Sciatic Nerve Pain and Teen Healers

My son competed in a district swim meet two weeks ago. I attended the first day of preliminary competition, but worked on the day of finals. I felt led to pray for him while driving the 70 miles to Longview, Washington where the meet was held. I prayed for him again while watching the events. He seemed to be in good spirits and swam well. He came into the meet ranked 2^nd. His qualifying time was 3 seconds slower than the leader’s time. In the preliminary round they each dropped half a second and qualified for finals in the same order. (OK, I'm pretty proud of him)

After the meet, I met with him and his twin sister. I told them to stay in prayer through the end of the meet, tomorrow. I felt like the enemy would try to do something to sabotage his effort. The kids got on the bus and I drove home. The next day while I worked, I felt a burden to pray for my son. I prayed short prayers to strengthen him and made declarations of victory over the schemes of the enemy. I sent a couple text messages to my daughter and reminded her to pray for him as the time drew near for his competition.

After the meet, my daughter filled me in on what happened. Danny began to feel weak and nervous as the morning went on. Ten minutes before his event, he was lying on the bench feeling powerless and scared. My daughter saw what was going on and realized it was a spiritual attack. She found another Christian who was a teammate and told him they needed to pray for him. After a few minutes of prayer, he got up with renewed strength. All his fear was gone. He swam the best race in his life and dropped almost 3 seconds off his previous best time. He finished less than 1 second behind the leader.

The kids are learning about the realities of spiritual warfare and the effectiveness of intercession. I’m glad they're taking it seriously at such a young age. I'm learning a little more, too.

I developed pain in my lower back that radiated down the back of my left leg. I’ve never had sciatic nerve pain before, but having seen many patients with this problem, I knew what it was. It came on while I was resting. I began to worry about a herniated disc in my lower back and all the things that might follow. But I decided to take action instead of allowing fear to overcome me. I asked my wife to lay hands on me and pray for healing. I also began praying, which was more commanding the pain and swelling to leave. I felt the pain begin to subside within a few minutes and told her to continue praying. After a few more minutes, I felt as though we’d gotten a breakthrough, even though there was still some pain remaining in my leg.

The pain left for about 30 minutes then returned. We went into prayer again, commanding it to leave and it did. As I went to bed, the pain increased to about the same level as before we prayed. I commanded the pain to leave again and it did. It returned again and being very tired and needing to sleep I commanded it to leave one more time. I said, "I am healed and I refuse to accept this pain". When I went to sleep, I still had some pain, but I ignored it. When I woke in the morning, all the pain was gone.

I’m a little surprised at some of the ways the enemy tries to sabotage my life and the lives of the people I love. I guess it’s time to stop being surprised and start being victorious. We shouldn’t let fear rule over us. Pain and suffering can be commanded to leave, and should be. I hope this testimony encourages you.

Ian McCormack’s Testimony of Resurrection

This is the testimony of a man who was raised from the dead. His name is Ian McCormack. His testimony is available in book form, audio and in several videos. This is a written testimony from his website. The original manuscript can be found here. A video testimony can be found at the bottom of the post, which I highly recommend watching. Several versions of the video testimony are available. One is over an hour long, in which Ian answers many questions about what he was and heard while in heaven.

Ambulance
One night while diving for lobster on the small Island of Mauritius I was stung on my forearm by 5 Box-Jellyfish, which the local Creole fishermen called "invisables" A sting from a Box-Jellyfish often proves to be fatal - as exemplified in Australia where 70 people are known to have died from their stings. Many books quote this particular type of Jellyfish to be among the most venomous creatures in the world.

By the time an ambulance arrived my body was totally paralyzed and necrosis had begun to set into my bone marrow. On route to the hospital I began to see my life flash before me. At this point of my life I was an atheist - but I knew I was nearly dead and I didn't know if there was life after death or whether there was just nothing. As I lay there dying, I saw my mother in a vision praying for me, encouraging me to cry out to God from my heart and He would hear me and forgive me (my mother was the only Christian in our family.) I didn't know what to pray and cried out that if God was real, could He help me to pray. Immediately God showed me the Lord’s Prayer, and for the first time in my life I prayed from my heart and gave my life to the Lord.

