The Happiest Place on Earth

Disneyland just lived up to its motto for a group of young people last month. A few students from our school went down to this So Cal theme park and approached a high school student in a sling. They talked with him and found out he's the quarterback for his school. One of our Bethel students asked if he could pray for him and the guy got healed! He and his friends were so amazed that it opened a door for more prayer and God healed more people! Kids were calling their friends who had physical ailments and telling them to come. By the end of the day, over 100 people either experienced healing, accepted Christ, or felt the presence of the Holy Spirit! Naturally supernatural- the way we were meant to live. Check out a video of what went on.

"Our Father, who is in heaven, holy is your name, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:9-10

What's in the News?

It's amazing what passes as news in our society. From celebrity exploits to the moral failures of political leaders, the communication of our news is biased and often agenda-driven. This begs the question, "What information is not broadcast to the general public?" What about a community where 92 percent of the population is born-again; where city jails have been closed for lack of crime; where agricultural productivity has reached biblical proportions? We can learn more about this city and others like it from a video series called Transformations. Distributed through the Sentinel Group, it documents the move of God in signs and wonders from different parts of the world. I encourage you to seek out news about the advancement of the kingdom because that is the kind of information that will encourage, inspire, and challenge us to do the same. May we not only hear good news but become the good news!

Amazing testimonies of God's power changing cities

"They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations." Isaiah 61:4

Word of Knowledge Testimony

In the previous post, I introduced the spiritual gift of words of knowledge. Since that time, I had my first experience using this gift in the context of healing. I was part of a ministry team that traveled to Utah with Kris Vallotton. Kris was the guest speaker at a church conference in Ogden (just north of Salt Lake City). During the second Sunday morning service I was sitting at a table in the little café just outside the sanctuary writing a card for our host pastor. All of a sudden I felt this strange pain in my right knee that I had never experienced before. I was trying to figure out why it was hurting when our team leader came rushing to the table and told us to hurry into the sanctuary because the pastor wanted the ministry team to do words of knowledge. As I walked in I realized the pain in my knee was actually the Holy Spirit telling me that someone in the service had a problem with the right knee and needed healing. When I was passed the microphone, I simply asked if there was anyone in the room who had pain in their right knee. A man in the back row stood up and I just declared that God was healing him and encouraged him to test it out. He walked around, did a deep knee bend, and jumped in the air and said that it felt better! Witnessing the power of the Holy Spirit first hand is humbling, inspiring, challenging, exciting, and truly amazing. It makes me want more of His presence!

"Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge." Proverbs 23:12

Words of Knowledge

Anyone who has ever done any handiwork around the house, on a car, or doing carpentry knows the importance of having the right tools. Some jobs are almost impossible to do without the proper equipment. As believers our call is to love God and love people. One of the instruments available to us in our spiritual tool bag is called words of knowledge (cf. I Corinthians 12:8). This is simply a divine wisdom to know something specific, usually about another individual, we would not know apart from God for the purpose of edification. Read more about this spiritual gift by clicking here.

Carnac the Magnificent: Not quite the same as words of knowledge

Why is there so much fascination and media attention with witches, psychics, mediums, ghost whisperers, etc? I believe it is because we were created with the ability to operate in this supernatural way but we don't understand it and haven't learned how to do it properly. In some ways, words of knowledge are like psychic powers except they originate from the Holy Spirit. Because the church isn't effectively training people to hear from God, many are being drawn to false imitations of authentic spiritual gifts. Let us turn our hearts to the Lord and eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit so we may better minister to the world who is so hungry for the love of God.

"Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it." I Peter 4:10 (The Message)

Studying Divine Healing

Candy Gunther Brown, an associate professor in the Indiana University Bloomington Department of Religious Studies, has been awarded a $150,000 grant to pursue research on divine healing practices and their involvement in globalization. Click here to read the full story.

Dr. Brown, Ph.D. from Harvard
Photo courtesy of Indiana University

This news is really exciting because it is drawing attention to God's outpouring of love and grace through the ministry of divine healing. If you haven't heard of any recent healing testimonies, I encourage you to seek them out. Learning about the Spirit's move of dramatic restoration in peoples' bodies will energize your faith and increase your hunger for more. The Kingdom of God is forcefully advancing throughout the world. May we be inspired to join in this movement with compassion and power!

"Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously." Matthew 10:7-8 (The Message)

Overcoming the Lack

In Matthew 8, a man with leprosy came and knelt before Jesus saying, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. (v. 2)" Jesus' response was awesome in its simplicity and power: "I am willing. Be clean!" The man was instantly cured. In fact, as far as Scripture teaches, everyone who came to Christ for healing was made well. Jesus shows the true heart of God when it comes to healing- He is willing.

Jesus demonstrates God's desire to restore everyone

If God is always willing to heal and we are called to heal, why do some people not receive their breakthrough when they get prayed for? I am still wrestling with this question but I must remind myself that the lack is not on the part of God. The lack rests in us. As someone who is stepping out in faith to pray for miraculous healing in others, it is a difficult thing when there is no visible sign of restoration. One core value that helps me is that it is impossible for nothing to happen when I pray. Something changes in prayer whether I see it or not. But I cannot be content with only a few people healed. I must seek to be completely filled with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus was, to experience 100% healing all of the time. That is one my life goals or God dreams. Please pray that this may become a reality not just for me, but an entire generation passionate for revival so that the world may be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord!

"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up." James 5:15

Healing Rooms

There is an amazing organization called the International Association of Healing Rooms. It is based on the work of early 20th century, missionary and healing revivalist John G. Lake. After returning from Africa, Lake established a ministry for healing and restoration in Spokane, WA. Thousands of people experienced supernatural healing and at one point the US government declared Spokane to be the healthiest city in America.

Lake: A Man of Faith
1870-1935

The Healing Rooms began again in Spokane about 10 years ago and is growing all over the world. For most of my life, I did not know that the ministry of healing continued today. But when we study Scripture and our own church history, it's impossible to deny that we are called and equipped to do supernatural acts. Our obstacle to realizing these things include ignorance, faulty beliefs, rationalism, and lack of faith. Healing is our inheritance and a result of Christ's death on the cross. May the Church rise up and take her authority to heal the nations spiritually, emotionally, and physically!

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5