living off of it. Nothing of the sort. I'm so offset when reading about the preying upon the innocents...the capitalizing off the ignorant...it upsets me deeply.
There are those who have the gift of healing. It is unmistakable. There are people that God chooses to work through, and I marvel at their annointing. I thank God that He chooses to put them in our path's. But to make a buck off of it is repugnant.
Today I read of someone caught up in such a situation. He stopped his dialysis seeking a healing from a rich, famed healing televangelist. His family put up lots of money in the hope he would be healed at a massive healing service. Apparently, his donation wasn't enough. He went back to Canada to resume dialysis.
My heart is troubled by these capitalistic faith healers. It is troubled deeply. But I can testify that when someone genuinely comes to Christ with a desire to be healed...He heals. Such is the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. No dollars and cents involved. It is the pure love that Jesus taught us and that pure love is the source for a true healing ministry. I pray that others, touched by the love of Christ, and blessed with the gift of healing, will serve in that ministry. With no "huckstering".
There are those who have the gift of healing. It is unmistakable. There are people that God chooses to work through, and I marvel at their annointing. I thank God that He chooses to put them in our path's. But to make a buck off of it is repugnant.
Today I read of someone caught up in such a situation. He stopped his dialysis seeking a healing from a rich, famed healing televangelist. His family put up lots of money in the hope he would be healed at a massive healing service. Apparently, his donation wasn't enough. He went back to Canada to resume dialysis.
My heart is troubled by these capitalistic faith healers. It is troubled deeply. But I can testify that when someone genuinely comes to Christ with a desire to be healed...He heals. Such is the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. No dollars and cents involved. It is the pure love that Jesus taught us and that pure love is the source for a true healing ministry. I pray that others, touched by the love of Christ, and blessed with the gift of healing, will serve in that ministry. With no "huckstering".
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
This Calling
In our daily morning devotionals my wife requests that Our Lord lead me to those who need His healing through my prayer and touch. She asks that He continues to use me to bring people to know His love. It's humbling and empowering at the same time. Humbling because I feel so unworthy of such undertakings, yet empowering because I'm reminded of the awesome work God has and will do with a mere servant. In the past month these daily reminders have yielded 3 opportunities to bring the love, mercy and grace of God to needy people.
I serve believers in numerous ways through leading worship, preaching, and other means. These opportunities to serve are rewarding and I'm comfortable undertaking them. What's challenging is the deeply personal and spiritual interactions with others through healing prayer. It is in heeding to this calling that that I struggle because it is so "personal". Let me explain.
How often do we look deeply into the eyes of someone we may never have met before, touch them, hold them, pray about their soul, their love for God, their hopes for health, and more? And through these spiritual and personal encounters, they look to you to be the lifesaver thrown out to pull them back into better health, restored relationships, forgiveness and wholeness. That is the "difficult" part of this calling. It evokes a sense of vulnerability as their burdens become yours. Their hurting becomes your hurting. Their cross becomes yours to bear. These are the things that take place when God puts someone in my path for ministering to them through this calling.
I cannot speak to how others are called into a healing ministry, or what happens in their hearts, minds, spirits and bodies while ministering...but this is how it is for me. I feel their pains and afflictions in both my spirit and my body as I pray for them. When praying with a diabetic who has aching feet, my feet ache. When praying with one who has back problems, my back hurts. Their pain is felt in my body and I believe that God does this to me so that I have a deeper compassion for the one I'm ministering to. In that very moment where their pain is manifest in my body, I know what it is that they truly want God to make right. This knowledge gives me the authority to know what we're praying for. At the moment when God acknowledges our petition, He releases the pain and replaces it with joy. Tears of joy replace the anguish of pain. Hope and optimism replace hopelessness and pessimism. At that very moment God is in our midsts, and there's no denying it!
In the few years I've been heeding this calling to the healing ministry I've grown in love and compassion as I never imagined one could grow. I see people whom I've prayed with on the streets or while shopping and we're drawn to each other for a warm embrace. That love is so wonderful and rewarding that it compels me to want more and more. So in pursuit of wanting more love in my life and in the lives of others, I heed this calling. It's all about love. Christ's love.
I serve believers in numerous ways through leading worship, preaching, and other means. These opportunities to serve are rewarding and I'm comfortable undertaking them. What's challenging is the deeply personal and spiritual interactions with others through healing prayer. It is in heeding to this calling that that I struggle because it is so "personal". Let me explain.
