Jul 29, 2012
Jul 27, 2012
No More Shackles
This message is a bit longer than most of my stories. What God did today was too wonderful and full of intricate detail to be told in a shorter story, so grab a cup of coffee or tea and a box of tissues....
Timothy sat hunched over in a wheelchair at the entrance to the prison hospital. Wrapped in a white blanket, shivering, pale and emaciated, the long awaited day had finally arrived. He was going home.
The state prison in Florence sits like an old fortress atop a hill in the middle of the Sonoran desert. Outside the city limits are miles and miles of sand, saguaro, and sun-baked reptiles. Not a hospitable environment for a would-be escapee.
We arrived at the main prison gate. There was a newbie at the control panel opening and closing the gates. The guard yelled for him to open one gate and close another, but his orders went unheeded. The confusion would have served us well, if we had plans to break someone out. I was mildly amused when we were allowed inside without passing through the metal detector or being searched. I couldn't tell if there were angels present.
Our ambulance left deep tracks in the meticulously raked gravel driveway. Meticulous, because every day the inmates spend hours in the scorching sun, raking every driveway in the prison compound. We backed up to the hospital door, unloaded the gurney and went inside.
The information we had was sketchy. I asked a guard if he was being released early because he was sick.
"Heck, no!" She said with a laugh. "We don't let anyone out before their time is up. If they die here, they die here....and we have plenty of people die in here all the time."
I walked over and introduced myself. Timothy's cracked lips trembled with fear as he stared straight ahead. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Stuttering badly, he tried in vain to form words that made sense. The prison nurse put her arm around him and asked what was wrong. Stammering and stuttering, searching for the right words, he strung together a short phrase.
"I don't....want.... to be.... a burden...."
I took the nurse aside and asked for all the information she had. Timothy was in his early 30's, had HIV, a brain tumor and right sided weakness from a stroke, which left him unable to speak clearly. He had a Foley catheter and a PEG tube for feeding. He was being sent to an unknown destination for hospice care. His fear was that the one responsible for taking care of him, would be burdened by his extensive medical needs.
The nurse needed to know the name of the facility we were taking him to. We didn't have a name, just an address. We called dispatch, but they didn't have a name either. My partner Googled the address.
"It looks like a private residence. There's no business name and it's in a residential neighborhood."
Timothy spoke up and asked what the address was. We told him. After a long pause he smiled.
"That's....my.....sister's........house."
I was clear now that he was going to his sister's house and a hospice nurse would meet him there. That information helped. The likelihood of him actually being a burden to his family was somewhat lessened. Hospice nurses do an excellent job of preparing family members to provide care while they take care of the more technical issues. I put my hand on his shoulder and reassured him that he wouldn't be a burden to his family.
More tears.
We helped him up from the wheelchair and with measured, slow steps he positioned himself to sit on the gurney, his frail frame still draped with the white cotton blanket. The hospital building was well air-conditioned. I was getting cold after just a few minutes inside.
"You won't have to worry about being cold, Timothy. It's about 105 (40 C) outside. Even with the air conditioning on, it'll be 90 (32 C) degrees in the back of the ambo."
Another smile.
In staccato phrases he asked where his medications were. The nurses looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders. He said he had a bag of meds in his cell that were supposed to go with him, but no one knew where they were. They told him the prison's policy was to ship out any personal belongings left behind by inmates. He wasn't reassured.
His favorite nurse gave him one more hug before we loaded him up. More tears. She dried his eyes and gave him a few tissues for the road then we put him in the back of the ambo.
Leaving the prison was a strange ordeal. Since moving to Arizona, I've transported dozens of inmates. We always have two guards. And the inmates are always shackled.
Always.
But not today.
We stopped at the first gate and a guard climbed in, clutching a pile of papers. He sat next to me on the bench seat.
"This is so weird", the guard said. "There aren't any guards going along. No chase car. No shackles. We never see anyone leave in an ambulance without shackles and a guard."
He gave Timothy a check for $50 and had him sign for it. He explained what the rest of the papers were for and hopped out the back door. We approached the next gate. Another guard opened the back door. He took Timothy's yellow Department of Correction ID and gave him a new white one. Timothy looked at the picture on his new ID card with disgust, turned to me and said, "Can.....we....burn.....this?"
We both laughed.
He asked the guard about his bag of medications.
"We have 12 bags of medications inside, but none of them are yours. I don't know where yours are, but when they turn up, we'll ship them to you."
He wished Timothy good luck then closed the door. We pulled out of the compound onto the main road. My patient was a free man.
Well, sort of.
A few miles down the road, I asked if he had anything special he wanted to eat for his first meal. Words and phrases fell from his lips but nothing made sense. He couldn't say the name of his favorite restaurant.
"burger......burger...."
"Burger King?"
He shook his head.
"McDonald's?"
Wrong again.
"Wendy's?"
Nope.
I rattled off all the burger places I could think of, but missed each time.
"Cali....Cali....in and in...."
"In-N-Out?"
A big smile and a nod of agreement. I asked if he was going to order off the regular menu or the secret menu.
"Four by four", he said with a grin.
The thought of eating a good burger must have put him in a better frame of mind as he told me what was on the legendary "Four by Four". Four beef patties with cheese and all the fixin's. Unfortunately, the nurse clued me in to the fact that he frequently vomits after eating solid food.
I asked him what was the hardest part of being in prison. I assumed it might be the manual labor, the disgusting food, the oppressive heat or fear of what other inmates might do to you.
With a somber look, he started at his feet.
"Shackles".
Trying his best to form the right words, he explained the feelings that come from being shackled everywhere you go; in your cell, in the prison yard, on the bus, in the ambulance; even lying half-dead in a hospital ICU 50 miles from the prison, inmates are never free from the shackles.
"Well, you never have to wear shackles again. Today you're a free man."
"I'll Fly Away" was playing softly in the recesses of my mind. It was about that time when my partner received a call from dispatch telling him they found the missing medications. I broke the news to my new friend.
"It looks like we have to take you back. But this time, no shackles...they found your meds."
We retrieved the bag of pill bottles then headed out once more - our destination was 81 miles away. I told him I see a lot of people healed and asked if I could pray with him. He smiled and said yes. I laid my hand on his shoulder and asked Papa to bless him with peace, confidence, joy and health. I commanded disease to leave and asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence.
I asked if he felt anything.
"I feel.....relief."
"Well, I suppose that's better than shackles."
I prayed one more time then turned my attention to charting. Timothy rested, gazing out the back window of the ambo. God only knows what must be going through his mind.
About thirty minutes went by. He slept a little but was awake again. Staring intently and fidgeting.
"What are you thinking about?"
With his eyes still looking out the back widow, he slowly explained that he was thinking about how he'd lived his life.
"I wanted.....to be....a good.....example."
More tears.
I can only imagine how this young man must have viewed his life. What kind of bitterness and disappointment was he feeling? What would it be like to wake up tomorrow morning, knowing you're a free man, trapped inside a life that went horribly wrong?
"Timothy....I was a terrible role model for most of my life. It was only a few years ago that things changed for the better. The doctors I know have a saying - "You learn to make good decisions, by making bad decisions." It's never too late to be a good example."
He smiled, nodded in agreement, wiped away the tears and rested his head, turning his gaze to the back window.
An hour later we approached his sister's house. With joy and excitement he told me in the best words he could find when we were going to turn and which stores we would see. His mother greeted us at the back door of the ambulance. Inside, a house full of relatives waited with excitement. I helped him to bed then went to the living room and gave report to the hospice nurse. His mother came from the bedroom.
"He wants to see you before you go."
I returned to his bedside. He held out his hand. I gently grasped it and we slowly shook hands as he tried to speak. Stammering and stuttering he told me thanks for being so nice to him. I bent down and hugged his frail body. With my head against his I said, "You're just awesome, you know that? God loves you and He has a great plan for your future. And if I don't see you in the future, I'll see you in the pasture. And remember....it's never too late to be a good example."
With tears in my eyes, I made my way to the kitchen, left a copy of my report with the nurse and headed for the door.
God's love and compassion just amaze me......
Timothy sat hunched over in a wheelchair at the entrance to the prison hospital. Wrapped in a white blanket, shivering, pale and emaciated, the long awaited day had finally arrived. He was going home.
The state prison in Florence sits like an old fortress atop a hill in the middle of the Sonoran desert. Outside the city limits are miles and miles of sand, saguaro, and sun-baked reptiles. Not a hospitable environment for a would-be escapee.
We arrived at the main prison gate. There was a newbie at the control panel opening and closing the gates. The guard yelled for him to open one gate and close another, but his orders went unheeded. The confusion would have served us well, if we had plans to break someone out. I was mildly amused when we were allowed inside without passing through the metal detector or being searched. I couldn't tell if there were angels present.
Our ambulance left deep tracks in the meticulously raked gravel driveway. Meticulous, because every day the inmates spend hours in the scorching sun, raking every driveway in the prison compound. We backed up to the hospital door, unloaded the gurney and went inside.
The information we had was sketchy. I asked a guard if he was being released early because he was sick.
"Heck, no!" She said with a laugh. "We don't let anyone out before their time is up. If they die here, they die here....and we have plenty of people die in here all the time."
I walked over and introduced myself. Timothy's cracked lips trembled with fear as he stared straight ahead. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Stuttering badly, he tried in vain to form words that made sense. The prison nurse put her arm around him and asked what was wrong. Stammering and stuttering, searching for the right words, he strung together a short phrase.
"I don't....want.... to be.... a burden...."
I took the nurse aside and asked for all the information she had. Timothy was in his early 30's, had HIV, a brain tumor and right sided weakness from a stroke, which left him unable to speak clearly. He had a Foley catheter and a PEG tube for feeding. He was being sent to an unknown destination for hospice care. His fear was that the one responsible for taking care of him, would be burdened by his extensive medical needs.
The nurse needed to know the name of the facility we were taking him to. We didn't have a name, just an address. We called dispatch, but they didn't have a name either. My partner Googled the address.
"It looks like a private residence. There's no business name and it's in a residential neighborhood."
Timothy spoke up and asked what the address was. We told him. After a long pause he smiled.
"That's....my.....sister's........house."
I was clear now that he was going to his sister's house and a hospice nurse would meet him there. That information helped. The likelihood of him actually being a burden to his family was somewhat lessened. Hospice nurses do an excellent job of preparing family members to provide care while they take care of the more technical issues. I put my hand on his shoulder and reassured him that he wouldn't be a burden to his family.
More tears.
We helped him up from the wheelchair and with measured, slow steps he positioned himself to sit on the gurney, his frail frame still draped with the white cotton blanket. The hospital building was well air-conditioned. I was getting cold after just a few minutes inside.
