7 Great Lies of Organized Religion – Lie #8
Where I grew up, they said: “Miracles don’t happen anymore. They ceased with the disciples.” I believed what they told me.
Dozens of personal experiences and medically documented cases have caused me to do a 180 on this. Miracles are REAL. The idea that miracles are fake is literally the 8th lie of Organized Religion. (Fake miracles masquerading as real ones are the other side of that coin, by the way… and there are many fake miracles.)
Miracles are far more common than many would have you believe. Today, I share several of my own personal experiences. And several thoroughly documented events.
Before we dig in, I need to tell you a conversation with my younger brother Bryan, whose story I tell in my book Evolution 2.0 and on my site www.cosmicfingerprints.com.
Bryan had gotten a Master’s Degree in Theology at Master’s Seminary in Southern California. Master’s is very conservative and holds a doctrinal position that miracles ceased after the disciples. He’d spent time in the ministry including a stint as a missionary. Because of mounting doubts, he was bailing on the whole thing.
He says to me:
“Perry, I’ve studied the New Testament inside and out. I’ve studied Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. And you know what? There is NOTHING in the Bible whatsoever to suggest that miracles should stop.
“So… WHERE’S THE MIRACLES???”
I rifle through my mental file folders. I’ve heard lots of stories 3rd hand. No personal experiences of my own to report.
(Gulp.)
He continues: “Every single supposed ‘miracle’ can be explained by sleight of hand, placebo effect, or wishful thinking. There’s no such thing as a medically documented miracle.”
He was definitely right about the New Testament part. Nowhere is there so much as a hint that the miracles were going to go away. In fact miracles are held out as proof of the authenticity of Jesus as the Son of God. From healing the paralytic to forgiving sins to feeding the 5000 to rising from the dead, all are offered as things only God can do.
I was quite concerned that he was right about the placebo effect and the wishful thinking. Made me queasy.
Felt like a sucker. A mark. Gullible.
Plus, when you turn on the TV and see the faith healers plying their trade, most of us run out of the room screaming. Educated people are way too smart for that, right?
What if all this stuff about miracles is hocus-pocus and Santa Claus? What an icky, shameful feeling.
My eyes were suddenly wide open for information that would either confirm or deny this.
For several months I was almost persuaded that he might be right.
But little by little things started happening. The evidence began to point the other way.
Experience #1: I had lunch near Cincinnati Ohio with an old co-worker named Charlie Keck. September 27, 2002. Charlie was an engineer who lived in Tipp City Ohio. His wife was named Geri, and she’d had lupus.
She’d *had* lupus. But she didn’t have it anymore.
She and Charlie had treated it for years, prayed for years that it would be healed, and it wouldn’t budge.
Then one morning at her Bible study, a woman suddenly stood up and said, “God just told me to pray for you, to be healed, RIGHT NOW.”
So they did. And Geri felt this warm sensation flushing through her abdomen and the lupus was healed. Just like that. No more doctor visits, no more treatments. The whole chronic disease, gone.
Experience #2: I got to Rajahmundry, India in June 2007 with the customer service manager at my company, Jeremy Flanagan. Jeremy, as it turns out, has been having experiences like this himself. Healing people.
At a church service one Sunday, the pastor, Isaiah Gottimukkala, invites anybody who wants any kind of healing prayer to line up in front of Jeremy. Jeremy calls me over to help him and we start prayin’ for people.
One woman, maybe 60 years old, had fallen a year ago and hurt her arm. She could not raise her elbow past the middle of her chest. When she moved her arm up and down she complained that her shoulder would crack and pop and Jeremy and I could feel that too, when we put our hands on her shoulder when she’d move it.
He started praying for her. Probably spent 15 minutes. By the time Jeremy was done both shoulders felt identical, there was no cracking and she could raise her arm above her head on her own strength.
I asked her to do it for me and I snapped a picture. She said it didn’t hurt anymore and both arms were equally good.
Another lady, Mary, maybe 30 years old, had somewhat recently had brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. She pulled her hair back and I could tell just brushing my hand over her head that there was a big piece of her skull taken out and a large indention on her head.
She complained that she’d been having seizures since the operation, and she has had no feeling anywhere in her left arm.
Jeremy started praying that God would heal her entire skull and put everything back. We prayed for her and prayed for her. After about a half hour her head hadn’t changed but she started feeling tingling on her skin and by the time we were done, she said she could feel everything with her left arm exactly like her right arm.
No success on her skull filling in. Not yet anyway. But she was VERY excited about the feeling come back in her left arm!
