2012 Fire & EMS Blog of the Year

As part of the blogging community, I'm connected to a network of other bloggers who honor writers with an annual award. The award is the Fire & EMS blog of the year.

Anyone can nominate a blog for blog of the year. But before we go any further, let me explain why I'm mentioning this award.

I don't really care if this blog wins an award or or not. I'm already honored beyond my wildest dreams because I have such faithful friends like you who show up and read what I write and learn with me week after week. That's enough honor for me.

But this blog is about getting a message in the hands of certain people. They need to hear about the reality of God's power to heal and set people free from pain and suffering and in the process, draw them closer to God, Himself. That audience is rather large. But this blog has a small following.

The blogs that are selected to go to the final round for voting, will receive greater attention. More attention means a wider audience of readers and a greater potential to get the message out to people who need to hear it.

My desire is to see more people encouraged, trained and equipped to do the things you read about on this site. If you want to help get the word out, you might consider nominating this blog for that reason.

Of course, that's just my perspective; you're entitled to have your own.

Here is the information about the contest:

Hosted by EMS1, FireRescue1 and FireCritic.com, and sponsored by the American Military University, this contest has the goal of finding the best bloggers in the EMS and fire industries.

This is the third year of the contest. This year, we have streamlined the process and made it easier to understand.

The contest has two stages:
Stage 1 – Open Nominations (March 1 – March 10)

Stage 2 – Vote for the Finalists (March 14 – March 21)

The judges will select ten finalists for each category (Fire & EMS) Everyone will then get to vote via poll from these ten (in each category) for their favorite Fire blog and their favorite EMS blog. The voting will be for the “Reader’s Choice” winner for each category. Both of the bloggers will win a pair of ATAC Duty Boots.

To nominate a blog go HERE

Thanks for your support - PM

Raise The Dead - Training

Dead Raising Team Training

Three Locations and Times:

March 30 - April 1 - Tri-Cities, Washington.

April 13 - 14 - Tacoma, Washington

April 20 - 21 - Elmira, New York

Tyler Johnson and the Dead Raising Teams have been doing just that. Not only are people healed and delivered but to date, eight people have been raised from the dead right here in North America.

Delving into the reality of resurrection power, this training is for those that desire to walk in the miraculous, especially pertaining to raising the dead.

We realize this is uncommon for most, thus the training starts with more basic teaching and builds from there.

Those that go through this training will have the option to be apart of the first DRT in this region.

Register early, these trainings fill up quickly! Register at:

Click Here for the link to register

http://www.oneglance.org/One_Glance_Ministries/DRT_Trainings.html

All Things Aussie

Rochelle is a native of New Zealand, who in the US on a work visa. She was seen at the Mayo Clinic for the worst headache of her life. We were called to transport her to Mayo Hospital ER.

The "worst headache of your life" is a textbook clue that a patient may have a subarachnoid hemorrhage. A head CT will confirm or deny the existence of a ruptured blood vessel.

After taking report, we loaded Rochelle in the ambulance and got a baseline set of vitals, an EKG and checked her blood glucose. My attempt to establish an IV was a miserable failure. We rolled toward Mayo and I got to know her a little better.

I asked the usual questions and learned that she had partially torn both Achilles tendons. The injuries have prevented her from participating in some of her favorite activities.

Now it was time to ask if she wanted to be healed or I could chicken out and just transport her.

Rochelle travels a lot in her job, so we talked about the places she'd been since coming to the states. She'd seen more places than most people who've lived here their whole life. I told her that I'd just received an invitation to go to Brisbane, Australia to teach. She thought I would love it and encouraged me to go. Then I told her why I was asked to come there.

A few weeks ago I had a dream just before waking. (These are often the most important dreams. God gives them to us before waking to help us remember them) In the dream, I was being sent overseas as a representative to establish trade with a small group of people. When I woke, I checked my e-mail and found a message from a man who lives in Brisbane. He invited me to come there and teach him and a small group of friends about healing.