"You won't have to worry about being cold, Timothy. It's about 105 (40 C) outside. Even with the air conditioning on, it'll be 90 (32 C) degrees in the back of the ambo."
Another smile.
In staccato phrases he asked where his medications were. The nurses looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders. He said he had a bag of meds in his cell that were supposed to go with him, but no one knew where they were. They told him the prison's policy was to ship out any personal belongings left behind by inmates. He wasn't reassured.
His favorite nurse gave him one more hug before we loaded him up. More tears. She dried his eyes and gave him a few tissues for the road then we put him in the back of the ambo.
Leaving the prison was a strange ordeal. Since moving to Arizona, I've transported dozens of inmates. We always have two guards. And the inmates are always shackled.
Always.
But not today.
We stopped at the first gate and a guard climbed in, clutching a pile of papers. He sat next to me on the bench seat.
"This is so weird", the guard said. "There aren't any guards going along. No chase car. No shackles. We never see anyone leave in an ambulance without shackles and a guard."
He gave Timothy a check for $50 and had him sign for it. He explained what the rest of the papers were for and hopped out the back door. We approached the next gate. Another guard opened the back door. He took Timothy's yellow Department of Correction ID and gave him a new white one. Timothy looked at the picture on his new ID card with disgust, turned to me and said, "Can.....we....burn.....this?"
We both laughed.
He asked the guard about his bag of medications.
"We have 12 bags of medications inside, but none of them are yours. I don't know where yours are, but when they turn up, we'll ship them to you."
He wished Timothy good luck then closed the door. We pulled out of the compound onto the main road. My patient was a free man.
Well, sort of.
A few miles down the road, I asked if he had anything special he wanted to eat for his first meal. Words and phrases fell from his lips but nothing made sense. He couldn't say the name of his favorite restaurant.
"burger......burger...."
"Burger King?"
He shook his head.
"McDonald's?"
Wrong again.
"Wendy's?"
Nope.
I rattled off all the burger places I could think of, but missed each time.
"Cali....Cali....in and in...."
"In-N-Out?"
A big smile and a nod of agreement. I asked if he was going to order off the regular menu or the secret menu.
"Four by four", he said with a grin.
The thought of eating a good burger must have put him in a better frame of mind as he told me what was on the legendary "Four by Four". Four beef patties with cheese and all the fixin's. Unfortunately, the nurse clued me in to the fact that he frequently vomits after eating solid food.
I asked him what was the hardest part of being in prison. I assumed it might be the manual labor, the disgusting food, the oppressive heat or fear of what other inmates might do to you.
With a somber look, he started at his feet.
"Shackles".
Trying his best to form the right words, he explained the feelings that come from being shackled everywhere you go; in your cell, in the prison yard, on the bus, in the ambulance; even lying half-dead in a hospital ICU 50 miles from the prison, inmates are never free from the shackles.
"Well, you never have to wear shackles again. Today you're a free man."
"I'll Fly Away" was playing softly in the recesses of my mind. It was about that time when my partner received a call from dispatch telling him they found the missing medications. I broke the news to my new friend.
"It looks like we have to take you back. But this time, no shackles...they found your meds."
We retrieved the bag of pill bottles then headed out once more - our destination was 81 miles away. I told him I see a lot of people healed and asked if I could pray with him. He smiled and said yes. I laid my hand on his shoulder and asked Papa to bless him with peace, confidence, joy and health. I commanded disease to leave and asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence.
I asked if he felt anything.
"I feel.....relief."
"Well, I suppose that's better than shackles."
I prayed one more time then turned my attention to charting. Timothy rested, gazing out the back window of the ambo. God only knows what must be going through his mind.
About thirty minutes went by. He slept a little but was awake again. Staring intently and fidgeting.
"What are you thinking about?"
With his eyes still looking out the back widow, he slowly explained that he was thinking about how he'd lived his life.
"I wanted.....to be....a good.....example."
More tears.
I can only imagine how this young man must have viewed his life. What kind of bitterness and disappointment was he feeling? What would it be like to wake up tomorrow morning, knowing you're a free man, trapped inside a life that went horribly wrong?
"Timothy....I was a terrible role model for most of my life. It was only a few years ago that things changed for the better. The doctors I know have a saying - "You learn to make good decisions, by making bad decisions." It's never too late to be a good example."
He smiled, nodded in agreement, wiped away the tears and rested his head, turning his gaze to the back window.
An hour later we approached his sister's house. With joy and excitement he told me in the best words he could find when we were going to turn and which stores we would see. His mother greeted us at the back door of the ambulance. Inside, a house full of relatives waited with excitement. I helped him to bed then went to the living room and gave report to the hospice nurse. His mother came from the bedroom.
"He wants to see you before you go."
I returned to his bedside. He held out his hand. I gently grasped it and we slowly shook hands as he tried to speak. Stammering and stuttering he told me thanks for being so nice to him. I bent down and hugged his frail body. With my head against his I said, "You're just awesome, you know that? God loves you and He has a great plan for your future. And if I don't see you in the future, I'll see you in the pasture. And remember....it's never too late to be a good example."
With tears in my eyes, I made my way to the kitchen, left a copy of my report with the nurse and headed for the door.
God's love and compassion just amaze me......
Jul 26, 2012
Severed Auditory Nerve Healed
This woman attended Global Awakening's School of Healing and Impartation. During the training, she was healed of deafness caused by a severed auditory nerve.
Jul 24, 2012
Metal Plate and Screws Disappear
This woman, named Jessica, testifies that she had a metal plate and 3 screws in her wrist disappear during worship.
Jul 22, 2012
On Dying Young
This message is likely to meet with disagreement from many of my friends. I would ask that you read the message all the way through and consider it thoughtfully and prayerfully before coming to a conclusion on the matter. I would be glad to discuss your thoughts in the comments section.
The body of Christ has held two opposing views on the forces at work when people die at a young age. Some believe that God has a purpose for "taking" people in their youth, and these reasons often remain a mystery. Most of my friends who have discovered the resurrection power of God would disagree. They believe that we're all entitled to a long, prosperous life. They hold the view that it is only at the hands of the enemy that anyone dies at a young age.
Twelve months ago, I would have agreed with my friends. When the sacred cow was finally barbecued that said God has reasons for people to die in their youth, we all rejoiced. In the circles I travel in, the new dominant view is that it is never God's will for anyone to die at a young age.
I've spent a lot of time reviewing near-death testimonies and reading accounts from people who have gone into the heavens. And my perspective on the issue has been changing. The subject we're discussing is emotionally charged and full of conflicting views. Patience is required to sort these things out, so bear with me as I shed a bit of light on the different issues involved.
The argument for a long physical life is made by those who see promises of longevity in scripture. I've searched the bible and haven't found an explicit guarantee of longevity anywhere in scripture. I believe it is God's desire for us to have a long life, which is to say that He always wants us to live in such a way that our years on the earth would be fruitful and many. But I believe that some of our own choices frustrate those plans.
If you believe in determinism, this idea will probably be objectionable to you, for determinism teaches that our own actions cannot thwart the plans of God if He has sovereignly ordained us to live a certain number of years. I personally reject determinism. I believe that our own choices must be accounted for in the grand scheme of things and we can either frustrate or cooperate with His plans by the choices we make.
I believe it is God's desire that everyone would have a long, abundant and blessed life. God is good and He has nothing but our best interest in mind in everything He does. It is actually this principle (our best interest) that I believe is at work when people die at a young age. Allow me to explain what I mean by this.
The human perspective on life tends to focus on things that happen in the dimension of time and space. The temporal things of this world are the things we think about most often and value the most highly. One of the things is our own physical life and our experiences in this world.
When someone dies at a young age, we tend to view it as a tragedy. We consider all the things the departed person might have done if they had lived longer. We're saddened by the fact that they won't accomplish the wonderful things the rest of us will. We mourn the love they'll never know, the victories they'll miss out on and all the things of this physical life that we feel everyone deserves to experience. We value the temporal experiences of this earth rather highly.
It is our temporal perspective that clouds our understanding of life and death and obscures our ability to see how they are viewed from heaven.
I've been reading the book The Spiritual World by Peter Tan. I've also been watching video interviews with Katt Kerr. Both have received extraordinary revelations about the spirit world. Their testimonies have caused me to re-evaluate many of my beliefs about life and death.
I began to question the idea of a guarantee of long life shortly after I began praying for the sick. I had prayed at the bedside of a number of terminal cancer patients, and in visions, I often saw clear indications that the person's time on earth was up. Jesus was taking them home and there was nothing I could do to change it. While my friends in the healing community insisted that we had an obligation to heal everyone, I began to see things from heaven's perspective.
I've watched many interviews with people who have had near - death experiences. In some cases, the Lord would show them the things they would endure if they returned to earth then asked if they wanted to remain in heaven or return to their physical body. If a person chose to remain in heaven, their testimony, for obvious reasons, would never be recorded. But many chose to return, in spite of the difficulties they would face. And that begs the question - what purpose does God have for allowing people to decide their own fate concerning their physical life and death?
Katt Kerr has been taken into heaven hundreds of times to witness different things and reveal them to us, back here on earth. She's attended the homecoming of many departed saints and made an interesting observation about them. When we step into eternity for good - all of heaven throws a party for us. The "death" of our physical body is celebrated with extreme joy and celebration by everyone in heaven. There is no mourning, no weeping or sadness like we have here on earth. In heaven, the death of our physical body means it's party time.
She said that we all get to watch our own memorial service on earth. Nearly everyone who watches their own sad, somber funeral makes the same comment. They wish their friends and relatives on earth were as joyous as the saints and angels were in heaven. Our physical death, from the perspective of heaven, is a reason to rejoice - not to mourn and cry, regardless of the age of the individual.
Peter Tan reports that there are things going on the realm of the spirit that most of us haven't considered. Tan describes millions of different planes, spheres, and dimensions of existence in the spiritual world, each of which serves a unique purpose in the greater plan of God. As we step out of our physical body into the spirit world, we're taken to one of the realms of eternity. If you are a Christian, you'd call it heaven. Though in fact, there are many realms of heaven, each one containing a different aspect of God's glory for us to to become familiar with.
In eternity, we spend time exploring and being transformed into the perfect image of Christ by all the different levels of God's glory that we're exposed to. And yes, there is time in eternity - though it's quite different from how we understand time in this dimension.
The plan of God for each of us is to be transformed (sanctified) into the perfect image of Christ. (See 1 Thess 4:3) That transformation happens in many ways throughout the entirety of our existence, both on earth and in eternity. God is always interested in our transformation into the image of His son. This is the overarching concern behind everything He allows to come into our lives.
Nothing ever supersedes this imperative.