Death & Hell
The ambulance stopped and they placed me in a wheel chair and raced me into the hospital. The nurse took my blood pressure twice but could not find a pulse as my veins had collapsed. The doctors tried to save my life by injecting anti-toxins and dextrose into my body, but seemingly to no avail. Within a few minutes I seemed to slip away (apparently life ceased from my body for a period of approx. 15 minutes).

During this time I found myself in a very dark place, not realising where I was. So I tried to find a light switch, thinking I was still in the hospital - but as I reached out into the dark I couldn't touch anything. Reaching to touch my face I found my hand go straight through it. It seemed so bizarre, as I knew I was standing there but couldn't touch any part of my physical body.

As I stood there I began to sense that this wasn't just a physical darkness but that there was something else there. I could feel a cold eerie feeling as though something or someone was looking at me - a spiritual darkness. From the darkness I began to hear men’s voices screaming at me telling me to "shut up" - "that I deserved to be there" - "that I was in Hell". I couldn't believe it, but as I stood there a radiant beam of light shone through the darkness and immediately began to lift me upward. I found myself being translated up into an incredibly brilliant beam of pure white light - it seemed to be emanating from a circular opening far above me (I felt like a speck of dust being drawn up into a beam of sunlight).

The Journey
I entered this opening to find myself inside a long narrow passageway or tunnel - at the far end of the tunnel I could see the source of the light - it was so radiant that it looked to be the centre of the universe. As I continued to look towards this light it seemed to draw me towards it at an incredible speed - I wasn't walking but was being translated along this tunnel towards the source of this light. I watched as a wave of light broke off the source and moved up the tunnel towards me - as it passed through me I could feel a wave of warmth and comfort flood my soul … it was incredible. This light wasn't just physical, but was giving off a living emotion … Halfway down another wave of light - this time it gave off pure peace - followed by another wave - of pure joy. Coming out of the end of this tunnel I found myself standing in the presence of awesome light and power - it seemed as though even the constellations in the universe must find their energy source from this focal point.

As I stood there I wondered to myself if this was just an energy source in the universe or if perhaps there could be someone standing in the midst of this light!!!!! A voice immediately responded to my thought and asked me "Ian, do you wish to return?" Return, I thought!!! Where am I??? As I looked over my shoulder I could see the tunnel going back into darkness.

The Light
I thought - darkness - hospital bed - am I out of my body? - is this real? - am I standing here? - or am I in a coma having some bizarre dream? Am I in my body or out of my body?? (I could cognitively think of the two alternatives.) As I looked back towards the light, it was still there ... I responded "I don't know where I am, but if I am out of my physical body I wish to return." The voice responded "If you wish to return - you must see in a new light." "New light", I thought, "I'm seeing the light." "Are you the true light???" Words appeared in front of me "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5)." I had never read a Bible before in my life so I didn't know this was straight out of the scriptures. God is light, I thought - that is pure light - I see no darkness here, I have just come from darkness - I see no evil, no shadows - this is pure light - am I standing in the presence of God??? He knows my name and I didn't tell Him, only God could do that - He knows what I am thinking before I even speak, only God could do that. Then he must be able to see everything I have done wrong in my life ... no ... I don't want God to see that. I felt totally exposed and wanted to move away from the light and go back into the darkness where I belonged. I thought someone had made a mistake and brought the wrong person up. As I drew back towards the darkness a wave of light swept through me ... I felt pure unadulterated Love flow over me. Love I thought, how could God love me - I've taken his name in vain - I've slept around - I'm not a good man … but no matter what I said, waves of His unconditional Love continued to flow over me. I found myself weeping uncontrollably in His Presence. It was so amazing that He had totally forgiven me and accepted me as I was.

The waves of Love ceased and I wondered if I could possibly step into the light and see what God looked like. I was so close. ... I asked if I could step in. ..???.. I heard no response but thought if God could love me so much, He wouldn't mind …. As I stepped into the light I found myself disappear into it as it was so radiant - it had the intensity of laser light, yet you could look directly at it. The light seemed to absorb me into it - the centre seemed to be very bright so I aimed for it - I could feel a healing presence coming off this light that was healing my broken heart ... it was touching me deep inside my heart of hearts where no one gets to see … so beautiful.