How often do we look deeply into the eyes of someone we may never have met before, touch them, hold them, pray about their soul, their love for God, their hopes for health, and more? And through these spiritual and personal encounters, they look to you to be the lifesaver thrown out to pull them back into better health, restored relationships, forgiveness and wholeness. That is the "difficult" part of this calling. It evokes a sense of vulnerability as their burdens become yours. Their hurting becomes your hurting. Their cross becomes yours to bear. These are the things that take place when God puts someone in my path for ministering to them through this calling.
I cannot speak to how others are called into a healing ministry, or what happens in their hearts, minds, spirits and bodies while ministering...but this is how it is for me. I feel their pains and afflictions in both my spirit and my body as I pray for them. When praying with a diabetic who has aching feet, my feet ache. When praying with one who has back problems, my back hurts. Their pain is felt in my body and I believe that God does this to me so that I have a deeper compassion for the one I'm ministering to. In that very moment where their pain is manifest in my body, I know what it is that they truly want God to make right. This knowledge gives me the authority to know what we're praying for. At the moment when God acknowledges our petition, He releases the pain and replaces it with joy. Tears of joy replace the anguish of pain. Hope and optimism replace hopelessness and pessimism. At that very moment God is in our midsts, and there's no denying it!
In the few years I've been heeding this calling to the healing ministry I've grown in love and compassion as I never imagined one could grow. I see people whom I've prayed with on the streets or while shopping and we're drawn to each other for a warm embrace. That love is so wonderful and rewarding that it compels me to want more and more. So in pursuit of wanting more love in my life and in the lives of others, I heed this calling. It's all about love. Christ's love.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Healing Prayer
I'm in the process of re-reading the book "The Prayer That Heals" by Francis MacNutt, and have come across some interesting information. Specifically, do parents regularly pray with their children. It is noted that only 3% of those questioned ever remember a spontaneous prayer offered by their fathers for anything. Wow....just 3% recall their fathers praying in their own words for something/anything from God. I'm not in that slim percentile. My father prayed formal prayers. As a Roman Catholic, it was only the formal prayers that were taught. But that isn't what Jesus wants from us.
How often do we pray in our own words, one on one with Christ, and with the authority that He will hear and act upon our prayers? Really, I ask.
In the healing ministry it calls for us to speak with God personally, in our own words, for Him to make His presence known amongst us. I'm working on that in my personal prayer life....but wonder if anyone else is working on that in their prayer lives. God answers our prayers, if only we speak to Him personally....rather than "formally". Make sense?
How often do we pray in our own words, one on one with Christ, and with the authority that He will hear and act upon our prayers? Really, I ask.
In the healing ministry it calls for us to speak with God personally, in our own words, for Him to make His presence known amongst us. I'm working on that in my personal prayer life....but wonder if anyone else is working on that in their prayer lives. God answers our prayers, if only we speak to Him personally....rather than "formally". Make sense?
Friday, July 06, 2007
May we have a Miracle in Wadley
A brother in Christ asked me if we could expect a miracle in our little town. I submit that, yes, God will reveal himself in our healing services. Time will tell.
In the past week we've prayed for healing from diabetes and cancer. I (we) await a report as to the wonders of God's presence in our services. We wait....and will report when the word comes.
God works through His servants....may we all be of a "servant" attitude.
In the past week we've prayed for healing from diabetes and cancer. I (we) await a report as to the wonders of God's presence in our services. We wait....and will report when the word comes.
God works through His servants....may we all be of a "servant" attitude.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Worthy of a Post
Admittedly, I've been lax of late, with postings. But it's because I've been lax of things to post. But today is different. Today I was invited to pray for the cessation of the demon of diabetes in someone. The prayer time was wonderful, and God's healing was present.
I don't do report cards on God. Frankly, I'm not worthy of grading God. Is anyone?
Tonight we prayed for someone and God's presence was felt amongst us. That's all we ask for, and all we expect.
May a miracle happen.
Marty
I don't do report cards on God. Frankly, I'm not worthy of grading God. Is anyone?
Tonight we prayed for someone and God's presence was felt amongst us. That's all we ask for, and all we expect.
May a miracle happen.
Marty
Friday, June 15, 2007
The Culinary Upside to Methodist Funerals
Yep....I'm full. That's the culinary upside of Methodist funerals. In the South, at least, it is the custom to have meals provided for the bereaved. And the leftovers are so, so, very good! Tonight we dined on leftover pork tenderloins, chicken wings, and desserts to die for. They were leftovers from the dinner prepared for the grieving family of a lost loved one. We ate, and remembered the lost loved one...but we ate and loved it. Hopefully, I'm not the only one so richly blessed.