There are many experiences here on earth,which provide opportunities for spiritual growth and transformation. Some are revelatory; others involve overcoming adversity or persecution, but all develop Christ-like character in our spirit-man.
There are other experiences that can cause us to regress backward in our spiritual development. In them, our spiritual light diminishes with each passing day. Some people may go through so many negative spiritual experiences after returning to earth, they end up worse off (spiritually) than if they had remained in eternity.
All the positive and negative experiences that affect our spiritual development are considered when God decides if an individual will remain in heaven or return to earth. Physical age is not one of the major factors considered.
When a person dies, regardless of their physical age, God examines all the possible outcomes of their continued life on earth and their transition into eternity. He evaluates their potential for spiritual growth in both settings. His decision to allow them to remain in eternity or return to earth is based on His knowledge of all these factors. In some cases, the results of living in eternity and on earth may be so similar that He will allow the individual to decide their own fate.
If the individual has a chance to grow spiritually by returning to earth, they're usually sent back. But if they have little chance for spiritual growth on earth - they usually remain in heaven, where they'll continue the process of transformation.
Over the course of my career, I've probably interviewed more than 100 people who have had near death experiences. Nearly all of them remember being told "it wasn't their time". Nearly all were explicitly told they had more to accomplish before their time on earth was over. I believe the "something more" is the development of greater Christ- like character in their life.
It's almost time to wrap this up, so I'll close with this final thought:
When a loved one experiences physical death - the biblical response is to pray for resurrection. (Matt 10:8) We pray for resurrection because we don't know if they're going to remain in eternity or return to earth. If they need to return, our prayers enforce God's will for them to return. In situations involving resurrection, it's wise to ask God for a specific revelation of His will so that we might pray in accordance with it.
I'll post a instructional message in the next few weeks on how and when to raise the dead.
'till then....
The body of Christ has held two opposing views on the forces at work when people die at a young age. Some believe that God has a purpose for "taking" people in their youth, and these reasons often remain a mystery. Most of my friends who have discovered the resurrection power of God would disagree. They believe that we're all entitled to a long, prosperous life. They hold the view that it is only at the hands of the enemy that anyone dies at a young age.
Twelve months ago, I would have agreed with my friends. When the sacred cow was finally barbecued that said God has reasons for people to die in their youth, we all rejoiced. In the circles I travel in, the new dominant view is that it is never God's will for anyone to die at a young age.
I've spent a lot of time reviewing near-death testimonies and reading accounts from people who have gone into the heavens. And my perspective on the issue has been changing. The subject we're discussing is emotionally charged and full of conflicting views. Patience is required to sort these things out, so bear with me as I shed a bit of light on the different issues involved.
The argument for a long physical life is made by those who see promises of longevity in scripture. I've searched the bible and haven't found an explicit guarantee of longevity anywhere in scripture. I believe it is God's desire for us to have a long life, which is to say that He always wants us to live in such a way that our years on the earth would be fruitful and many. But I believe that some of our own choices frustrate those plans.
If you believe in determinism, this idea will probably be objectionable to you, for determinism teaches that our own actions cannot thwart the plans of God if He has sovereignly ordained us to live a certain number of years. I personally reject determinism. I believe that our own choices must be accounted for in the grand scheme of things and we can either frustrate or cooperate with His plans by the choices we make.
I believe it is God's desire that everyone would have a long, abundant and blessed life. God is good and He has nothing but our best interest in mind in everything He does. It is actually this principle (our best interest) that I believe is at work when people die at a young age. Allow me to explain what I mean by this.
The human perspective on life tends to focus on things that happen in the dimension of time and space. The temporal things of this world are the things we think about most often and value the most highly. One of the things is our own physical life and our experiences in this world.
When someone dies at a young age, we tend to view it as a tragedy. We consider all the things the departed person might have done if they had lived longer. We're saddened by the fact that they won't accomplish the wonderful things the rest of us will. We mourn the love they'll never know, the victories they'll miss out on and all the things of this physical life that we feel everyone deserves to experience. We value the temporal experiences of this earth rather highly.
It is our temporal perspective that clouds our understanding of life and death and obscures our ability to see how they are viewed from heaven.
I've been reading the book The Spiritual World by Peter Tan. I've also been watching video interviews with Katt Kerr. Both have received extraordinary revelations about the spirit world. Their testimonies have caused me to re-evaluate many of my beliefs about life and death.
I began to question the idea of a guarantee of long life shortly after I began praying for the sick. I had prayed at the bedside of a number of terminal cancer patients, and in visions, I often saw clear indications that the person's time on earth was up. Jesus was taking them home and there was nothing I could do to change it. While my friends in the healing community insisted that we had an obligation to heal everyone, I began to see things from heaven's perspective.
I've watched many interviews with people who have had near - death experiences. In some cases, the Lord would show them the things they would endure if they returned to earth then asked if they wanted to remain in heaven or return to their physical body. If a person chose to remain in heaven, their testimony, for obvious reasons, would never be recorded. But many chose to return, in spite of the difficulties they would face. And that begs the question - what purpose does God have for allowing people to decide their own fate concerning their physical life and death?
Katt Kerr has been taken into heaven hundreds of times to witness different things and reveal them to us, back here on earth. She's attended the homecoming of many departed saints and made an interesting observation about them. When we step into eternity for good - all of heaven throws a party for us. The "death" of our physical body is celebrated with extreme joy and celebration by everyone in heaven. There is no mourning, no weeping or sadness like we have here on earth. In heaven, the death of our physical body means it's party time.
She said that we all get to watch our own memorial service on earth. Nearly everyone who watches their own sad, somber funeral makes the same comment. They wish their friends and relatives on earth were as joyous as the saints and angels were in heaven. Our physical death, from the perspective of heaven, is a reason to rejoice - not to mourn and cry, regardless of the age of the individual.
Peter Tan reports that there are things going on the realm of the spirit that most of us haven't considered. Tan describes millions of different planes, spheres, and dimensions of existence in the spiritual world, each of which serves a unique purpose in the greater plan of God. As we step out of our physical body into the spirit world, we're taken to one of the realms of eternity. If you are a Christian, you'd call it heaven. Though in fact, there are many realms of heaven, each one containing a different aspect of God's glory for us to to become familiar with.
In eternity, we spend time exploring and being transformed into the perfect image of Christ by all the different levels of God's glory that we're exposed to. And yes, there is time in eternity - though it's quite different from how we understand time in this dimension.
The plan of God for each of us is to be transformed (sanctified) into the perfect image of Christ. (See 1 Thess 4:3) That transformation happens in many ways throughout the entirety of our existence, both on earth and in eternity. God is always interested in our transformation into the image of His son. This is the overarching concern behind everything He allows to come into our lives.
Nothing ever supersedes this imperative.
There are many experiences here on earth,which provide opportunities for spiritual growth and transformation. Some are revelatory; others involve overcoming adversity or persecution, but all develop Christ-like character in our spirit-man.
There are other experiences that can cause us to regress backward in our spiritual development. In them, our spiritual light diminishes with each passing day. Some people may go through so many negative spiritual experiences after returning to earth, they end up worse off (spiritually) than if they had remained in eternity.
All the positive and negative experiences that affect our spiritual development are considered when God decides if an individual will remain in heaven or return to earth. Physical age is not one of the major factors considered.
When a person dies, regardless of their physical age, God examines all the possible outcomes of their continued life on earth and their transition into eternity. He evaluates their potential for spiritual growth in both settings. His decision to allow them to remain in eternity or return to earth is based on His knowledge of all these factors. In some cases, the results of living in eternity and on earth may be so similar that He will allow the individual to decide their own fate.
If the individual has a chance to grow spiritually by returning to earth, they're usually sent back. But if they have little chance for spiritual growth on earth - they usually remain in heaven, where they'll continue the process of transformation.
Over the course of my career, I've probably interviewed more than 100 people who have had near death experiences. Nearly all of them remember being told "it wasn't their time". Nearly all were explicitly told they had more to accomplish before their time on earth was over. I believe the "something more" is the development of greater Christ- like character in their life.
It's almost time to wrap this up, so I'll close with this final thought:
When a loved one experiences physical death - the biblical response is to pray for resurrection. (Matt 10:8) We pray for resurrection because we don't know if they're going to remain in eternity or return to earth. If they need to return, our prayers enforce God's will for them to return. In situations involving resurrection, it's wise to ask God for a specific revelation of His will so that we might pray in accordance with it.
I'll post a instructional message in the next few weeks on how and when to raise the dead.
'till then....
Jul 21, 2012
Power and Love Training
Host Location:
Wellspring Church
Berlin, CT 06037
Date: August 15-18, 2012
Full School (all 4 days) Regular Rate Registration: July 19 to August 10, 2012 -- $80.00
Full School (all 4 days) At the Door Registration: $100.00
Per Session Rate: For those who can only attend part of the school, the rate will be:
$20 per morning session
$20 per afternoon session
$40 per day:
There is no advanced registration for individual sessions. These will be
available at the door only, space permitting.
Student Discount: Full time students can register at $15.00 off each full school rate above or $5.00 off the per session rate. You will need to show your Student ID when you arrive on Wed morning or you will be charged $15 at the door.
Jul 20, 2012
Colorado Theater Shooting 911 Dispatch
The dispatch tape of the 911 response to the theater shooting in Colorado on July 19 2012.
Where Do We Go When We Die?
Katt Kerr and Patricia King discuss the things we'll experience in eternity.
Jul 18, 2012
Baby Resurrected From the Dead
David Hogan shares with the students at Bethel school of ministry in Redding, California on how God raised a dead baby to life at a small fellowship meeting in Mexico.
Jul 16, 2012
Healing Mental Illness - A Matter of Love
I had a dream on the night of July 12. In the dream I watched people being treated for mental illness as they transitioned from a hospital to a mental health treatment facility. In some of the scenes, patients were treated rudely and without compassion. This made their condition worse. In some scenes they were treated with compassion, understanding and love - which made their condition better.
Some dreams don't need much interpretation. This is one of them. But I'll share a few thoughts on how it might be applied.
The dream shows a problem as it might be seen from my perspective. I routinely transport people from hospitals to mental health facilities; usually after treatment for a suicide attempt. If you work in medicine, you're aware that people with depression are frequently viewed with disdain. I'll go even further - they're often despised and resented by healthcare workers.
I transported one such patient about a month ago. We arrived at the emergency department to transport a middle-aged woman who had verbalized thoughts of killing herself after finding her 15 year old son dead in his bedroom. Her nurses described her as a needy, controlling person. They seemed giddy about the fact that we arrived early and were finally taking her away. She'd been there less than four hours.