God
Suddenly it opened up in the centre and standing in front of me was the most awesome sight - I could see a man standing in front of me, but he was not like anyone I'd ever seen before in my life. His garments were shimmering white in colour - garments of light - I could see His bare feet and His hands were outstretched towards me as if to welcome me. I knew I was looking upon God … as I looked toward His face the intensity of the light seemed to increase 7-fold - you couldn't make out the form of his face as the light was so bright - such purity, such holiness, such beauty. I asked God if I could step closer. I felt I could, I wanted to see His face. Moving closer waves of more Love began to flow towards me, and I felt very safe. Standing, now feet away, from the Lord I tried to see His face - but I didn't know that no man can see the face of God and live. And so, as I moved my face into the radiance that surrounded His face, He moved - and all His Glory moved with Him. Directly behind Him it opened out into a brand new World - green pastures, a crystal clear stream, rolling green hills to my right, mountains in the distance, blue skies above, to my left fields interspersed with trees and flowers. As I looked at the grass in front of me I could see the same light that was on the presence of God was radiating throughout this entire creation - totally untouched by man - perfect creation. And in my heart I knew I belonged here, that God had created me to live here - I knew I was home.

Return?
I was just about to enter in and explore, when God stepped back in front of me, and asked me this question. "Now that you have seen - do you wish to step in or do you wish to return?" I thought, "I don't want to return. I wish to step in. I have no one to go back for and no one has ever loved me, all they've ever done is manipulate me and try to control me ... I have no one to go back for, I wish to step in." But God didn't move, so I looked back behind me to say "goodbye, cruel world", and standing behind me in a vision in front of the tunnel was my mother. And as soon as I saw her I knew that there was one person in my life that had shown me love, and that was my mother, and that she had prayed for me every day and tried to show me that this was the way. In my mind I thought, "if I am dead and I did choose to step into heaven, what would my mother think? Would she know I made it or would she think I went to Hell - because she knew I had no Faith? … I realised that it could break her heart and that she would have no reason to believe that God had heard my prayer in the ambulance and forgiven my sins. … I thought, "how can I do that to my mum, it would be so selfish" … and decided I wished to return.

God then spoke to me and said, "If I wished to return - I must see things in a new light." I understood that to mean that I must begin to see through his eyes of Love, Peace, Joy, Forgiveness, from His Heavenly perspective, not my temporary earthly perspective. Looking back towards the tunnel again I now could see a vision of all my family, and thousands and thousands of other people. I asked God who all these people were, and He told me that if I didn't return then many of these people would not get a chance to hear about Him….

I told God that I didn't know most of them and I didn't love them, but that I loved my mother and wished to return for her. God spoke to me and told me that He loved those people and wanted them all to come to know Him. I asked God how could I possibly return back down the tunnel and back into my hospital bed. He spoke and said "Son, tilt your head, now feel the liquid drain from your eye. Now open your eye and see." And I was immediately back in my physical body.

Back to Earth
As I opened my eye, I was lying back on a hospital bed with my right leg elevated, cupped in the hands of the young Indian doctor who had been trying to save my life. He had a scalpel or some sharp instrument in his hand and he was prodding the base of my foot like a dead piece of meat. He wasn't aware that I was looking at him. I thought, "what's that man doing with my foot, what is he doing with that knife!!!!!!" At the same time something seemed to spook the doctor and he quickly turned his head to see my right eye open, looking at him… Terror struck his face and I got the distinct impression that he has just seen a dead man looking at him… My eye wasn't moving much and I could see the doctor thinking to himself that perhaps he had hit a nerve in my foot and caused the corpse to twitch, and that he had the evil eye looking at him or something. As for me, I was trying to grapple with what I had just seen. … Did I just see God, has He just given my life back??? As I lay there I heard the voice of God say "Son, I have just given you your life back." I said if that is true God, could you help me to tilt my head to the left and look out of the other eye, as I was getting sick of looking at the doctor’s terrified face. Strength came back into my neck and I opened my left eye to see a whole bunch of nurses and orderlies standing in the doorway looking at me as if the dead had just risen … As my eye locked onto theirs they began to jump backwards out of the doorway. From what I can ascertain I had been dead for a period of some 15 minutes. I prayed to God that night and asked him to heal me and enable me to walk out of the hospital. That night God completely healed me and enabled me to walk out of the hospital the next day.