When Rochelle heard me mention healing, she asked what kind of healing I do. I explained then asked if she wanted me to give it a shot. With a hopeful smile she said, "I'd love it!"

We started with her Achilles tendons. I prayed over them a few times, but she felt nothing. I told her no worries and asked about her headache. The pain was 8/10, which was still the worst she'd ever had since she rarely has headaches.

I asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence upon her and commanded the headache to leave then asked how she felt. The pain was less and she felt at peace, so I continued commanding the pain to leave and blood vessels to be healed. After a few minutes, her pain was much less and she was very relaxed.

She told me she was a spiritual person and asked what church I attend. This question has aways caused problems for me, but I'm getting more comfortable with it. I told her I work every Sunday, so the ambulance and Facebook are my church and God has used both in some amazing ways.

It was a long transport so we talked about the things I would experience if I were to visit Australia - including the lovely tropical east coast beaches and a local delicacy - the famous kangaroo burger.

"They're delicious and really good for you with almost no fat."

Part of me had trouble envisioning myself eating a cute little kangaroo, all bouncy and cuddly and sweet. I mean, they're kangaroos - not cows.

We arrived at Mayo and transferred Rochelle. I gave report to the nurse and a card to my new friend and told her to send me an e-mail to let us know how things turned out.

In the event that she did have a subarachniod hemorrhage, (and it wasn't healed) the diagram below explains one of the approaches to surgical repair.

Pay close attention and take notes. There will be a quiz next week.

(Click on the image for a larger view)

Near Death Experience of a Neuroscientist

This video is a look at the subject of near -death experiences. Several perspectives are discussed, including the personal observations of a neuroscientist who suffered his own near-death experience. He discusses the conclusions he has come to as a result of his own research on the subject.

Roger Webb Miraculously Healed

Roger Webb is a Facebook friend of mine. He has seen thousands of sick people healed by the power of God. For most of 2011, he posted one prayer request after another on his Facebook page, asking friends to stand in agreement with him for his healing of a tumor in his abdomen. During that time his faith never wavered in the face of pain and adversity. I was so inspired by His absolute trust in God's love for him and His conviction that he would be healed.

This is Roger's healing testimony:

Classic Reactions To Healing - Tom Fischer

This is a compilation of short scenes of Tom Fischer on the streets healing strangers. Their reactions are priceless and sometimes vulgar. So if you have sensitive ears, you might want to skip this video. If not, enjoy watching God touch those who don't know about His power.

Revealing Heaven - Kat Kerr

A discussion with Patricia King and Kat Kerr about Kat's many trips to heaven and the things she saw there, including her interactions with God Father, different throne rooms, heavenly creatures, angelic beings, different kinds of mansions and the way angels protect and help us.

For more videos from Extreme Prophetic, visit their website:
http://www.xpmedia.com/channel/xpvideos

Blind Woman Healed 1 Month Later

I love testimonies like the one you're about to hear. This woman was blind for over three years. She received prayer but nothing happened....until one month later.

Holy Spirit Visits the Rock & Gem Show

My wife is a metalsmith. She creates one of a kind art jewelry by setting precious stones, fossils, meteorites, and other unusual objects in formed metal; typically silver or gold. It's been her life - long dream to attend the annual rock and gem show in Tucson, Arizona.

The show in Tucson is one of the largest in the world, drawing craftspeople and vendors from every continent for two weeks in February.

This week I had the pleasure of accompanying her on a trip to the show. I was a bit overwhelmed at the scale of it all. Vendors descend on the city taking up temporary residence in just about every vacant parking lot in town.

My wife was on a treasure hunt. She's developing a business selling the jewelry she makes. She needed some raw materials. She specializes in odd shapes and textures, combining unusual design concepts to make one of a kind creations.

(As a side note - I plan to incorporate a link to her jewelry website where her creations can be purchased. The website is still being developed)

She really likes ammonites, one of which is pictured above. This one has undergone a process of opalization, where a layer of opal forms around a fossilized sea shell. Her search brought us to a number of vendors who sell such things.