When I met her, I was shocked. What I found was a sweet, kind, broken-hearted woman who needed someone to show her a little compassion. I couldn't understand why the nurses perceived her the way they did. Unfortunately, these attitudes are common among healthcare workers. At times, I'm as guilty as anyone.
In reading The Spiritual World by Peter Tan, I came across an fascinating revelation about love. Most of us know that God is love. That is to say; love is the very essence of His being. What most of us don't know is that love, by itself, is able to sustain all life in the universe. The substance of love that comes from the Father is able to completely sustain all life without the help of any outside force.
In the natural world, we perceive a complex symphony of multiple forces working together to sustain life. But the truth is - love is a life-sustaining force that is much more powerful than we understand.
Many people suffer from mental illness because they are unloved. The dream is a reminder that we can heal the pain and suffering of mental illness through the power transmitted to others by acts of sincere compassion and love.
Related Posts:
A New Season - Healing Mental Illness
Jul 15, 2012
ICU Being Healed
I'd be lying if I said I didn't love my job. I know you're busy, so let me just share a quick testimony. The woman below is smiling because she no longer has a torn rotator cuff. I bet you'll never guess how it happened.
Last week we transported a ventilator dependent patient who has Lou Gehrig's disease. Just like my friend Scott Buzzell, (I haven't forgot about you, Scott) our patient was diagnosed years ago and is now paralyzed except for his facial muscles. The woman holding the balloon was the respiratory therapist on duty when we picked him up in the ICU.
As we got our patient ready, I noticed her rubbing her right shoulder as if it hurt. I asked what was wrong. She told me she tore her rotator cuff last year when a nurse jerked the code cart away from her. I asked if she wanted to be healed. She did, so I placed my hand on her shoulder and commanded it to be healed.
At the nurses station in front of everyone. Then I asked if she felt anything.
"It just feels a little warm."
"Cool - that's the power of God healing you."
I prayed a second time and asked her to try to raise her arm up. With a torn rotator cuff, it's extremely painful to raise your arm above the height of your shoulder. She tried, but it hurt. I told her it might take a few minutes for the healing to completely manifest.
We continued getting the patient ready. A few minutes later she returned. Raising her arm a little higher than before, she said, "Look...what I can do". She was overjoyed. "I haven't been able to do this in over a year."
The patient had his own ventilator, which we were taking with us in addition to our own gear. We needed help getting it all down to the ambulance. The RT volunteered to escort us. On the way to the ambulance she told the patient's wife that I healed her shoulder. I asked if she was sure that she was healed. She said she was. We loaded the patient and equipment and I pulled out my phone to get a picture. She gave me permission to post it. I gave her a card and a hug then we left.
I'm waiting for a report from the Respiratory Therapist. So if you read this, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail and let me know how you're doing.
Praying Medic out -
Almost forgot.....I prayed with the patient on the way to his house. No report on him yet.
Jul 14, 2012
Her Best Shift
Kari was my partner for the next 8 hours. My regular partner wasn't able to work, so Kari filled in. We had a slow day - just two transports. That gave us time to talk.
Kari told me about her life. She's interested in archaeology and earned a Master's degree then began working on her PhD. Near the end of the process she ran into funding problems and never completed her doctorate. As a temporary way to earn a paycheck she went to EMT school.
After discussing her life for a while she asked about mine; what plans did a guy my age have for the future?
I told her that I'd worked in nearly every type of EMS environment and that I'd went through every career stage you can go through - from an excited newbie to an experienced trainer to a burned - out, jaded veteran and everything in between. Then I told her about the dreams that began in 2008. Hundreds of dreams about praying for patients in the ambulance.
I shared a few healing testimonies with her. She was a bit shocked, but wanted to know more about what God was doing in my life, so I shared a few more stories. She asked if I could help with a few medical problems of her own. I told her I'd do what I could.
She asked if I'd pray for her father to be healed of chronic back pain. Then she recalled the tragic tale of her best friend, who was severely injured in a car accident. Her friend has a metal plate in her foot that's slowly separating from the bone it was screwed to. It's extremely painful and her surgeon doesn't think anything can be done about it.
I told her I'd be happy to pray for both of them, but asked if she'd contact them and ask if they actually want to be healed. I said I'd be happy to visit her friend in person, since she lives in the area.
Kari asked if I'd pray for her eyes healed. She wears corrective lenses for near-nearsightedness and hates wearing glasses. I placed my hand on her forehead just above her eyes and commanded them to be healed. She felt a sensation of warmth invade her lower eyelids. She removed her glasses and noticed that her distant vision was improving. She was surprised at how quickly her vision changed. I prayed a second time and the warmth increased. Then I prayed a third time.
She removed her glasses again and remarked that although her vision wasn't perfect yet, it was much improved over just a few minutes earlier.
Satisfied with the improvement, she asked if I'd pray for her neck and shoulders to be healed. Like most of us who work in EMS, she suffers from chronic muscle strain and fatigue. She feels as if her neck and upper back muscles are under constant tension, causing a nagging pain that never goes away.
I placed my hand near the back of her neck, just above her shirt collar, but didn't actually touch her. As I commanded her muscles to be healed, I felt something I've never felt before.
Heat.
I felt waves of heat coming from her upper back, just below my hand. She felt it too.
"Let me see your hand."
I held my hand out in front of her. She felt my palm.
"That's crazy....when you put your hand near my neck, I could feel heat coming from it, almost like a hot pack. But your palm feels normal."
I told her I felt it too.
She moved her shoulders around. All the pain was gone.
We talked some more. She had a lot of questions, which I answered the best I could. She understood that I'm something like a conduit for God's power, which flows through me and heals people. I told her the only reason His power flows through me, is because Jesus gave me the authority to heal people and he gave the same authority to all of His disciples.
She remarked that today was probably the best shift of her life.
Isn't that how Jesus is?
Kari told me about her life. She's interested in archaeology and earned a Master's degree then began working on her PhD. Near the end of the process she ran into funding problems and never completed her doctorate. As a temporary way to earn a paycheck she went to EMT school.
After discussing her life for a while she asked about mine; what plans did a guy my age have for the future?
I told her that I'd worked in nearly every type of EMS environment and that I'd went through every career stage you can go through - from an excited newbie to an experienced trainer to a burned - out, jaded veteran and everything in between. Then I told her about the dreams that began in 2008. Hundreds of dreams about praying for patients in the ambulance.
I shared a few healing testimonies with her. She was a bit shocked, but wanted to know more about what God was doing in my life, so I shared a few more stories. She asked if I could help with a few medical problems of her own. I told her I'd do what I could.
She asked if I'd pray for her father to be healed of chronic back pain. Then she recalled the tragic tale of her best friend, who was severely injured in a car accident. Her friend has a metal plate in her foot that's slowly separating from the bone it was screwed to. It's extremely painful and her surgeon doesn't think anything can be done about it.
I told her I'd be happy to pray for both of them, but asked if she'd contact them and ask if they actually want to be healed. I said I'd be happy to visit her friend in person, since she lives in the area.
Kari asked if I'd pray for her eyes healed. She wears corrective lenses for near-nearsightedness and hates wearing glasses. I placed my hand on her forehead just above her eyes and commanded them to be healed. She felt a sensation of warmth invade her lower eyelids. She removed her glasses and noticed that her distant vision was improving. She was surprised at how quickly her vision changed. I prayed a second time and the warmth increased. Then I prayed a third time.
She removed her glasses again and remarked that although her vision wasn't perfect yet, it was much improved over just a few minutes earlier.
Satisfied with the improvement, she asked if I'd pray for her neck and shoulders to be healed. Like most of us who work in EMS, she suffers from chronic muscle strain and fatigue. She feels as if her neck and upper back muscles are under constant tension, causing a nagging pain that never goes away.
I placed my hand near the back of her neck, just above her shirt collar, but didn't actually touch her. As I commanded her muscles to be healed, I felt something I've never felt before.
Heat.
I felt waves of heat coming from her upper back, just below my hand. She felt it too.
"Let me see your hand."
I held my hand out in front of her. She felt my palm.
"That's crazy....when you put your hand near my neck, I could feel heat coming from it, almost like a hot pack. But your palm feels normal."
I told her I felt it too.
She moved her shoulders around. All the pain was gone.
We talked some more. She had a lot of questions, which I answered the best I could. She understood that I'm something like a conduit for God's power, which flows through me and heals people. I told her the only reason His power flows through me, is because Jesus gave me the authority to heal people and he gave the same authority to all of His disciples.
She remarked that today was probably the best shift of her life.
Isn't that how Jesus is?
Jul 12, 2012
To Delight in Hiddenness - Francis Frangipane
An excellent lesson from the Holy Spirit and Francis Frangipane. To view the Facebook note, go here.
The desire to be acknowledged and appreciated by others is basic to human nature. After healing ten lepers, Jesus Himself seemed disappointed when only one returned to give thanks (see Luke 17). Yet, while the need to be occasionally appreciated is not sin, it can become sin when our goal shifts from seeking God's glory to seeking the praise of men. We must determine that our service to mankind is guided by a higher, more focused obedience to God.
Jesus lived solely for the glory of God. We, however, too often seek the praise of man. In spite of the fact that Jesus repeatedly affirmed that the Father who sees in secret will reward us openly (see Matt. 6), we remain offended if we do not receive credit for our good deeds. This quest for recognition can become a source of wrong motives and failed expectations; it can give a place to jealousy, pride and selfish ambition if we are not careful.
I wish I could say I have never walked in this type of human weakness, but that would be untrue. In fact, I experienced something years ago that, though quite painful at the time, ultimately unfolded into a wonderful revelation concerning the nature of the Holy Spirit.
Yet, before I proceed, let me state that to share this publicly requires I make my own frailties visible before you. So please grant me your grace.
The scene was the 1996 Promise Keeper's Atlanta convocation for pastors. This event was the largest gathering of pastors in North American history---more than 40,000 ministers united from a great variety of backgrounds and cultures. It featured two themes in which I had been quite active: unity and reconciliation. Although I had been instrumental in bringing pastors together in many cities, and had learned some important insights along the way, I had not been asked to contribute. I mentioned my dilemma to no one, yet the lack of recognition was producing an ever deepening disturbance in my thought life. At the same time, however, the joy of seeing cross-denominational unity manifest in prayer and repentance compelled me to attend. Entrusting my inner conflict to the Lord, I felt perhaps there would be a way I could serve as the conference unfolded.
But no door opened. Pastors who knew me would ask, "So, why aren't you speaking at this conference?" I'd smile and respond, "This must increase and I must decrease." While my answer was both humble and sincere, I was becoming much more humble than I planned.