Amen and Amen!
Amen and Amen!
Fathers' Day and Methodist Pastors
In the Methodist faith Fathers' Day is the first Sunday when newly appointed and transferred clergy give their first sermons at their new church. For many they will be coming into a congregation where the church is in the midst of having Vacation Bible School or some other summer ministry. It can be awkward for some and awesome for others.
My hope and prayer is that those who are meeting their congregations for the first time this Sunday will quickly find a rhythm and move forward with their church towards doing the work of Our Lord. Congregations will have to adjust to a new pastor, as the pastors will have to adjust to their new congregations. I pray that all look to God for guidance and seek His will to further the body of Christ.
My hope and prayer is that those who are meeting their congregations for the first time this Sunday will quickly find a rhythm and move forward with their church towards doing the work of Our Lord. Congregations will have to adjust to a new pastor, as the pastors will have to adjust to their new congregations. I pray that all look to God for guidance and seek His will to further the body of Christ.
Hitting the DELETE Button
All too often people speak without thinking, but they can't take away what they've said. All too often professional writers and reporters write something without doing due diligence but cant take it away once published. Where does blogging fit in? One can delete a post or reply and few will notice. But does that change what was said? No. It merely lessens the number of times it has been read.
There are times when I think I should hit the delete button after making a post due to poor grammar or because of the content. I've done it a few times. Perhaps I should exercise that option more often. Instead I choose to let my joys, triumphs, failures and frustrations stay for me to reflect upon over the course of time. If someone should stumble upon them and conclude that I'm a basket case...I'm grateful to have provided fodder for their mental musings. If, on the other hand, someone is moved to looking deeper into their relationship with Our Lord, I'm honored to have been used for that purpose.
I like Gavin Richardson's blog title: "Hit the Back Button to Move Fwd". I think I can relate.
There are times when I think I should hit the delete button after making a post due to poor grammar or because of the content. I've done it a few times. Perhaps I should exercise that option more often. Instead I choose to let my joys, triumphs, failures and frustrations stay for me to reflect upon over the course of time. If someone should stumble upon them and conclude that I'm a basket case...I'm grateful to have provided fodder for their mental musings. If, on the other hand, someone is moved to looking deeper into their relationship with Our Lord, I'm honored to have been used for that purpose.
I like Gavin Richardson's blog title: "Hit the Back Button to Move Fwd". I think I can relate.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Too Much Death part 2
I've experienced the death of loved ones and it is always difficult. At this current time, there is an overwhelming number of deaths of loved ones coming all-to-close together. I feel disturbed, but at the same time, spared, because of those around the world who suffer the losses of ones close to them in the name of Our Lord.
There are missionaries, converts, and proselytes who accept Christ and suffer as a result. My personal losses are minuscule by comparison. But the loss of even one soldier of Christ is worthy of lifting up. I do this with a woman named Lucielle. She's gone now but she never stopped sharing the Good News with anyone who would listen. Lucielle rocked. I hope to rock like she did.
It is good to reflect on the lives of those who influenced us...good...very good.
There are missionaries, converts, and proselytes who accept Christ and suffer as a result. My personal losses are minuscule by comparison. But the loss of even one soldier of Christ is worthy of lifting up. I do this with a woman named Lucielle. She's gone now but she never stopped sharing the Good News with anyone who would listen. Lucielle rocked. I hope to rock like she did.
It is good to reflect on the lives of those who influenced us...good...very good.
Too Much Death
I have been absent from the blogging world for about two months. In these two months there has been much death, mourning, and services. Some say that it comes in threes, but there have been threes, threes, and more threes. Tomorrow I will help in burying yet another person close to me. It isn't easy.
At these times I think about clergy, those in charge of congregations. I think about all the difficulties associated with saying goodbye to someone who is special, someone who may have even been close to you. It isn't easy.
In light of these recent deaths of loved ones, there is a wellspring of hope for those left behind. I've been made aware of 3 people who are facing life-threatening situations. I feel the call of our Lord. I wish to offer healing to them. But who am I? What can I do? I can pray, and encourage those close in these situations to pray as well. If I don't lift up the mantle of prayer, who will? As it turns out, nobody will if I don't. So, Heavenly Father, put me in their paths so that I may pray for them. Let them come with contrite spirits, let them come broken and torn, but let them come. If they come, I will lift up their loved ones to you, as others have come to you...but Lord I ask that they come. If they knock, you will answer, through me....if they come, I will be there....through you. Most importantly, make them come.