The first vendor we visited had a number of things she wanted to buy. As they worked out a deal, I couldn't help but notice all the people walking by who needed healing. I saw people using canes, wheelchairs, splints and slings everywhere I looked.

We moved to another booth. The second vendor and I struck up a conversation about God after I made a remark about all the people who needed healing. The vendor shared her own testimony of healing of a severe back injury. A few minutes later her husband joined us. He happened to be one of the men I saw limping. A few minutes later I was praying for his back and knee to be healed. It was a sight to see the four of us standing in the presence of God, half of us praying in tongues and the other half commanding pain to go.

The vendor asked us to follow her to another booth, so we did. She took us to meet her friend Diane - who is also a Christian and who became my newest Facebook friend. Diane is a wonderful person as is her husband. The four of us talked for almost an hour and we prayed with both of them for healing of arthritis and degenerative joint disease. I asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence and when He came near, Diane almost ended up on the ground. We didn't have anyone to catch.

We visited another vendor named Kasi, who had some stones that my wife liked. As she talked with my wife, Kasi noticed my wife's pendant (left) and asked who made it. She said it was one of her own designs. She asked if my wife did special orders (she does) and wanted to know if she could make a pendant with her mother's favorite bible verse on it as a birthday gift.

After some discussion about pricing and the fact that they didn't take credit cards and were low on cash, they agreed to a trade. Half a dozen stones for a custom silver pendant necklace. We talked for a long time about God with Kasi and her husband whom I liked a lot. He has a killer sense of humor.

We drove to another part of town and visited more vendors. I was smiling ear to ear because of how God had orchestrated the first part of our day. My wife bought a few more stones. I felt like a high school geology student on a field trip. So much to learn.

It was a wonderful trip. On the way home we stopped to visit with my aunt and uncle, who live in Tucson. We had dinner at Cracker Barrel. My uncle re-told the story of his trip to South Africa before the end of apartheid. He worked for a company that made medical devices. He was sent to South Africa as a salesman to show doctors the advantages of a new device. When the doctors showed interest in learning more about the device, he visited them in the hospital and showed them how to use it.

He visited the ghettos of Soweto; a city of 3 million people, nearly all of whom were black. The hospital he toured was a one story building with hundreds of patient rooms. The sanitary conditions were miserable and all the patients were black. The only whites allowed in the hospital were doctors. Each patient room had one bed. Most of the rooms had four patients; two lying in opposite directions on the mattress, with two more patients lying under the bed on the floor.

He told me about seeing a line of about 50 women outside the hospital, waiting their turn to go inside. All the women were 9 months pregnant and about to deliver their babies. They waited in line until just before the birth, then a man would take them quickly inside for the delivery.

He also told me about visiting the white -only hospital, the floors of which were so clean you could eat off them. All the staff at this hospital were white except housekeeping. The rooms were very nice. He told me about hearing the alarm that went off every night at 6:00 to announced that blacks had exactly one hour to return to the ghetto for the evening.

I love hearing about how things were years ago. It makes me appreciate a little more the freedoms we have today.

On February 18th, Diane Coon posted this testimony on my Facebook wall:

"Hey you guys, you prayed for me at "the Rock Show", God showed you my bones; I'm better and better; dancing around my living room; exercising all those joints, ligaments, muscles and tendons.

Making Disciples

I became involved in a discussion a while back with a group of leaders from the street healing movement. Brandon Lee, one of visionaries of the movement asked a group of us how we might go about making disciples after seeing people healed.

Most of us have seen hundreds of people healed on the streets. After they were healed, some were led to a profession of faith in Jesus. But almost none were walking in the power of God as we had hoped.

Preaching and healing can bring people to God. Getting people to make a profession of faith isn’t hard to do. Keeping them in a relationship with God afterward is more problematic. Church polls reveal that many new converts leave the church or lose faith in God shortly afterward. Among those who remain committed followers of Jesus, few can honestly say they're living the kind of life Jesus and his disciples lived. Many leaders have recognized that present models of evangelism and discipleship aren’t working.