The fact was, I was asking myself the same question: Why wasn't I speaking? Ghosts of past rejections began to manipulate my fears. So, while I attended the conference and truly rejoiced in the unity, I also felt detached from it. I watched a spiritual vision that I carried in my soul emerge and take form, only to find myself floating, dreamlike, outside of the fulfillment. I was simultaneously deeply blessed and throughly miserable.
Finally, I laid my soul bare to a couple of friends. "What should I do?" I asked. "If I promote myself, God Himself will resist me; if I remain silent, I sacrifice my contribution to this historic event." If nothing else, I knew the Lord was crucifying my pride and fleshly ambition.
The conference came and went, but my inner struggle stayed with me. After several months I successfully buried the conflict beneath my everyday thoughts. I was going on with my life. However, in May the issue resurfaced. I was at a Mission America meeting in Washington, D.C., listening as a friend shared over lunch how the Lord used other leaders to lay foundations in his life. As we talked, I began to see that I was not outside of what God was doing, but underneath it. My labors in Christ (and those of many others) were part of a divine substructure upon which this current work was unfolding.
The efforts of those who serve in high visibility today will likely become foundations for greater works by others tomorrow. I felt I was beginning to understand my role in the context of God's unfolding kingdom. I was even able to look at my own life and see individuals whose teachings and spiritual examples had become foundations in me---people whom I also had never thanked or acknowledged.
The Nature of the Holy Spirit
I was growing in my understanding, yet the Holy Spirit had something else to add. That evening I confessed to the Lord my sin of seeking recognition. Immediately the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart a simple question concerning Himself. He asked, "Do you know My name?"
This was a special moment, and I could feel the flood of the Spirit's presence drawing near. His name? I knew the primary revelation of the Father's name was Yahweh and the name of the Son, of course, is Jesus (or Yeshua). I recalled all the compound names of God in the Bible, but again could not identify the specific name of the Holy Spirit. I realized that "Holy Spirit" or "Spirit of Truth" were more descriptive titles than proper names, per se; they were not names like Jesus or Yahweh. The term "Comforter" (or Paracletes in Greek, i.e., "one called alongside to help") also is not a name as much as a function.
What I am about to say here might not gel with everyone's theology. But there was a moment when Moses, standing before the fire of the Almighty, asked to know the name of God, to which the Most High answered, "I AM WHO I AM" (Ex. 3:13-14). I AM was a proper name. Again, there was a time when the archangel Gabriel told Mary that she should name her child Jesus (Luke 1:31). Both the Father and the Son have many descriptive titles, but on earth they are known by a particular name. Similarly, the Holy Spirit has many titles and functions, but I could not remember a time in the Bible where the specific proper name of the Holy Spirit was revealed.
My point is this: every good work, every miracle of grace, every virtue that has ever manifest on earth, has occurred through the work of the Holy Spirit. Yet He never draws attention to Himself, choosing instead to inspire our praise toward the Father or the Son. As I stood in this amazing moment, I quickly searched my memory of the Scriptures.
Again, to my knowledge, I could not recall any setting or verse where the proper name of the Holy Spirit was revealed---from brooding over the pre-creation universe, to strengthening the Son of God at the cross, to raising Jesus from the dead, to being poured out at Pentecost, to working miracles of redemption in spreading the Gospel throughout the world in millions of lives - all of it was stimulated and inspired by Him, but He never revealed His name!
Conversely, in this world we are all about getting our name out and making a name for ourselves, especially in the western world. The nature of the Holy Spirit is in stark contrast to our human desires to be seen, praised and recognized by other men.
Truly, the Holy Spirit passionately delights in hiddenness. Then I saw that the two greatest passions of the Holy Spirit's heart are to see Jesus glorified and to fulfill the Father's will on Earth. This was perfect humility -the God-pattern that would lead me to spiritual rest and maturity.
Beloved, if we would be filled with the Spirit, we must delight ourselves in seeing Jesus glorified and getting the work done that God calls us to fulfill. God sees and knows our motives. If we will lead others, we must do so as servants of Heaven. Let us, therefore, seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit and work purely to see Jesus glorified and the Father's will fulfilled.
Lord, forgive me for seeking recognition from man. Help me blessed Spirit to be filled with Your substance -Your thoughts and motives, Your contentment and power. Live Your marvelous life of hiddenness through me.
This message was adapted from a lesson in the Humility track of In Christ's Image Training.
Jul 10, 2012
Study of Prayer on Auditory and Visual Impairment
The following is the abstract of a study published in the Southern Medical Journal on the effects of prayer on individuals with auditory and visual impairment.
Impairments in Rural Mozambique
Brown, Candy Gunther PhD; Mory, Stephen C. MD; Williams, Rebecca MB BChir, DTM&H; McClymond, Michael J. PhD
Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Proximal Intercessory Prayer (STEPP) on Auditory and Visual
Background: Proximal intercessory prayer (PIP) is a common complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy, but clinical effects are poorly understood, partly because studies have focused on distant intercessory prayer (DIP).
Methods: This prospective study used an audiometer (Earscan® 3) and vision charts (40 cm, 6 m “Illiterate E”) to evaluate 24 consecutive Mozambican subjects (19 males/5 females) reporting impaired hearing (14) and/or vision (11) who subsequently received PIP interventions.
Results: We measured significant improvements in auditory (P <0.003) and visual (P <0.02) function across both tested populations.
Conclusions: Rural Mozambican subjects exhibited improved audition and/or visual acuity subsequent to PIP. The magnitude of measured effects exceeds that reported in previous suggestion and hypnosis studies. Future study seems warranted to assess whether PIP may be a useful adjunct to standard medical care for certain patients with auditory and/or visual impairments, especially in contexts where access to conventional treatment is limited.
Key Points
* Although commonly employed as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy, the clinical effects of proximal intercessory prayer (PIP) are poorly understood, partly because most research has focused on distant intercessory prayer (DIP).
* This study found a significant effect of PIP on auditory function across the tested population (P < 0.003).
* This study found a significant effect of PIP on visual function across the tested population (P < 0.02).
* Further study seems warranted to assess whether PIP may be a useful adjunct to standard medical care for certain patients with auditory and/or visual impairments, especially in contexts where access to conventional treatment is limited.
The full text of the article can be found here:
http://journals.lww.com/smajournalonline/Fulltext/2010/09000/Study_of_the_Therapeutic_Effects_of_Proximal.5.aspx
Impairments in Rural Mozambique
Brown, Candy Gunther PhD; Mory, Stephen C. MD; Williams, Rebecca MB BChir, DTM&H; McClymond, Michael J. PhD
Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Proximal Intercessory Prayer (STEPP) on Auditory and Visual
Background: Proximal intercessory prayer (PIP) is a common complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy, but clinical effects are poorly understood, partly because studies have focused on distant intercessory prayer (DIP).
Methods: This prospective study used an audiometer (Earscan® 3) and vision charts (40 cm, 6 m “Illiterate E”) to evaluate 24 consecutive Mozambican subjects (19 males/5 females) reporting impaired hearing (14) and/or vision (11) who subsequently received PIP interventions.
Results: We measured significant improvements in auditory (P <0.003) and visual (P <0.02) function across both tested populations.
Conclusions: Rural Mozambican subjects exhibited improved audition and/or visual acuity subsequent to PIP. The magnitude of measured effects exceeds that reported in previous suggestion and hypnosis studies. Future study seems warranted to assess whether PIP may be a useful adjunct to standard medical care for certain patients with auditory and/or visual impairments, especially in contexts where access to conventional treatment is limited.
Key Points
* Although commonly employed as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy, the clinical effects of proximal intercessory prayer (PIP) are poorly understood, partly because most research has focused on distant intercessory prayer (DIP).
* This study found a significant effect of PIP on auditory function across the tested population (P < 0.003).
* This study found a significant effect of PIP on visual function across the tested population (P < 0.02).
* Further study seems warranted to assess whether PIP may be a useful adjunct to standard medical care for certain patients with auditory and/or visual impairments, especially in contexts where access to conventional treatment is limited.
The full text of the article can be found here:
http://journals.lww.com/smajournalonline/Fulltext/2010/09000/Study_of_the_Therapeutic_Effects_of_Proximal.5.aspx
Jul 9, 2012
The Gospel for the Middle – A Synchroblog
The following exercise is from the synchroblog at http://frankviola.org/2012/07/09/gospelforthemiddle
Fielding Melish and his wife Felicia have two children, ages 10 and 6. They live in a very remote part of Maine, USA. They are surrounded by extended family, none of whom are Christians. The nearest churches are one hour away, and by all evangelical standards, none of them are good. These churches are either highly legalistic, highly libertine, or just flat-out flaky.
One of Fielding’s cousins is a practicing Christian. They see each other once a year. Fielding’s cousin has shared Christ with Fielding many times over the years. Whenever they’ve talked about spiritual things, Fielding shows interest.
Felicia grew up in a Christian home. She’s received Christ, but she isn’t evangelistic and is overwhelmed with working long hours and raising two small children. She would love to find a church nearby for the spiritual support and instruction, but none exist.
Fielding has no college education. While he is capable of reading, he is not a reader. He doesn’t use the Web either. He’s a man who works with his hands, both for his career and for recreation. He’s an “outdoorsman.” He hunts, he builds, he does manual labor, etc. In his spare time, he helps his elderly parents with various building projects.
Fielding is not an atheist. Neither is he an agnostic. He believes in God. He believes Jesus is the Savior of the world who died for our sins and rose again from the dead. He hasn’t fully surrendered his life to Christ, but he is not sure what that looks like exactly. His children know a little about the Lord, mostly because of what their mother has taught them.
Recently Fielding asked this question:
When I’m with my cousin once a year, I want to learn more about God. But when I come back home, and I’m around everyone else, my mind is off of God, and I am back to working, raising my kids, and helping my parents. Someone needs to come up with a solution for people like me . . . people who are in the middle. (By “in the middle,” Fielding means someone who believes in Jesus, but who isn’t fully absorbed in the faith yet either. They simply don’t know enough nor do they have any spiritual support system around them.)
Relocating is not an option for Fielding and his wife. Even if they wanted to relocate, they don’t see a way they could do it financially.
Remember: Fielding and his wife don’t personally know any Christians. None of their extended family or coworkers are believers either. And the nearest churches (which are an hour away) aren’t recommended.
Question: If you were Fielding’s cousin, how would you instruct him and his wife the next time you saw them?
Praying Medic's response:Bill Johnson once said, “There’s nothing more boring than church, and nothing more exciting than God.” Bill wasn’t church bashing when he said this. He was observing that when it comes to capturing the imagination of man, church services pale in comparison to the person of God. If I have a choice, I don’t want to turn people on to church, I want to turn them on to a Jesus who can touch them with his love and compassion and capture their heart, like He did mine.
