I Bleeb I'b Eeled (Part 2)

Some Christians believe God doesn’t heal today like he did in the first century church. On the other hand, many believe that God is a healing God, that he is the same yesterday, today and forever, and that includes the arena of healing. But these often have difficulty finding congruency between what is believed and what is experienced. And some of these feel compelled to say, “I believe I’m healed” though every visible sign suggests otherwise.

Cessationism
I am not a cessationist. And my belief that God heals today isn’t first based on experience (mine or others), rather it is based on my understanding of Scripture. If I could find a Biblical basis for believing that supernatural works ceased with the early church, then I’d become a cessationist. However, I’ve read the Bible many times, and have found no basis to support this view.

Well Intended Cliches
What do “non-cessationists” say when someone isn’t healed? “They didn’t have enough faith.” “It must not be God’s will.” “God is trying to produce a greater good than what the actual healing would have produced.”

These well intended responses do little to glorify God, and often bring more internal struggle than anything else: guilt about not having more faith, frustration with God not wanting them to be healed, or confusion about what God is trying to teach them.

What is God Saying?
The above responses may at times be true. But until we seek the Lord, and find out what he has to say about the problem, we are just stabbing in the dark with trite answers. And well meant cliches are complicating the issue. (Almost reminds me of Job’s ‘comforters’.)

If you are unsure about whether God speaks to us today, I’ll just throw out a couple of passages: “My sheep hear My voice” (John 10) and “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously... and it will be given to him” (James 1). Jerry Lamey points out that many people who deny that God speaks to us today, will readily admit that the Devil puts thoughts in our heads. Let’s not doubt any longer that the Lord speaks today.

And if it was his will to heal the majority of the people in Jesus’ ministry, and in the apostles’ ministry, maybe there are some extenuating circumstances as to why we don’t see him healing more people today. We ought to find out what he has to say about the present situation we are praying about. We might find more success in praying for those with physical afflictions.

James’ Simple Advice (which so few of us heed)
One thing God has already spoken about healing is in the book of James, but so few of us seem to believe. James writes:

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:14-16

A Real Life Example
A friend of mine who suffered from chronic pain for probably more than a decade refused to call the elders of our church to pray for her, simply because she didn’t what to be a burden. So she suffered alone. However, after a surgical procedure that didn’t resolve one of her physical problems completely, she finally asked us to drive to her house one Sunday after church and pray for her. And of course, we did – gladly.

Two days later her testimony went beyond help with the surgical procedure. She moved an inch toward God, and he moved a mile. That day, God delivered her from pain all throughout her entire body.

This was about two years ago. This week I asked her again (as I sometimes do) how she was doing in the area of pain, and she said she was pain-free.

There are many people in our church that will tell you how God has met them, and brought help and healing, after simply calling on the elders of the church for prayer. As elders, we would first listen to what God was saying about the situation, and then we would pray accordingly. And as a result, many times people are healed.

Coming Up Next
In "I Bleeb I'b Eeled (Part 3)" I plan to discuss the connection between authority in Christ and healing.

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Thoughts from My Home Schooled Son

Average Home School Day

Get up, start workin', no fun or play,
Looks like this will be the average school day

Sit down at my desk, grab paper and pencil
And seizing my brain, a useful utensil

Working for hours that feel like years
I wish that Saturday soon would be here

Finally finishing, I feel so free,
But I was mistaken, my mom calls me

Now here I'm sitting, feeling no glee,
Lo and behold, I'm folding laundry!


Benjamin Southwick
Age 12, 6th Grade

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I Bleeb I'b Eeled (Part 1)

You might hear someone with a cold (and perhaps a misunderstanding of Biblical faith and healing) say "I bleeb I'b eeled".

Obviously, scripture proclaims God is a healing God, he desires to heal people, and that Christians can be used by God to bring physical healing to people. Jesus said, "He who believes in me, the works that I do, he shall do also, and greater works than these shall he do" (John 14). But why don't we see more of this today?

