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Healing the Sick and Feeding the Hungry
A few weeks ago I attended a New Wine Conference in Vänersborg, Sweden. It was the best conference I’ve ever been to, for two reasons: I got radically filled with the Holy Spirit in a way I had not experienced before, and a reoccuring theme on the different seminars (although not the official theme of the conference) was the combination of signs and wonders with peace and justice. Exactly what this blog is about!
Bruce Collins seminar was an example of this. As can be seen in the video above, he shared multiple testimonies of amazing healings that have occured in Maseno, Kenya. The blind see and the crippled walk – normal Kingdom business. But then in the midst of breakthrough, Collins and his friends also saw a lot of hunger and suffering. Many in Maseno only got one meal a day, going to bed hungry every night.
“This is a Kingdom issue as well!”, Collins stated. “We are to pray ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.’ There’s neither sickness nor hunger in Heaven.”
Thus, they started a farming project to increase the maize crops in Maseno – which went very well. Starvation dramatically decreased in the area – and people were still getting healed. That’s how His Kingdom works.
A Totally Miraculous Conversion
A few days ago I wrote about preaching the Gospel in the power of signs and wonders. The fantastic movie Father of Lights contains one of the most beautiful examples of this that I’ve ever seen.
Ravi is an Indian Christian with an amazing prophetic gift. Every morning, he says, he hears the audible voice of God that gives him direction for the day. One day his mission is to find “a man with white beard, orange roab and a turban” at a specific temple. He does find a maharishi – a guru of gurus – that perfectly fits that description.
Amazingly, the maharishi says that he has seen a god he didn’t recognize in a dream that told him to go to this temple at this day to find Ravi! Ravi then easily leads this guru of gurus to the Lord, and he becomes a passionate Christian.
The film also documents how Ravi easily leads a headmaster of a big Hindu feast to Christ, and how a witchdoctor gets terrified as Ravi and the film team approaches him as he suddenly feels totally powerless.
I highly recommend you to see Father of Lights when it comes in october 2012!
For more information on Ravi’s ministry, go to kingdomfoundations.org. It turns out that not only is he experiencing truly Biblical miracles, he also has a passionate heart for the poor and oppressed:
Ravi Kandal was born in Southern India and at the age of 17 gave his life to Jesus. From that time his heart has been stirred with the message that Jesus spoke to the disciples, to seek and save the lost. He is challanged with God’s heart for the poor and the untouchables of India, widows, orphans, lepers, and any who are forgotten.
No wonder that the Lord blesses him with such fantastic miracles. Signs and wonders are to be combined with poverty reduction. That’s how the Kingdom of God works.
Preaching the Gospel in the Power of Signs and Wonders
Iris Ministries in Mozambique has a lot of experience in combining the preaching of the Word with the confirmation of miracles.
We are to preach the Gospel not just with words, but also with power. Paul wrote: “our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.” (1 Th 1:5). God’s message is not dependent on the rhetoric skills of men, He empowers it with His Spirit.
And what does that power mean? It means signs and wonders:
“I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So fromJerusalemall the way around toIllyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.” (Rom 15:18-19)
The evangelistic strategy of Paul thus is to lead people to Christ through 1) what he says; 2) what he does; 3) the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.
All three aspects of evangelism are needed. We need to preach the Gospel clearly with our tongues, we need to express the love of God in good deeds, and we need to let God confirm His Word through signs and wonders. (more…)
“The most hardened sceptic is learning to say, ‘Lord, I believe'”
These stunning testimonies of prophetic miracles are taken from The Voice of Healing Magazine, October 1951.
(more…)
Break the Law to Save the Climate!
The current global conference on sustainable development, Rio+20, is a fiasco. The draft text that’s being negotiated is extremely weak and lame, and at some points it’s even worse than the agreement at the first Rio conference on sustainable development 20 years ago. The NGOs represented at the conference say that ”the text as it stands is completely out of touch with reality”.