If I were Fielding’s cousin, the next time I visited, I’d introduce them to a personal God who interacts with them in their daily lives.
Most people have dreams. But most are unaware that their dreams are messages from God. He's already speaking to people. What they need is someone to reveal what He's saying. I would spend a few hours discussing the dreams they’ve had and decode the hidden messages Papa has been sending and perhaps teach them how to interpret their own dreams.
Most people have aches and pains. If my cousins have any, I'd spend time praying with them to be healed. Afterward, if they’re interested, I’d teach them how to heal others by the power of the Holy Spirit. Healing is another way that the reality of Jesus becomes personal to us.
On an average call, I spend about 10 minutes in my ambulance with a patient. In those ten minutes, I have a lot of work to do, but I try to reserve a few minutes to introduce them to the presence of God. I invite Him to bring His presence into the ambulance and touch them.
Everyone experiences God's presence in a different way. Some report feeling an unusual sense of peace come over them. Some feel tingling, others report a floating sensation or a lightness of their being. But nearly all of them feel God touch them in a personal way.
Most people who aren’t committed followers of Christ haven’t experienced Him in a way that’s personal. I think our time is best spent introducing them to the Jesus they’ve never known. Once people meet Him and experience the reality of His love and compassion, they usually develop a desire to know him in a greater way. All we do is provide an opportunity for them to meet.
One way that I’ve found to capture the imagination of kids is to show them how to stick pennies to the wall by the power of the Holy Spirit. Once His presence is in the room, it’s pretty easy. One day I taught my daughter how to do it. Later that day she taught her brother. That weekend my son and his friends spent hours sticking quarters to the ceiling and learned about a personal God who is interested in the things they’re interested in.
So there you have it. I'd like thank Frank Viola for the opportunity to participate in my first synchroblog.
Jul 8, 2012
The Revelation of Oneness - Kris Couchey
by Kriston Couchey
Originally posted here
I want to share revelation that began earlier this week, and is continuing to unfold even as I write this. I am sharing what Father says in a manner as if I were an oracle of God. I do this because it is the way in which it comes to me and it is also how we are encouraged to speak by Paul.
THE PLACE OF VISITATION
As I went alone to pray and pushed out of my mind all of my wanderings of the last day, a newfound sense of Father's complete acceptance that had overtaken me in the last week still remained. For some time when I have made a conscious effort to pray I have entered a vision of a rooftop overlooking a city with the throne of my Father on that roof. I approached Him and embraced Him on the roof again, but this time without the nagging fear and doubt that had plagued me for years.
He then said something WITHIN me that shocked me. ”You must not seek Me in the place of visitation on the rooftop anymore, I am already within your spirit and always will be. You are also in My Spirit as I am in yours; now live from the place of oneness within and commune with Me there. The place of visitation on the rooftop is the place that many of my children meet with Me, but that place is inadequate to change and deliver you fully from yourself. The place of MY oneness within you is the place where we must commune and where I AM. It is only My life in you that overcomes all things and changes you, your life must remain hidden in Mine as I AM now your life. I told you before that I am doing something beyond the scope of man's understanding, and that you were going to experience me in a way you have not experienced me before; today is that day!”
ONE WITH GOD IN FULLNESS
“Anytime you have walked by the Spirit in love My will has been done from this place of our oneness.Anything that is of eternal value comes from Me. My work of reconciliation on the earth is in and through the agency of man as He cooperates, yields to, and allows me to love the world through them. You have already walked as one with me in part, but now you must walk as One with me in fullness. This oneness only comes through the perfection of love. He who is perfected in love does not function in fear. Nor do they function from a place of duty, or guilt.As is your measure of love is so is the extent to which you have walked in oneness with Me already.
I dwell as one with the one who lives in My love, even as the Son walks in my love and is one with Me. There is only one commandment given in the covenant in My son, and that is to love one another as I have loved you.Those who cannot accept My love as I have loved cannot love others as I have loved. To receive my unconditional love as I intend without consideration of your performance opens the door for you to truly love others as I have loved you, not based upon how they perform.”
“The doorway to complete oneness opens when you truly believe in My love and quit hiding your wretchedness from me in fear of judgment. Only then are you able to release others from your own judgments and love them as I do. While on earth, the Son judged no one on His own. He simply was doing and saying what I was doing and saying. You are free to walk in oneness with Me when you abandon your own life, opinions, judgments, and perception of love in order to receive mine.The greatest hindrance to walking as one with Me is your own judgment and opinion that you assume are Mine."
My children do not truly comprehend the boundless love I have for them and for mankind. Everything I do I do for love, for I AM love. Even my judgments that seem unloving to men are for love.
JUDGE NOT
Many embrace concepts of biblical truth but have not embraced My perspective, which is MY judgment. I am simply looking for those who have abandoned their own lives and perspectives and like a child receive Me. It is in that childlike abandonment to My love and judgments that I will manifest myself to them, in them, and through them.The Son did not love the things of the world, and even though he left all judgment to Me, his perspective was the same as mine and his judgments would also have been correct. Many form judgments that are not correct because they love the things of the world. You cannot walk in oneness with Me if you love the things of the world. If you love the things of the world My love is not perfected in you, and the oneness we should be sharing is limited to visitation.
“The place of visitation has been a path to the doorway of oneness; it has been a courtship of sorts. I have prepared and revealed myself to you in this place through dreams, visions, and angelic messengers sent to encourage, correct and discipline you. All of this has been to point you to Me. For knowing Me has the goal of this journey. You have come to know My heart and purposes as I have prepared you to be one with Me in a union of love. Dreams, visions and angelic assistance are not going away, you have simply come to the place where you must now live out of intimacy and knowing me. You must walk with the mind of Christ; knowing My will, heart, and thoughts in every situation because your will, heart, and thoughts are one with Mine."
When I sent My Son into the world He walked in complete oneness with me; so much so that he said, 'If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.' Everyone who truly believes in Me has the same potential or power to become My son. Those who are led by My Spirit as Jesus was led by Me will manifest Me to the world just as Jesus did, for these led by My Spirit are My sons. In this place of oneness the fullness of “I AM” dwells in you; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
A WITNESS
“I have positioned you to be one of many witnesses to what I am doing in and through My people in this day. As I told you before, the day of simply revelation has come to manifestation. What you write from My heart will bear witness with others and encourage them to find their destination in me. The gifts are not going away, but the one who becomes one with Me will function in whatever capacity I deem necessary. Do not identify yourself simply as gifts to equip; your identity is in ME as my son, and My heart in you is to establish that identity in others.”
"The place of visitation and preparation can no longer help you as the doorway to oneness has been opened. Unless you chose to trust and walk with Me in oneness, you will shrink back into lesser light. You will move from intimacy to friendly acquaintance, a place where many who call themselves followers of me stay. In this day I am raising up children who will not need to make the journey from religion to Oneness. They are being birthed into Oneness as MY sons. Indeed many are even now being birthed outside the walls of religion into union with Me, while they cannot see it now, they will need the wisdom of many like you who have fought for the the freedom to walk as sons. For those of the previous generation who have believed and yielded to my preparation, their wilderness journey is now complete, the promised land is before you and now I will glorify Myself in and among My own."
TO BE CONTINUED...
In Him
Kriston Couchey
kcouchey@gmail.com
Originally posted here
I want to share revelation that began earlier this week, and is continuing to unfold even as I write this. I am sharing what Father says in a manner as if I were an oracle of God. I do this because it is the way in which it comes to me and it is also how we are encouraged to speak by Paul.
THE PLACE OF VISITATION
As I went alone to pray and pushed out of my mind all of my wanderings of the last day, a newfound sense of Father's complete acceptance that had overtaken me in the last week still remained. For some time when I have made a conscious effort to pray I have entered a vision of a rooftop overlooking a city with the throne of my Father on that roof. I approached Him and embraced Him on the roof again, but this time without the nagging fear and doubt that had plagued me for years.
He then said something WITHIN me that shocked me. ”You must not seek Me in the place of visitation on the rooftop anymore, I am already within your spirit and always will be. You are also in My Spirit as I am in yours; now live from the place of oneness within and commune with Me there. The place of visitation on the rooftop is the place that many of my children meet with Me, but that place is inadequate to change and deliver you fully from yourself. The place of MY oneness within you is the place where we must commune and where I AM. It is only My life in you that overcomes all things and changes you, your life must remain hidden in Mine as I AM now your life. I told you before that I am doing something beyond the scope of man's understanding, and that you were going to experience me in a way you have not experienced me before; today is that day!”
ONE WITH GOD IN FULLNESS
“Anytime you have walked by the Spirit in love My will has been done from this place of our oneness.Anything that is of eternal value comes from Me. My work of reconciliation on the earth is in and through the agency of man as He cooperates, yields to, and allows me to love the world through them. You have already walked as one with me in part, but now you must walk as One with me in fullness. This oneness only comes through the perfection of love. He who is perfected in love does not function in fear. Nor do they function from a place of duty, or guilt.As is your measure of love is so is the extent to which you have walked in oneness with Me already.
I dwell as one with the one who lives in My love, even as the Son walks in my love and is one with Me. There is only one commandment given in the covenant in My son, and that is to love one another as I have loved you.Those who cannot accept My love as I have loved cannot love others as I have loved. To receive my unconditional love as I intend without consideration of your performance opens the door for you to truly love others as I have loved you, not based upon how they perform.”
“The doorway to complete oneness opens when you truly believe in My love and quit hiding your wretchedness from me in fear of judgment. Only then are you able to release others from your own judgments and love them as I do. While on earth, the Son judged no one on His own. He simply was doing and saying what I was doing and saying. You are free to walk in oneness with Me when you abandon your own life, opinions, judgments, and perception of love in order to receive mine.The greatest hindrance to walking as one with Me is your own judgment and opinion that you assume are Mine."
My children do not truly comprehend the boundless love I have for them and for mankind. Everything I do I do for love, for I AM love. Even my judgments that seem unloving to men are for love.
JUDGE NOT
Many embrace concepts of biblical truth but have not embraced My perspective, which is MY judgment. I am simply looking for those who have abandoned their own lives and perspectives and like a child receive Me. It is in that childlike abandonment to My love and judgments that I will manifest myself to them, in them, and through them.The Son did not love the things of the world, and even though he left all judgment to Me, his perspective was the same as mine and his judgments would also have been correct. Many form judgments that are not correct because they love the things of the world. You cannot walk in oneness with Me if you love the things of the world. If you love the things of the world My love is not perfected in you, and the oneness we should be sharing is limited to visitation.