In the span of three years Jesus took uneducated men and through frequent demonstration and teaching on the kingdom of God, transformed their lives into ones that looked like His. When the process was done their lives replicated the life of their teacher. This is the goal of making disciples. It’s the replication of the kingdom of God in the lives of others.

The gospel of the kingdom of God is transformational. Wherever the kingdom goes it destroys mindsets that are opposed to the righteousness of God. It frees people from bondage to sin. It empowers them to release miracles into the lives of others. The kingdom of God is not a set of precepts we agree upon, it is the transformational power of God that works in the lives of believers, changing them into the image of Christ.

The question that leaders of the street healing movement are asking is, "How do we go about making disciples in the manner that Jesus did?"

Most of these leaders are young and on fire for God, which probably accounts for their enthusiasm and passion. They’ve seen the effects of powerless preaching and the weakness of a church body sitting in a pew on Sunday lulled to sleep by sermons. They have a vision of a church that’s different. Their vision is of a vibrant, spirit-filled, demon-casting, sickness-destroying, dead-raising army of disciples who do the things Jesus did.

They know that this vision will never become a reality without leaders who can demonstrate the kingdom and train believers to follow after them. This vision requires leaders who have a different mindset. And that puts them at odds with the leaders of most church congregations.

The church tends to reflect the operational values of it's leaders. Although Jesus is the head of the church, the manifestation of Jesus in the world is largely dictated by a handful of leaders, who collectively cast a vision for how the church impacts society. The leaders involved in street healing have noted that few other leaders seem to understand the value of training and equipping believers to go into the streets and do the works of God.

A few years ago I began to re-evaluate what I believed about the church and how it operates. One of the books that challenged my presuppositions was "The Shaping of Things To Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church", by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch.

Frost and Hirsch have three main observations about the church and how it operates. The first is that most churches are attractional instead of missional.

Traditional churches create sacred spaces that are uncomfortable for not-yet-Christians. Our goal is to attract the not-yet-Christians into these spaces. With the attractional church model, evangelism is about inviting people to meetings.

Jesus didn't instruct his disciples to gather in a building and wait for people to come to them. He sent his disciples out into the community. The disciples were guests in their homes and businesses. This is a very different approach than the one most churches use today.

Even when traditional churches try to reach out to the community, "church planting" generally involves planting another Sunday service in a new location, rather than establishing authentic Christian communities.

The answer from Frost and Hirsch is that church must operate missionally. The missional church does not seek to attract people to it. It seeps into the cracks and crevices of a society in order to be Christ to those who don't know him yet. It does this through proximity spaces, shared projects, and commercial enterprises.

Proximity spaces are places or events where Christians and not-yet-Christians interact with each other. They are definitely not churches. Examples of proximity spaces include art workshops, pubs and cafes where Christians form part of the regular clientele. Shared projects are activities of interest to the wider community, which meet a need and provide an opportunity for Christians and not-yet-Christians to meet in a natural situation.

Commercial enterprises are businesses, run by Christians for the wider community, which are not overtly evangelistic. The point of all of these activities is to find neutral ground where the Church can intentionally meet with the world.

The second observation they make is the traditional churches are dualistic instead of Messianic. That is, they believe that there is a separation between that which is secular and that which is sacred. This idea is rooted in Greek philosophy, not the Bible. This separation of the sacred from the secular impacts all aspects of life. We have sacred and secular people (clergy and laity), sacred and secular places (church buildings and the rest of the world), and sacred and secular activities (church services and the rest of our activities).

The separation of the sacred from the secular has a major impact on how we live out our Christian lives. It allows us to relegate spiritual duties such as healing and evangelism to the professional clergy, minimizing the impact of the average believer. It leads us to believe that only the things that happen on Sunday are truly spiritual, which compartmentalizes our Christianity.

Frost and Hirsch encourage the Church to abandon this distinction between secular and sacred, and to adopt the attitude of Jesus, who saw all activity as part of his ministry. We need to adopt an attitude which sees all of our activity, work, relaxation and specifically Christian service as a sacrament. All of our life must be sacred, and we must take Jesus with us wherever we go.