We go home, and 2 months later I email Pastor Isaiah’s brother, Ananth. I want to know if these people are “still healed.” (Or did the problems come back? It sometimes happens.) Here’s his reply:
Respected Mr. Perry Marshall,
Greetings from India!
Thank you very much for your prayers.
Your trip to India was amazing. Many were healed and increased their faith in God. They are sharing their testimony to many people. Many times they are asking about you and Mr. Jeremy for prayers. We told them that next year definitely they will come to pray for you and for many.
I would like to share the testimony of my Grand mother(My father’s mother). Her name is Mrs. Suvarthamma and her age is 75. She was suffering from severe headache and neck pain from so many years and also if she takes anything from her mouth she will be feeling pain in her throat.
After your prayers She is completely healed. She is very happy and doing all the works easily irrespecitve of her age. God did miracle in her life through your prayers.
Another women named Mrs. Mary, Her age is 30. She had operation on her head. Hair was fully sworn and the head was like smooth sponge. She used to have pain on her head daily. and also her hand is not working and she doesnt have any feeling on her hand.
After your prayers she bacame healed. She feels her hand and she can do works with that hand normally as another hand. Praise the Lord.
Every one hearing of her witness, asking us about you and requesting us to bring you back to India.
These are some of the Miracles happend because of your prayers.
My brother Pastor Isaiah and his wife Surekha and all the boys of the Rajah Boys Home and Pastors in the Deep Forest are sending their greetings to you.
Thanking you Sir,
Yours faithfully,
Ananth
I’ve told you about two people there in Rajahmundry India. There were many more – most got some benefit, some didn’t seem to get any. These are the most dramatic examples of what happened. But I’ll tell you one thing: I learned that prayer CHANGES things. Especially when administered the way the apostles always said to.
I fully understand that a lot of people reading this are very, very skeptical.
As well you should be.
After all, you weren’t there. You only have my word to go on.
Well, I forgot to bring my portable MRI machine on the plane so I could do before / after scans of all these people, and as concerns this particular event, my own eyewitness testimony is about as good as I can provide right here.
If you’ll stick with me, later in this article I’ll give you information on publicly documented miracles that you can investigate for yourself. Meanwhile I’ve got more personal experiences to share.
Todd Bentley: A crazy, controversial guy, but some of his miracles were real.
Experience #3: In the spring of 2008 a “revival” broke out in Lakeland Florida. Hugely controversial. A guy named Todd Bentley, a Canadian Harley-riding preacher guy with jeans and cowboy boots and covered with tattoos started healing people in this crazy tent meeting.
It grew and grew until 5,000 to 10,000 people were showing up every single night. This went on until August 2008. The whole thing caved in when Bentley was found to be having an affair with one of his staff members.
(Hey, I told you this thing was controversial. Wait, there’s more…)
I jumped on a plane and flew there to see the whole thing for myself. I was there May 27, 2008.
On the hotel shuttle bus to the meeting I met a woman from Hong Kong who had flown to London to pick up her daughter, a college student who had severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The daughter was skinny as a rail and looked like the walking dead. They were there to get healing.
I get there and the whole place is a freaking nuthouse. Loud music, crazy people dancing and singing, and rolling around on the floor. This Todd Bentley guy is marching around the stage, shouting, kicking people, slapping them, proclaiming them healed.
Across the stage the people go. Bentley is yelling all kinds of proclamations. At one point he stops and says:
“I’m telling you right now, somebody in here has been deaf in one ear for 34 years. Who is that? Thirty-four years deaf. The Lord just spoke to me. Come up here.”
I’m in the center section near the back. About 20 feet from me, over my shoulder and to the right, a guy raises his hand. “That’s me. I went deaf from a gunshot 34 years ago today.”
Bentley prays for him and he’s healed, instantly. You can watch this in this video:
The man’s name was Brian Burgee. He’s pastor of Rock Church of Tampa Bay.
Brian’s story was reported in the Charlotte Observer on June 19, 2008. You can read it here.
I met Charles Chandler, the reporter who wrote it. We have a mutual friend who lives in North Carolina. Chandler followed up with the people described in the article personally and checked their stories.
I was there that night. I saw it happen with my own two eyes.
This article is referenced on Wikipedia. My neighbor is the editor in charge of the Todd Bentley page on Wikipedia. The healings in Lakeland were such a hot potato, most of the mainstream media wouldn’t touch it.
When people are really getting healed and things are happening that the establishment claims are impossible, mostly what you get is silence. Or irrational protests from people who still insist it’s impossible.