Boy, we’ve heard this story before, haven’t we? Many like to blame the UN at this point, but personally I think they do their job quite well – the leaders of Western countries, on the other hand, are out of control in their sinning behaviour. They cause the mess, and the poor countries will have to pay for it:
Acts of God
Once we start praying and working for a better world, there is a risk of struggling in our own strength and power. And since everyone are sinners (Romans 3:10-18), the human way lined with failures, accidents, discouragement and fatigue. The Bible says that through the power of God, we are able to more than in our own force (Philippians 4:13). And that can sometimes be a little bit more dramatic than getting some extra energy as by an invisible vitamin kick. Sometimes, it means walking on water or raising the dead.
Our biggest problem when we work for peace and justice is that we aren’t able to do the impossible. It is this which forms the border of our activism for a better world. But Jesus said: “With God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27). In what context did He said that? Well, concerning that the rich are going to sell everything and give the money to the poor. (more…)
Activist Animations on YouTube
I’ve been putting together a playlist on YouTube called Activist Animations. Using visual communication is very effective in mobilizing action for a better world, and so a well-performed animation can get a lot of impact. Please spread them on! Here are some of my favourites:
Sam Lee: A Pentecostalism Promoting Social Justice
Although I don’t agree with everything Samuel Lee writes in his book “A New Kind of Pentecostalism”, I think this part of a review by the author himself is pretty awesome:
As a Pentecostal pastor, I have been in this movement long enough to say with assurance that I have seen many Pentecostals who pray in tongues and who experience and perform miracles and manifestations and yet are full of arrogance, racism, ethnocentrism, or denomi-centrism.[1] They exclude others; they are overflowing with prejudices, yet they claim they are “filled” with the Holy Spirit. I wonder to which Holy Spirit they are referring.
The Pentecostalism that I promote is about humility and is not a commercialized, Hollywood-esque Christianity, where the hairstyle of the preacher and his/her wealth attracts the attention or where leadership becomes a pyramid system in which the superstar preachers become the new living icons and idols of the Pentecostal believers. I would love to see a Pentecostalism in which people learn to depend on God and on each other through love. I desire to see a Pentecostalism in which the leaders are servants and preachers of humility and grace. (more…)
Medically Unexplained Healing from Rare Neurological Disorder
There are many well documented reports of unexplained healings. This is one of them.
For nearly 20 years Ema Mckinley suffered with a condition known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a rare neurological disorder that left her disfigured and wheelchair bound. Through all the pain and near death experiences, her faith never wavered.
Ema says, “God was my partner in all of this and the strength and help He would give me, I could get through one more day!”
It was in the very early morning hours on Christmas Eve 2011, Ema’s life would forever change. A miracle as she tells it, was about to take place. (more…)
Don Murphy: “Full Gospel” Includes Both Miracles and Sharing Material Goods
The Pentecostal Hutterite Don Murphy writes in his pamphlet The Church and the Narrow Path, to which I agree completely:
The Book of Acts chapter 2 records the birth of the Church of Jesus Christ and it describes what that Church was like. In the first part of Acts 2, we see the Church born in the power of the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus said (Acts 1:8). Then in the last part of Acts 2, we see the lifestyle of the early church, they were together daily, sharing their lives together, giving up private possessions as Jesus commanded (Luke 14:33), having all material possessions in common.
Using Acts 2 as a guide, we see that there are four types of churches today.
- Churches that bear little resemblance to the description of the Church in Acts 2 since they do not expect to have the power of the Holy Spirit in them as was in the early church and they do not follow the holy lifestyle of the early church as shown in the last part of Acts 2.
- Churches that meet the description of the early church in the first part of Acts 2. They do proclaim the power of the Holy Spirit with demonstrated signs and wonders. The Pentecostal churches fit this description. They like to say that they are ‘Full Gospel’ churches but they actually are only ‘Half Gospel’ churches since they do not fit the description of the last part of Acts 2.
- Churches that meet the description of the early church in the last part of Acts 2, meeting together daily and having all material goods in common. This is a very rare church indeed! However, they tend to not expect the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives as did the early church.