“The place of visitation has been a path to the doorway of oneness; it has been a courtship of sorts. I have prepared and revealed myself to you in this place through dreams, visions, and angelic messengers sent to encourage, correct and discipline you. All of this has been to point you to Me. For knowing Me has the goal of this journey. You have come to know My heart and purposes as I have prepared you to be one with Me in a union of love. Dreams, visions and angelic assistance are not going away, you have simply come to the place where you must now live out of intimacy and knowing me. You must walk with the mind of Christ; knowing My will, heart, and thoughts in every situation because your will, heart, and thoughts are one with Mine."
When I sent My Son into the world He walked in complete oneness with me; so much so that he said, 'If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.' Everyone who truly believes in Me has the same potential or power to become My son. Those who are led by My Spirit as Jesus was led by Me will manifest Me to the world just as Jesus did, for these led by My Spirit are My sons. In this place of oneness the fullness of “I AM” dwells in you; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
A WITNESS
“I have positioned you to be one of many witnesses to what I am doing in and through My people in this day. As I told you before, the day of simply revelation has come to manifestation. What you write from My heart will bear witness with others and encourage them to find their destination in me. The gifts are not going away, but the one who becomes one with Me will function in whatever capacity I deem necessary. Do not identify yourself simply as gifts to equip; your identity is in ME as my son, and My heart in you is to establish that identity in others.”
"The place of visitation and preparation can no longer help you as the doorway to oneness has been opened. Unless you chose to trust and walk with Me in oneness, you will shrink back into lesser light. You will move from intimacy to friendly acquaintance, a place where many who call themselves followers of me stay. In this day I am raising up children who will not need to make the journey from religion to Oneness. They are being birthed into Oneness as MY sons. Indeed many are even now being birthed outside the walls of religion into union with Me, while they cannot see it now, they will need the wisdom of many like you who have fought for the the freedom to walk as sons. For those of the previous generation who have believed and yielded to my preparation, their wilderness journey is now complete, the promised land is before you and now I will glorify Myself in and among My own."
TO BE CONTINUED...
In Him
Kriston Couchey
kcouchey@gmail.com
Jul 6, 2012
The Summer of My Discontent
It's been a week of ups and downs. I prayed with a woman at a store a few days ago who had a shoulder injury. She wasn't healed. I went home that night bummed. I expected her to be healed and she wanted to be healed, but she felt nothing the three times I prayed with her. So I grumbled at God before I went to bed.
I'm aware that she might have been healed three minutes after I walked out the door. Those things happen and I suggested this might be the case for her before I left. But I was still disappointed. I've seen so many people healed of shoulder injuries that when someone doesn't feel better, I feel like I've failed.
The next day I went to work, thinking about the failure from the previous day. On our first call I talked with monitor tech who wore an immobilizer on her wrist. Her job of mousing from one computer screen to another gave her carpal tunnel syndrome. She was going to see a neurologist in a few weeks. I suggested that if she'd let me pray with her, she wouldn't need to. She agreed to let me have a shot at it.
I prayed over her wrist three times, commanding it to be healed. Each time she felt an increasing sensation of heat.
With a look of shock, she blurted out, "What did you just do to me?" Her pain was gone.
I explained that God had healed her and gave her a card to the website. She was beside herself.
So after suffering a setback like a failed healing, you have two choices. Give up, or keep going. Love and obedience require us to ignore temporary setbacks. We must keep going for the sake of love.
So while I was grumbling at God the previous night, I grumbled about something else. I transported two patients on the same day who had muscular dystrophy. I didn't pray with them. I couldn't recall any testimonies of MD being healed and my faith for this condition was so small, it seemed pointless. I've since found a very interesting testimony that involved muscular dystrophy, a brain tumor, a stroke and other conditions - all of which were miraculously healed. Go here for that story.
I've been transporting patients with MD, cerebral palsy, MS and similar conditions, but healing testimonies of these conditions are rare. And because they are, I'm under the impression that they're somehow different. I don't have a lot of confidence that God wants to heal these conditions, so I rarely pray for them. I know the problem is my perception and not God's willingness, but this is an area where my mind is struggling right now and it probably needs some renewing.
So before I went to bed, I grumbled at God. I asked why it is that we see thousands of injured shoulders, knees, wrists and ankles healed, but not muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy in any great numbers.
I'm grateful that He's healing people at all. But I have a nagging discontent that demands healing for everyone. Without exception. So in this new season, my plan is to let my discontent grow and cause me to demand answers of God. I'm asking for strategies, keys, angels or anything else that might help get people healed more often.
You're welcome to tag along for the ride. And if you learn anything you want to share - I'm all ears.
I'm aware that she might have been healed three minutes after I walked out the door. Those things happen and I suggested this might be the case for her before I left. But I was still disappointed. I've seen so many people healed of shoulder injuries that when someone doesn't feel better, I feel like I've failed.
The next day I went to work, thinking about the failure from the previous day. On our first call I talked with monitor tech who wore an immobilizer on her wrist. Her job of mousing from one computer screen to another gave her carpal tunnel syndrome. She was going to see a neurologist in a few weeks. I suggested that if she'd let me pray with her, she wouldn't need to. She agreed to let me have a shot at it.I prayed over her wrist three times, commanding it to be healed. Each time she felt an increasing sensation of heat.
With a look of shock, she blurted out, "What did you just do to me?" Her pain was gone.
I explained that God had healed her and gave her a card to the website. She was beside herself.
So after suffering a setback like a failed healing, you have two choices. Give up, or keep going. Love and obedience require us to ignore temporary setbacks. We must keep going for the sake of love.
So while I was grumbling at God the previous night, I grumbled about something else. I transported two patients on the same day who had muscular dystrophy. I didn't pray with them. I couldn't recall any testimonies of MD being healed and my faith for this condition was so small, it seemed pointless. I've since found a very interesting testimony that involved muscular dystrophy, a brain tumor, a stroke and other conditions - all of which were miraculously healed. Go here for that story.
I've been transporting patients with MD, cerebral palsy, MS and similar conditions, but healing testimonies of these conditions are rare. And because they are, I'm under the impression that they're somehow different. I don't have a lot of confidence that God wants to heal these conditions, so I rarely pray for them. I know the problem is my perception and not God's willingness, but this is an area where my mind is struggling right now and it probably needs some renewing.
So before I went to bed, I grumbled at God. I asked why it is that we see thousands of injured shoulders, knees, wrists and ankles healed, but not muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy in any great numbers.
I'm grateful that He's healing people at all. But I have a nagging discontent that demands healing for everyone. Without exception. So in this new season, my plan is to let my discontent grow and cause me to demand answers of God. I'm asking for strategies, keys, angels or anything else that might help get people healed more often.
You're welcome to tag along for the ride. And if you learn anything you want to share - I'm all ears.
Jul 5, 2012
Testimony From a Reader
I received this letter from a reader who wanted to share how God has been healing people through him.
Hello,
I've been a recent reader of your blog as I've been given a STRONG desire to move in healing and releasing healing to others.
I wanted to share with you a short testimony I experienced yesterday with my step-mom. This is a copy and paste from my Facebook status:
So....really cool story! Tonight my parents came over and I asked if I could pray over them for healing. Prayed for my step-mom and we realized that one of her legs was shorter than the other. She sat down and I held her feet up in my hands while I commanded the shorter leg to grow. After about a minute, the shorter leg grew to match with the other leg. She even felt it growing out. God is FAITHFUL!! I definitely felt a little nervousness, but I stood in God's faithfulness that He already paid for it and thus commanded the leg to be subject to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. So awesome! There is power in the name of Jesus and what He did on the cross. Let's stand in that truth and not let the enemy deceive us!! Super amazing experience for me and everyone who witnessed it! :)
I also had my wife pray for my hand and I felt heat and the pain dissipate. The pain has appeared off and on since then, but I have commanded it to obey in Jesus' name. The cool part about both of these instances is that they occurred in our own home which was encouraging for my wife and I.
Just wanted to say thanks for encouraging people and sharing your stories of how easy it is to minister healing to others.
Thanks again!
Anthony
Wednesday, July 04, 2012 12:11 PM
Thanks for sharing your own testimony, Anthony. I'm so blessed to know that people like you are being encouraged to release the power of God into the lives of people around you.
May I share your testimony on the blog?
Praying Medic
Wed, Jul 4, 2012 at 9:46 PM
Yes. Feel free.
Additionally, I prayed for a co-worker at work the next day for the growth on her foot to be dissolved. To her surprise, she actually FELT something shrinking the growth. After the 2nd time commanding it to shrink, it has visibly shrunk; both her and I noticed it had gotten smaller. We prayed until our scheduled meeting had ended, but she left amazed and touched and encouraged to believe for complete healing so that she would not need surgery which she had scheduled for this Friday.
Then also prayed for my wife who had a muscle spasm in her neck. After commanding it to leave in Jesus' name, the pain had reduced 50-75%. All this is so amazing! I bet there will be more amazing stories to come as I continue to step out. It's totally a co-laboring with Christ; it's so fun! I've been amazed at how easy this has been! The hardest part, I'd say, is getting past the lies of the enemy and actually asking if I could pray for someone. But now the testimonies are increasing and I can see this as being a normal thing in my life.
Feel free to use any of this on the blog if you so desire. I've now started recording some personal video diaries to ensure I keep track of all the awesome things God is doing through me. So fun! God's Word is true!
Thanks again!
Anthony
Hello,
I've been a recent reader of your blog as I've been given a STRONG desire to move in healing and releasing healing to others.
I wanted to share with you a short testimony I experienced yesterday with my step-mom. This is a copy and paste from my Facebook status:
So....really cool story! Tonight my parents came over and I asked if I could pray over them for healing. Prayed for my step-mom and we realized that one of her legs was shorter than the other. She sat down and I held her feet up in my hands while I commanded the shorter leg to grow. After about a minute, the shorter leg grew to match with the other leg. She even felt it growing out. God is FAITHFUL!! I definitely felt a little nervousness, but I stood in God's faithfulness that He already paid for it and thus commanded the leg to be subject to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. So awesome! There is power in the name of Jesus and what He did on the cross. Let's stand in that truth and not let the enemy deceive us!! Super amazing experience for me and everyone who witnessed it! :)
I also had my wife pray for my hand and I felt heat and the pain dissipate. The pain has appeared off and on since then, but I have commanded it to obey in Jesus' name. The cool part about both of these instances is that they occurred in our own home which was encouraging for my wife and I.
Just wanted to say thanks for encouraging people and sharing your stories of how easy it is to minister healing to others.
Thanks again!
Anthony
Wednesday, July 04, 2012 12:11 PM
Thanks for sharing your own testimony, Anthony. I'm so blessed to know that people like you are being encouraged to release the power of God into the lives of people around you.
May I share your testimony on the blog?
Praying Medic
Wed, Jul 4, 2012 at 9:46 PM
Yes. Feel free.