It is terrifying to have a gift of healing. It is terrifying because so many don't turn to You. But, heavenly Father, if they turn to you, and come to me, I pray that your presence will fill their situations. Bring them, Father, and I will serve.
Father, bring them to you. Father, bring them to your love. Father, bring them to anyone who can help, and if that is me, bring them to me. May I be worthy of your love in their situations. Bring them to You!
At these times I think about clergy, those in charge of congregations. I think about all the difficulties associated with saying goodbye to someone who is special, someone who may have even been close to you. It isn't easy.
In light of these recent deaths of loved ones, there is a wellspring of hope for those left behind. I've been made aware of 3 people who are facing life-threatening situations. I feel the call of our Lord. I wish to offer healing to them. But who am I? What can I do? I can pray, and encourage those close in these situations to pray as well. If I don't lift up the mantle of prayer, who will? As it turns out, nobody will if I don't. So, Heavenly Father, put me in their paths so that I may pray for them. Let them come with contrite spirits, let them come broken and torn, but let them come. If they come, I will lift up their loved ones to you, as others have come to you...but Lord I ask that they come. If they knock, you will answer, through me....if they come, I will be there....through you. Most importantly, make them come.
It is terrifying to have a gift of healing. It is terrifying because so many don't turn to You. But, heavenly Father, if they turn to you, and come to me, I pray that your presence will fill their situations. Bring them, Father, and I will serve.
Father, bring them to you. Father, bring them to your love. Father, bring them to anyone who can help, and if that is me, bring them to me. May I be worthy of your love in their situations. Bring them to You!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Jesus Prayed for You and Me...Today!
A study of John 17: 20 - 26, reveals how Jesus prayed for his disciples, and for those who hear the word as a result of them sharing the good news. In other words, Jesus was praying for us! We have heard the good new from those who heard it from those who heard it, and so forth. And because of this, we can claim that Jesus was praying for you and me when he said:
John 17: 20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Does the authority of Christ commissioning us all to be one with Him and the Father get any clearer? More importantly, doesn't it become clear that we are to be ambassadors for Christ, through this prayer? This is an evangelistic beginning for the church we claim today.
The point is that we believe that God, the father, sent Jesus for us all. He commissioned his disciples, though they didn't understand it at the time, to bear witness that God sent Jesus for us all. This prayer is the beginning of the church as we know it, although it was prior to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus prayed for us!
Some question the resurrection...so be it. Some may question the filling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost...so be it. But these words spoken by Jesus in prayer to the Heavenly Father, predate all of this. This is His prayer for us. As a result of this prayer, I believe. As a result of this prayer, we believe. As a result of this prayer, there is a commissioning of the disciples that makes everything else subordinate to it.
The power of this prayer, the last prayer Jesus prayed with his disciples, puts it all in perspective for generations to follow. Ah, but the joy of sharing the resurrection and ascension makes it all the more powerful. Before Christ proved his Godliness, he empowered his followers with this prayer. How utterly pregnant the notion.
Thank you, Jesus, for praying for me before you proved your true nature. I look to that prayer and accept that it was for me, 2000 years later...thank you, Jesus.
John 17: 20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Does the authority of Christ commissioning us all to be one with Him and the Father get any clearer? More importantly, doesn't it become clear that we are to be ambassadors for Christ, through this prayer? This is an evangelistic beginning for the church we claim today.
The point is that we believe that God, the father, sent Jesus for us all. He commissioned his disciples, though they didn't understand it at the time, to bear witness that God sent Jesus for us all. This prayer is the beginning of the church as we know it, although it was prior to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus prayed for us!
Some question the resurrection...so be it. Some may question the filling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost...so be it. But these words spoken by Jesus in prayer to the Heavenly Father, predate all of this. This is His prayer for us. As a result of this prayer, I believe. As a result of this prayer, we believe. As a result of this prayer, there is a commissioning of the disciples that makes everything else subordinate to it.
The power of this prayer, the last prayer Jesus prayed with his disciples, puts it all in perspective for generations to follow. Ah, but the joy of sharing the resurrection and ascension makes it all the more powerful. Before Christ proved his Godliness, he empowered his followers with this prayer. How utterly pregnant the notion.
Thank you, Jesus, for praying for me before you proved your true nature. I look to that prayer and accept that it was for me, 2000 years later...thank you, Jesus.
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