- Churches that meet the description of the entire chapter of Acts 2, a true ‘Full Gospel’ church. They not only proclaim the power of the Holy Spirit with demonstrated signs, wonders and holy living but also meet together daily and share all material goods in common as did the early church. Where does this church exist today?
When we use Acts chapter 2 as a guide we find that the way to the Kingdom of God is narrow indeed!
“Struggle to enter the Kingdom through the narrow door. The road to hell is wide with plenty of room and most go that way. But the door is small and the path is hard and narrow that leads to life and only a few find it.” (Mt 7:13-14, Luke 13:23-24).
The Bible is nothing without the Holy Spirit
The title above may seem provocative to some, but it shouldn’t be. The Bible is holy only because the Holy Spirit inspired it. And so, there is no opposition between studying the Word and pursuing the presence of the Author. I don’t agree with everything Bill Johnson says, but to these words, qouted from an article in Charisma News, I say amen:
Bill Johnson
For decades, maybe centuries, the church has gathered weekly around a sermon. Our reasons are noble: We value the Scriptures and know that our lives are to be anchored in truth. But the study of the Scriptures is meant to launch us into an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ.
In that moment of connection, we obtain life. Without encountering the One to whom Scriptures point, we are a people to be pitied. As Jesus told the Pharisees, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).
Nearly every leader wants revival in one way or another, and many want healings, deliverances and miracles. But it’s hard to have the same fruit as the early church when we value a book they didn’t have above the Holy Spirit they did have.
That statement is not intended to get us to put less value on Scripture. That would be a great mistake. I simply point to the fact that without the Holy Spirit, the Bible is a closed book. The Bible was written in such a way that only those in relationship with God have ongoing access to its mysteries. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see truth. Jesus is the truth we long to understand. Jesus Christ is perfect theology.
The church camps around the sermon; Israel camped around the presence. Learning to recognize, treasure and carry this presence is at the heart of the Christian life. Recalibrating our hearts to this supreme value affects everything.
A Pacifist Miracle Worker
One of my best friends, who is called Michael (just like me) is an inspiring example of the combination of signs and wonders with peace and justice. He is a peacemaker, active in the Swedish Christian Peace Movement and a prophetic voice for nonviolence and pacifism. We have made som films advocating for an international, strong, binding trade agreement on arms, since arms are lessed regulated than for example bananas in the international trade. An example of such a film is viewed below.
While Michael thus is a passionate activist, he is also a passionate Charismatic. He prophecies, lays his hands on the sick, speak in tongues and pray for revival. He has realised that Christians should follow Jesus so that the signs that characterised Jesus’ life: miracles and care for the poor, will characterise their life. Jesus said:
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. (Mt 11:5)
Imagine Benny Hinn shouting: “Woe to you who are rich!”
Luke 6 is one of my favourite chapters in the Bible. A “great number of people” from all over Israel gather around Jesus, for two reasons: to hear Him preach, and to get healed from their diseases. And healed they are, all of them. Demons are cast out. Power is flowing out from Jesus. In other words, there’s full-scale revival. Then He starts to preach:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God!”
In this Charismatic revival scenario, Jesus starts to talk about the poor. He goes on with blessing the hungry, the weeping and the hated. They are blessed. They are loved. The needy, broken and oppressed are healed phycially and spiritually by the compassionate Saviour.
But then the faith healer gets angry.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort!”
Jesus warns and critizises the rich, the wel-fed and the comfortable. They have to repent. God wants economic equality (2 Cor 8:14), His love basically cannot remain in people keeping their money for themselves instead of giving them to the needy (1 Jn 3:17).
Now, what I love with this passage is the obvious and natural combination of miracles with a divine call for economic justice. It’s a typical example of Holy Spirit activism. How come that we’ve managed to separate healing revivals from global justice? How come that healing revivalist Benny Hinn rather preaches a “blessed are you who are rich” message? How come that Christian activist Jim Wallis isn’t conducting any miracle crusades? It’s quite obvious that Jesus did both things in Luke 6. And we should do what Jesus did (1 Jn 2:6).
The author
Micael Grenholm, a Swedish charismactivist, apologist and author.
A Living Alternative
God vs Inequality
Charismactivism 