Additionally, I prayed for a co-worker at work the next day for the growth on her foot to be dissolved. To her surprise, she actually FELT something shrinking the growth. After the 2nd time commanding it to shrink, it has visibly shrunk; both her and I noticed it had gotten smaller. We prayed until our scheduled meeting had ended, but she left amazed and touched and encouraged to believe for complete healing so that she would not need surgery which she had scheduled for this Friday.
Then also prayed for my wife who had a muscle spasm in her neck. After commanding it to leave in Jesus' name, the pain had reduced 50-75%. All this is so amazing! I bet there will be more amazing stories to come as I continue to step out. It's totally a co-laboring with Christ; it's so fun! I've been amazed at how easy this has been! The hardest part, I'd say, is getting past the lies of the enemy and actually asking if I could pray for someone. But now the testimonies are increasing and I can see this as being a normal thing in my life.
Feel free to use any of this on the blog if you so desire. I've now started recording some personal video diaries to ensure I keep track of all the awesome things God is doing through me. So fun! God's Word is true!
Thanks again!
Anthony
Jul 4, 2012
Dr. Oz and Dr. Nemeh
Dr. Oz recently interviewed another doctor, who heals his patients through prayer. Dr. Issam Nemeh is an anesthesiologist, but his practice has taken a different direction since discovering the healing power of God. I hope you're challenged and encouraged by this discussion.
Jul 3, 2012
On my birthday, I thought I'd share some of my recent Twitter activity:
When God closes a door don't look for a window. Maybe just look for a couch and sit down for a few days. ~Jason Upton
Someday soon this entire painful epoch will be remembered as an insignificant dream as we settle into an eternity of laughter with Abba. ~ Greg Boyd
In God's eyes, no people group is insignificant.
Warned of false fire by fireless men, we too often settle for no fire at all. ~Leonard Ravenhill
You were born with the ability to change someone’s life for the better, don’t waste it.
What we see depends mainly on what we look for. ~ John Lubbock
I don’t know what’s going to happen to me tomorrow. That’s why I don’t save my best for last.
Only as high as I reach can I grow, Only as far as I seek can I go, Only as deep as I look can I see, Only as much as I dream can I be.
Tell the truth from the beginning to the end, so they fall in love with you, not who you're pretending to be. ~ Tommy Tenney
We will not change the future by declaring how hopeless today is.
Experience is not what happens to you it's what you do with what happens to you. -A. Huxley
Don't waste time explaining yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you.
Don't search for a man that will solve all your problems, he won't. Find one that won't let you face them alone. ~ The Girl Dictionary
Our deepest desires emerge from our souls, inspiring us to be transformed into what we are meant to be.
Make choices in life based on values and long-term objectives rather than on a need for approval.
That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well. ~ Abraham Lincoln
I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done. ~ Henry Ford
Help others get ahead. You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulders. - Bob Moawad
Your life will mirror what you focus on. Focus on love. ~ Remy Tongol
Everything we do, in one way or another, speaks of what we value.
Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory. -Philip Yancey
The grace of God is a bit like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't be complete without you. ~ David Liprini
Faith does not consist in the belief that we are saved, it consists in the belief that we are loved. ~ Alexandre Vinet
It takes an intelligent man to see the need for change, but a truly desperate one to sacrifice his comfort and happiness to see it happen. ~ David Liprini
Fairy tales don't tell children dragons exist. Children know dragons exist. Fairytales tell children dragons can be beaten - GK Chesterton
Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission. ~ Zig Ziglar
You may not be able to help everyone in need, but that doesn't excuse you from saying "yes" to one who needs your help. ~ Frank Viola
Christians are the most easily offended people in the world. We should be the least. ~ Frank Viola
You will discover how real your relationship to Jesus Christ is when your feelings get hurt. ~ Frank Viola
The soul that never learns to love others lives a life of wasted opportunities.
Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around. ~Vanilla Sky
Some people are hurting so badly that you have to do more than preach a message to them. You have to be a message to them.
Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. ~ Roger Lewin
A true encounter with God brings you to a new place from which you can never again return.You are at that moment and forever ''ruined'' for anyone but God. ~ Fawn Parish
Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are. ~ Bernice Johnson Reagon
When God closes a door don't look for a window. Maybe just look for a couch and sit down for a few days. ~Jason Upton
Someday soon this entire painful epoch will be remembered as an insignificant dream as we settle into an eternity of laughter with Abba. ~ Greg Boyd
In God's eyes, no people group is insignificant.
Warned of false fire by fireless men, we too often settle for no fire at all. ~Leonard Ravenhill
You were born with the ability to change someone’s life for the better, don’t waste it.
What we see depends mainly on what we look for. ~ John Lubbock
I don’t know what’s going to happen to me tomorrow. That’s why I don’t save my best for last.
Only as high as I reach can I grow, Only as far as I seek can I go, Only as deep as I look can I see, Only as much as I dream can I be.
Tell the truth from the beginning to the end, so they fall in love with you, not who you're pretending to be. ~ Tommy Tenney
We will not change the future by declaring how hopeless today is.
Experience is not what happens to you it's what you do with what happens to you. -A. Huxley
Don't waste time explaining yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you.
Don't search for a man that will solve all your problems, he won't. Find one that won't let you face them alone. ~ The Girl Dictionary
Our deepest desires emerge from our souls, inspiring us to be transformed into what we are meant to be.
Make choices in life based on values and long-term objectives rather than on a need for approval.
That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well. ~ Abraham Lincoln
I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done. ~ Henry Ford
Help others get ahead. You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulders. - Bob Moawad
Your life will mirror what you focus on. Focus on love. ~ Remy Tongol
Everything we do, in one way or another, speaks of what we value.
Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory. -Philip Yancey
The grace of God is a bit like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't be complete without you. ~ David Liprini
Faith does not consist in the belief that we are saved, it consists in the belief that we are loved. ~ Alexandre Vinet
It takes an intelligent man to see the need for change, but a truly desperate one to sacrifice his comfort and happiness to see it happen. ~ David Liprini
Fairy tales don't tell children dragons exist. Children know dragons exist. Fairytales tell children dragons can be beaten - GK Chesterton
Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission. ~ Zig Ziglar
You may not be able to help everyone in need, but that doesn't excuse you from saying "yes" to one who needs your help. ~ Frank Viola
Christians are the most easily offended people in the world. We should be the least. ~ Frank Viola
You will discover how real your relationship to Jesus Christ is when your feelings get hurt. ~ Frank Viola
The soul that never learns to love others lives a life of wasted opportunities.
Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around. ~Vanilla Sky
Some people are hurting so badly that you have to do more than preach a message to them. You have to be a message to them.
Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. ~ Roger Lewin
A true encounter with God brings you to a new place from which you can never again return.You are at that moment and forever ''ruined'' for anyone but God. ~ Fawn Parish
Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are. ~ Bernice Johnson Reagon
Jul 2, 2012
Miracle at the Wound Care Clinic
One of the more common problems with being bed
confined is the prevalence of decubitus ulcers – more commonly known as “bed
sores”. Just a short time spent in the same position puts pressure on tissues
of the body. The pressure reduces blood flow. Reduced blood flow
impedes the exchange of oxygen, nutrients and removal of waste products.
She seemed glad to have a reason to take a break and filled
me in on the details. Several weeks earlier, Kate stepped off a curb and tore
the supporting structures in her ankle including her Achilles tendon which
detached from the heel. I asked if she had surgery. Her doctor wanted her to
try the immobilizer for a few weeks before they considered surgery.
All these conditions will, if not reversed, result in the death
of body tissue. The death of tissue leads to open sores in the skin, which
become infected and painful. People who can’t change body positions on their
own are susceptible to these skin ulcers Many of the patients we see have them.
Today we transported one such patient to clinic for wound care. The
office was busy. Workers hurried from room to room, moving
patients around, but one woman named Kate, wasn’t moving so fast. An immobilizer
on her leg made her a little slower than the rest.
Our patient wouldn’t be seen immediately, so we parked the
gurney in the hall and as Kate passed by, I asked why she wore the immobilizer.
She seemed glad to have a reason to take a break and filled
me in on the details. Several weeks earlier, Kate stepped off a curb and tore
the supporting structures in her ankle including her Achilles tendon which
detached from the heel. I asked if she had surgery. Her doctor wanted her to
try the immobilizer for a few weeks before they considered surgery.
I asked if
she wanted to be healed. She asked what I had in mind. I told her about a few
people that had been healed and she said she’d like to give it a try. I told
her that I catch up with her while our patient was being seen by the doctor.
When the time arrived, we rolled our patient into an exam
room, gave them a quick report and left them to do their thing. That gave me 20
minutes to get Kate’s foot healed.
I went to the receptionist desk, where Kate worked and told
her I was ready. We walked to the staff break room to avoid drawing attention.
Sometimes a crowd is appropriate for the miraculous, but in the work place, I
try to respect people’s wishes for privacy.
We sat down and I explained what I do. I asked about her
pain and range of motion then shared a few testimonies, including the people
who’d recently been healed of a torn Achilles tendon.
I placed my hand on the immobilizer near her ankle and told
her she’d probably feel either heat or tingling. I commanded spirits to heave,
asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence to touch her and commanded pain and
inflammation to leave. I spoke to the ligaments, tendons, bones, nerves and
blood vessels to be healed. I asked what she felt.
“You know it’s funny you mentioned tingling, because as soon
as you started speaking I felt tingling on the side of my foot by your hand.”
I commanded the Achilles tendon to reattach to the heel and
asked what she felt.
“Now the tingling is up in my calf, which is where the
tendon is torn.”
I asked if she had any pain. She replied that it was all
gone. I told her I was confident that she was completely healed and she could
probably take the immobilizer off and walk without pain. She was reluctant to
take it off, but she seemed to agree that she didn’t need it any more.
I told her the pain might come back and explained that God
really did heal her, but the enemy might try to convince her she wasn’t healed.
“Healing is a battle. Sometimes you need to push back
against the enemy. You saw what I did to get you healed, so if the pain comes
back, command it to leave in the name of Jesus, like I did. Then continue to
believe you’re healed.”
Kate let me take a picture of her leg and I gave her info on
how to find me here. I encouraged her to keep in touch and let me know how she
felt in a few days.
I was thinking today how easy it is to find people to pray
with. I haven’t received a word of knowledge in months. But there are people
all around us who need a healing touch or an encouraging word from God.
Anyone can do this stuff, you know. It’s not just for a few
people.
It’s for everyone.
Even you.
Jul 1, 2012
Back Injury Healed
This testimony is from a woman healed of a spinal injury she'd had for 20 years. Her primary symptom was sciatic nerve pain. He doctor also testified to her healing.
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