I asked God what I had become, as I found my entire life was changing for good. God told me I was a Re-Born Christian and that he wanted me to read His Bible. I had never read a Bible and had never heard about being Born-Again. Over the next 6 weeks I read the entire Bible. I have never been the same, and believe that I saw our Lord Jesus Christ in His Glorified form Rev 1:13-18)

Furious Love

David McLain suggested to me that the way to win the battle against the forces of darkness was through love. I think He's right.

http://www.furiouslovethemovie.com/

A Season of Warfare

It's been almost 1 year since the MIPU was born. I plan to post a survey in a few days, asking for your opinions, suggestions and a few other things that might help make this a better blog. I'd appreciate your help in gathering information about you, my readers.

I have some testimonies coming up that are a little different. We'll be hearing from people who claim to have been resurrected from the dead. They'll tell about what they saw and heard between their death and their resurrection....fun times!

The month of December came and went, here in Olympia. I had great expectations that God would do something extraordinary. I received a promise that He would visit our city and pour out His spirit upon us. I was expecting something like what Kansas City is experiencing; a lot of miracles, signs and wonders.

Instead, when the Lord came to town, He began to stir us up for battle. Many people were provoked to anger against the enemy. It was manifest in different ways. Some of us became outraged at the killing of police officers, some at the untimely death of friends. Some have been provoked by social injustice, others by financial hardship. Some of these things affected me, but what made me realize that God was leading us to battle was a change in my dreams.

I haven’t had a lot of dreams involving the theme of warfare, but that’s been the subject of many of my dreams since the holidays. It took a while for me to understand what God was saying. When the messages were decoded, I found myself thrust into a season of equipping, training and learning the strategies of spiritual warfare. So did a lot of people I hang out with. We began having discussions and saw evidence that God had stirred up a small army to lead into battle.

A few weeks ago I heard the Lord whisper to me these words: “An outpouring of My Spirit is a season of celebration after a season of warfare”.

That revelation helped me a lot. God has plans to bring healing, deliverance, evangelism, miracles and many other blessings to my city. But before that happens, He has asked us to remove the powers of darkness.

Everyone involved is approaching this with caution. Most of us have had painful experiences in waging war against the enemy. There is universal agreement; nobody wants to do this unless God leads and protects us every step of the way.

In a recent dream I saw teen-age prophets being used to transform the spiritual darkness over our area into an atmosphere of light. In that changed atmosphere, many people were coming to the knowledge of God.

Great things are coming to our region. As I look around I see people being stirred for battle. The Spirit is moving in many different places. As we intercede for our regions and follow the Commander, darkness will be driven out and the light of God’s glory will shine forth.

This is an addendum to the original post. Several hours after this message posted, I learned that another police officer in Washington was ambushed. A Washington State Patrol trooper was shot in the head early Saturday during a confrontation in the southwest Washington town of Long Beach. Here is an account of the incident from channel 12 news in Portland, Oregon:

Trooper Scott Johnson was taking inventory of a car waiting to be towed on State Route 103 near 12th Street when a man walked up to him. There was a short verbal exchange between the man, a tow truck driver and Johnson before the man pulled out a small caliber handgun and fired two shots, police said.

Johnson suffered two gunshot wounds, one of them to his head, a police spokeswoman said in a news release. He was able to return fire, but it's unknown if the man was hit.Paramedics rushed Johnson to Ocean Beach Hospital and then to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

In a statement Saturday morning, Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste said Johnson was "ambushed while performing what should have been a simple law enforcement task."