The third observation is that the traditional church structure is hierarchical instead of apostolic. Frost and Hirsch say that traditional churches have a hierarchical leadership system. They argue that this is neither Biblical nor efficient, and the Church should instead adopt the leadership structure taken from Ephesians chapter 4 (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers).

The heirarchical model put enormous power in the hands of a few people and emphasizes the gifting of those individuals. It also ranks people in higher and lower places of authority, which is a model taken from society, not the bible. In contrast, the Ephesians 4 structure provides for a flat leadership model where the gifting of all the 5-fold offices are represented and no one is higher or lower in rank. This plurality of leadership based on spiritual gifting meets all of the needs of the Church, whereas a traditional hierarchical model often leaves gaping holes.

The traditional church model lends itself well to certain things. It is effective for teaching in the broader sense where a single message can be heard by thousands of people at once. Dissemination of information can accomplished this way. But the application of what is taught is a different matter.

Putting instruction into practical use can’t be accomplished in large groups over an hour or two a week, particularly if feedback is needed. This must be done in smaller groups, to allow for personalization and time for questions to be answered. Congregations that meet once a week have no time for practical application. Some churches have developed small groups that meet during the week for this reason.

The hierarchical leadership structure tends to emphasize and draw from the gifting of one or two key individuals who lead the congregation. It rarely allows for the development of the gifting of the congregation itself. Among fellowships where the gifting of the average believer is acknowledged and developed, it seldom deviates from the gifting of the leaders and it is rarely allowed to surpass it.

This structure allows for some of the things that the church needs to accomplish, but it isn't effective for making disciples. And it’s this issue that leaders of the street healing movement are most concerned with.

I mentioned that many of us tend to compartmentalize our Christianity. Some of us have little interaction with other believers outside of Sunday morning church services. We tend to bring out our spiriuality only when it's required. On Sunday we put on Jesus, but he remains hidden the rest of the week. The traditional church model forces many of us to live as a part-time Christians.

The spiritual growth necessary to be transformed into a disciple is a daily process. It happens little by little through daily renewing of the mind. As we meditate on new revelation from God and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit, our perceptions, beliefs and actions take on new directions. As we get together with others and operate in the power of God, faith for the miraculous grows. The transformational process that makes us into disciples can't do it's work if it's only operational one day a week.

One of the men who discipled me is David McLain. I had a dream in which he and I walked through the streets of the town we lived in. We were starting a new type of church called a ‘missional’ church and we were looking for a "person of peace". Finding them was the first thing we had to do. I’d like to draw your attention to the instructions Jesus gave his disciples in Matthew chapter 10 and Luke chapter 10.

In His instructions, Jesus told the disciples to go out into the cities of Israel. The first thing that should be noted is that He didn't tell them to bring people to a central location, as we do today. His instructions were for them to go out into society. He also told them to inquire who was worthy and to find a household where a person of peace lived. He told them not to go from place to place, but to remain there, eating what was served, healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons and teaching them about the kingdom.

What is the emphasis in these instructions? Developing relationships while ministering to strangers and teaching them about the kingdom.

In sending out the twelve and later, the seventy; He instructed his disciples to find a "person of peace". Finding the person of peace is the key to the entire process of spreading the good news.

The "person of peace" is a person who sees the work that God is doing through us. They are willing to partner with us in bringing that work to the lives of others. This partnership requires trust and a spirit of peace. Once the person of peace is found, they will lead us to a group over which they have some type of influence. If we gain favor and acceptance with the person of peace, we will likely gain it with those in their sphere of influence. Just as we are doorways to the kingdom of God, the person of peace is a doorway to the harvest field. The work of God flows through these doorways.