Scripture Trumps Experience
One problem we encounter is the difficulty squaring our experiences with scripture. It is difficult to believe that God wants to heal more often than not, because we haven't often seen healings. The fact is that many times we pray for healing and see no results. Thus we reinterpret scripture to match our experiences. And we default to such prayers as, "If it is your will, heal so and so."

Jesus demonstrated God's will in sickness and healing. Paul says that we are to "prove what the will of God is", not guess what it is. Can we truly pray the prayer of faith if we don't know God's will?

One Important Principle For Healing
Learning about healing has been a quest of mine for a long time. I'm endeavoring to conform my experience to scripture (not the other way around). One thing I've learned is the importance of gaining God's perspective on the immediate situation.

There are many causes for physical symptoms and sicknesses. These can be physical, emotional, spiritual, etc. or a combination. But if we merely approach a sickness from a physical standpoint, we may miss the boat, and suffer needlessly in the long run.

God knows the root causes of our ailments, and he can make them clear. Without seeking him, we end up stabbing at solutions. We try to pray harder. Our doctors experiment with treatments. Sometimes God says, "Go to the doctor". But not always.

Deliverance by Man
Here's an example. At least three people I know of have been treated for melanoma. Knowing the danger of this disease and observing for several years a small abnormal spot on my skin, I began to seek God about going to the doctor. Now I never had it diagnosed, but I do know that it was not clearing up, and if anything, it was slowly getting worse. God spoke to me this passage:

Oh give us help against the adversary, For deliverance by man is in vain. Psalms 108:12

So I have believed God, and have trusted in his specific word to me for this situation. After a couple of months, the spot cleared up over half-way. A year later almost all the discoloration is gone.

Pink Eye Hit Home
One more example that occurred in my family is when conjunctivitis took its turn with three of my boys. The first two battled recurring fevers and red, gooping eyes. When prayer did not help them, we took them to the emergency room (of course this happened on the weekend!) and obtained antibiotics for them. Then the third boy came down with the fever and the seeping, red eyes.

I was frustrated. But after God adjusted my attitude, I heard the Holy Spirit clearly say to anoint him with oil (James 5), and I was reminded of Jesus' words about agreement (Matthew 18). So my wife and I anointed him and agreed together in prayer for him to be healed. The following morning the fever was gone, and the eyes had significantly cleared. That night we did the same thing, and the next morning he was completely healed. (Incidentally, it took around four or five days for the other two's symptoms to clear up.)

Jesus is More Accessible than Your Doctor
So why not give Jesus a chance to speak to us about our physical symptoms? We may just need to seek medical help. But maybe God will point us in another direction. He certainly desires to heal us. And we don't need to set up an appointment with him.

"Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers" (3 John 1:2).

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Great Song from Deluge

"Open up the Sky" is a great song from the band Deluge. It's been around for almost a year and currently can be downloaded for free at the link at the end of this post.


Open Up the Sky
by John Stockstill
(c) 2008 Integrity's Praise! Music

Our beloved Father please come down and meet us
We are waiting on Your touch
Open up the heavens shower down Your presence
We respond to Your great love

We won’t be satisfied with anything ordinary
We won’t be satisfied at all

Open up the sky fall down like rain
We don’t want blessings we want You
Open up the sky fall down like fire
We don’t want anything but You

Our beloved Jesus we just want to see You
In the glory of Your light
Earthly things don’t matter they just fade and shatter
When we’re touched by love divine

Here we go let’s go to the throne
The place that we belong
Right into His arms


If you would like the chords for this song, click here. Click this link to play (or right click to download) the free mp3 of this song: http://www.verticalmusic.com/audio/06%20Open%20Up%20The%20Sky.mp3

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Ravi Demonstrates Unscientific Science

Original source: http://www.thetruthproject.org/about/culturefocus/A000000211.cfm


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