"I'm exceptionally thankful that Trooper Johnson is doing well," Batiste said.

Please continue in prayer for our friends in law enforcement.

Drew Brees Interview

As MVP of this year's Super Bowl, Drew Brees has a lot of people watching him. In this interview with Sharing the Victory Magazine, He shares about how his faith brought him through a difficult time of his life, what it means to be a role model for others and how he strengthens his relationship with God.

Chuck Missler on UFO's

This post contains a 2 - hour video in which Chuck Missler discusses aliens and UFO"s. If you're tempted to roll your eyes in disbelief, you might just hear him out. You won't find a more balanced, scientific and rational discussion on this subject. Chuck is not a flaky sensationalist. (His biography is posted below). I'm posting this because the supernatural is discussed at length. Demons, angels, and spiritual deception play a major part in the discussion.

Chuck Missler Biography:

Chuck demonstrated an aptitude for technical interests as a youth. He became a ham radio operator at age nine and started piloting airplanes as a teenager. While still in high school, Chuck built a digital computer in the family garage.

His plans to pursue a doctorate in electrical engineering at Stanford University were interrupted when he received a Congressional appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Graduating with honors, he took his commission in the Air Force. Chuck joined the Missile Program and eventually became Branch Chief of the Department of Guided Missiles.

Chuck made the transition from the military to the private sector when he became a systems engineer with TRW, a large aerospace firm. He then went on to serve as a senior analyst with a non-profit think tank where he conducted projects for the intelligence community and the Department of Defense. During that time, Chuck earned a master's degree in engineering at UCLA, supplementing previous graduate work in applied mathematics, advanced statistics and information sciences.

Recruited into senior management at the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, Chuck established the first international computer network in 1966. He left Ford to start his own company, a computer network firm that was subsequently acquired by Automatic Data Processing.

Chuck has become a well-respected bible scholar and is the founder of Koinonia House.

View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Todd White Comes to Tacoma

I am pleased and honored to announce a special event as my 100th post. Todd White is coming to the Seattle-Tacoma area to teach on healing.

Todd's testimony is a beautiful story of the transformational power of Jesus. The Lord miraculously rescued him from a life of drugs, athiesm and crime; the result is a man who is 100% sold out for Christ. The power of redemption and what it truly means to be born again into the kingdom are the foundation of Todd’s teachings. God has given him a special gift for words of knowledge and healing- especially in the context of street ministry. His boldness in stepping out by faith to allow the power of God to touch strangers is inspiring for everyone who wants to follow Peter’s example and “get out of the boat.”

Dates & times:

Friday February 19th, at 7 pm.

Saturday February 20th at 6pm.

Sunday February 21st at 10 am and 6pm.

Location:

Port Orchard Church of the Nazarene

4647 Sidney Rd

Port Orchard, WA, 98367

Phone: (360) 876-2700

Google Map Link

Art Mathias testifies

Dr. Art Mathias is founder of Wellspring Ministries. This is his testimony of healing.

In February 1997 I was injured in a snowmachine accident. It took several months, and much agony, to understand what had happened to me. I had ruptured three discs in my neck. My right arm and shoulder atrophied to the point where I had little strength or use left in them. The doctors told me that I would never regain the former strength or full use of my arm.

In January 1998, after the doctors finally figured out what was wrong, I had surgery to fuse four vertebrae in my neck. After the surgery the severe cramping in my arm and shoulder was gone but I found that almost everything that I touched or ate caused me to hurt. The tips of my fingers and toes were numb and the numbness was progressing up my arms and legs.

My nerves were dying in my toes and fingers and I was now allergic to almost all foods and clothing. The Mayo Clinic diagnosed me with small fiber neuropathy and predicted that it would progress up my arms and legs until it reached a vital organ and then I would die.

My sister sent me tapes from a seminar she had attended which taught about the connection between sin in our lives and disease. As I listened to the tapes and applied the Biblical principles to my own life, I was healed.

I was raised in a Christian home, and graduated from a Christian college with a degree in Bible and psychology. I never understood that I had unforgiveness and bitterness in my life, yet by God’s grace and the Holy Spirit, I was convicted that I did. I began to learn how my physical ailments were a consequence of those sins in my life.