Biblical examples of a "person of peace" are numerous. The gospel came to the Gentiles after an angel spoke to Cornelius, who was called a ‘just man of good reputation’. The angel told him to send for the apostle Peter. He allowed Peter to speak to all who were in his home and the Holy Spirit fell upon them. Cornelius, by virtue of his reputation and influence served as the first doorway for the gospel to reach the Gentiles. (See Acts chapter 10)

The Samaritan woman at the well took the message of the Messiah back to her city after meeting Jesus. She was in a sense, a person of peace who helped Jesus spread the gospel. (John 4:28-29)

Aquila and Pricilla ran a small business. They received Paul into their home where he worked with them making tents until he received outside support. This couple later tutored Apollos and hosted a Gentile church. ( See Acts 18:1-3)

Justus, whose house was located next door to the synagogue, hosted Paul for a time at Corinth. (See Acts 18:7)

Lydia is another example, having opened her home to Paul and the disciples after receiving their testimony. (Acts 16:14-15)

The last example might surprise you. The man with the demon, who called himself ‘Legion’ became a person of peace. Some people are by their own nature, a person of peace. Some become one as a result of our interaction with them. The man with the demon, after he was set free, begged Jesus to allow him to remain with him. The people of Gadara begged Jesus to leave. Jesus sent the man home to Decapolis to tell of the great things the Lord did. Later, when Jesus visited Dacapolis, the people there asked Him to stay and heal their sick and infirmed. The man became a person of peace, whose personal testimony prepared the harvest field. (See Mark 5:14-20 and Mark 7:31-37)

When John G. Lake trained his divine healing technicians, he sent them into the homes of people who needed healing of a terminal condition. The household would have had at least one person willing to cooperate with the work God was doing. They would pray over this person, focusing on getting them healed. They taught the bible and stayed as long as needed, which would have been anywhere from a few days to a few months. This model, which proved to be very effective, is almost exactly like the one Jesus gave to His disciples.

It was after I decided to be intentional about living and walking in the power of God every day that I noticed changes in the lives of people around me. Those who were never interested in my religion, were very interested in the healing miracles they heard about. The deeper I walked into the kingdom, and the more consistently I demonstrated it the more people were attracted to Jesus. And my opportunities to disciple them increased dramatically.

Making disciples requires a large investment of time from the parties involved. We must come to terms with the fact that we only have so much time to devote to the process. Second, we need to accept the fact that there are very few people who are interested in becoming a disciple in the sense that we are discussing. You might see 100 people a month healed, but the number who are genuinely interested in doing what you're doing may only be one or two. Finding the ones who are interested is critical if you hope to see fruit come forth. In my experiences, God can lead us through dreams, visions, angelic messages and divine encounters to the "person of peace".

Once the person of peace is found, you must demonstrate the life and power of God in your daily activities with them. You must develop relationships of trust. If they open doors to the lives of others, ask God how you can meet their needs. You must have regular contact with those you meet, demonstrating Jesus to them in His power, forgiveness, love, compassion and all the things that reveal His life in you.

If we do these things, we will truly make disciples and fulfill the great commission and in the process we’ll reveal the truth that Jesus is alive and breathing in those He calls His bride.

Cardiac Surgeon Shares Near Death Testimonies

Dr. Lloyd Rudy, a pioneer of cardiac surgery, tells about two patients who came back to life after being declared dead in the operating room. In the first story, the patient described the operating room, the people in it and what they were doing while he was dead.

In the second story, the patient had uncontrollable bleeding. The doctor states that their efforts to stop the bleeding failed, but then a "presence" showed up in the room, which everyone felt and immediately the patient stopped bleeding.

Dr. Rudy confessed ignorance as to who or what the "presence" might be. If you're a regular follower of this blog, you might recognize the "presence" as the Holy Spirit, who sometimes heals the sick or even brings the dead back to life, just by showing up.

Philip Johnson On Darwinism

Philip Johnson is a professor of law at the University of California - Berkley. Although his specialty is law, he's been involved in the discussion of evolution and creation for many years. His interests are in clarifying the terms that are used in the discussion and asking people to present their arguments in a way that allows for objective evaluation; without the usual presumptions we tend to have.

In this video, Johnson is asked a series of questions on evolution. He does a commendable job of bringing clarity to the terms, revealing hidden assumptions we might have. Johnson's book Darwin On Trial is a competent, thorough examination of the subject.