In my resentment and unforgiveness, my body had produced too much adrenaline which had weakened my immune system, thus allowing the allergies. The allergies were causing my nerve endings to die—to the point that the doctors believed the process would cause my death within a few years.

After I forgave others and myself, God healed my nerve damage, restored my right arm and shoulder completely and healed all my allergies. My health was restored!

When people saw the dramatic changes in my life, they began to ask me what had happened. I began to share my story—and what God had done in my life. This led to the founding of Wellspring Ministries, as many other people wanted to learn to apply the Biblical principles of forgiveness in their own lives.

In Acts 10:34, scripture says, “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons… .” We are each precious in His sight. What He has done for me and for our ministry clients, He can and will do for you!

Metal Pins, Rods and Plates Dissolve

These are the testimonies of a group of people healed at a service led by Randy Clark. All of them had injuries in which metal rods, pins or plates were used to repair the injury. Several people had titanium rods fixed to stabilize their lower backs. This would make it impossible for them to bend at the waist, yet they were all able to do so after they were healed.

Broken Ankle Healed (Testimony)

This the testimony of a woman who fractured her ankle 13 years ago in a cheerleading accident. It was repaired, but she never regained the full use of it and suffered chronic pain since then. She was healed at Bethel Church in Redding during a healing class led by Randy Clark.

A Second Chance

I read a story (Second Chance) about a surgeon who was preparing a patient for surgery. Although the patient believed he had something fairly routine, the surgeon knew that his condition would most likely end his life in the next 24 hours. Due to circumstances beyond her control, she was called to take care of other patients and the man died before she had a chance to ask him if he'd thought about death or made plans for eternity. She was under a load of guilt about it until she learned that at one of the PACU nurses had a discussion with him before he died. That conversation was about the patient's trust in the sovereign plans of a Creator he knew very well. The man was more than ready to step into eternity.

When faced with a situation in which we know or strongly suspect a patient may be stepping into eternity shortly, do we have a right to discuss it with them? Is it ethically wrong to ask them if they would like prayer or if they've been saved? Should we talk about things that have no relevance in eternity, or remind them of the certainty we all face in accounting for how we have lived?

I've had many calls and conversations with people where I felt that I should have shared something with them about God's plan for their future, and perhaps their eternal destination, but I bailed out and said nothing only to regret it later. How many times do we get a second chance to speak to someone about God?

I saw a young woman on a call who was suffering from severe neck pain secondary to a car accident several years earlier. She tried the usual treatments and found little relief. It's these people in particular that my heart goes out to; the ones who've tried just about everything under the sun, and they are no better off, physically, emotionally or financially.

The engine company arrived before we did. The patient's mother called 911 because she wanted advice on whether it was safe for her to go to the hospital by car or if an ambulance was needed. They advised her it would be safe to go by car, so we were cancelled and returned to quarters.

I wanted to pray for this young woman, but I sensed it would cause problems If I did it under those circumstances. What I needed was a second chance with a different setting. God provided just that.

An hour later we were at the same hospital with her. As I walked through the halls I noticed the patient's mother in one of the treatment rooms. I knocked and went in. She remembered me. I told her I'd been hoping (I actually prayed) for a second chance to talk to them. I shared a few stories about people I'd seen healed and asked if I could pray for her. They said yes, and were grateful I went through the trouble to find them.

I don't know if she was healed. I gave her mother a business card with the website address on it. Maybe we'll hear about her testimony some day. Whether she is healed or not, she knows God is thinking about her, and that He loves her. I always make a point to slip in some of those facts when I pray for healing.

It's my conviction that we should speak when the Spirit prompts or provokes us to. I believe it is proper for us to discuss God and eternity if we ask and patient agrees to it. But don't be discouraged if you miss your first opportunity; you might get a second one. Sometimes God has other people waiting in the wings to say or do something that you weren't able to. His ways are truly amazing.

Scoliosis Healed (Testimony)

This is the testimony of a man healed of scoliosis which had been declared by doctors to be incurable.