(Not all that different from atheists trying to tell me DNA isn’t actually a code.)
Jeronimo and Noemia Cessito, Beira, Mozambique
Experience #4: I have a friend named Noemia Cessito. She and her husband Jeronimo run a school, church, AIDS hospice, medical clinic and feeding program in Beira, Mozambique. I went to visit them in the summer of 2003.
Mozambique is extremely poor. Luxuries that westerners take for granted are simply unheard of there.
Noemia tells this strange story:
When I arrived in Mozambique in 1984, the country was in the middle of a 15 year civil war. It was a hard time. A lot of people were dying not just from the fighting but from starvation.
One evening our church met for prayer. People started to pray for things like shoes, a chair, a shirt, a loaf of bread. I never heard anyone pray for a pair of shoes or a loaf of bread before. I had always prayed: “Lord, please provide for my needs.”
So, I was sitting beside this little six year old girl and we divided into pairs to pray. That little girl began to pray, “Oh God, give shoes to my brother, Carlos. Oh, God, give some some bread to my sister Maria. And I said “Amen” to each of her requests.
Later at home, I got down on my knees to pray some more and when I was kneeling, I was trying to pray for the war because I had heard about a terrible battle on the Zamebezi river.
In the middle of thinking about that, I got this desire for some ice cream. I thought, “Good Lord! How could I possibly think about ice cream now when there is so much war and starvation?” But yet, deep in my heart, I heard a voice saying, “Ask for some ice cream from God.”
I ignored the thought. How could I possibly ask for ice cream when so many people are starving and are in so much need? I continued to pray. But my mouth started to water because I so wanted to have some ice cream. And then I began to cry. I didn’t have the courage to say, “God, please give me some ice cream.” I knew that I could, but I didn’t have the courage.
But, then at the end of my prayer, I said to God, “God, I would sure love to taste some ice cream.” And then, I cried some more. I thought, how selfish can I be! There are so many suffering and starving. I was crying because I was homesick for Brazil, and I so wanted a taste of ice cream.
About noon the next day a truck from Zimbabwe drove up to the door where I was staying and the driver got out and knocked. He wanted someone named, Naomi. I didn’t understand English at that time but he kept saying Naomi, Naomi and I finally realized that Naomi must be my name in English.
So I took the package and when I touched it my heart froze. I knew right away what it was because the box was cold.
So I asked the driver, “Who sent this? Where did it come from?” He didn’t understand me but finally through gestures I got out of him that someone at the airport gave him that box to deliver to “Naomi.” It had been flown in on a plane from South Africa. To this day I have no idea who sent it or where it came from.
Well, I put that little carton of ice cream in the freezer of the refrigerator with a sense of overwhelming gratitude. It was then that I began to understand that I can ask from God even the most insignificant things.
Since then I’ve faced a lot of hard times. I’ve nearly died of malaria, and I’ve gone hungry. But, as the many difficulties arose, I would remember that carton of ice cream. It’s the biggest lesson of my life.
Experience #5: I’ve got a friend named Jess Smiley. She and her husband Sam live about 2 miles from my house. We go to church together.
Jess feels the sorrow, but sings anyway
The last 7 years have been HARD on Jess.
7 years ago her husband Jamie contracted leukemia, a form that is lethal. After a 2 year battle she lost him.
In the fall of 2007 her son Alex was 11 years old. He had started developing bruises on his skin and a doctor’s appointment revealed that he too had leukemia.
Wow. An 11 year old boy with leukemia. Imagine facing that.
Alex went through 9 months of brutal chemotherapy treatments and it went into remission.
18 months later, it came back. With a vengeance.
More chemotherapy. More prayers. More desperation.
Alex chose to stand up and FIGHT.
Since Alex was losing his hair, several of his friends, including Dylan Fancher, all decided to shave their heads as a sign of Solidarity with Alex during his healing and recovery process.
Below is a video of Alex shaving Dylan’s head in the restroom of Alex’s hospital room:
Alex Smiley shaves Dylan Fancher’s head: Solidarity, and Friends Forever
Just the day before, Alex had begun his Chemo treatments. (The joy of shaving Dylan’s head sorta made up for the first day of chemo.)
That was July 6, 2009.
On Wednesday, October 14, 2009, an infection raged out of control and Alex died. A young man full of promise, gone at age 13.
Jess had remarried since Jamie’s death. She lost both her husband and first-born son to leukemia.
She made it through Alex’s funeral under the care of friends, lots of prayer and a couple pints of vodka.
Words cannot express how grieved we all were. We all prayed so hard. For Alex to be healed. For this curse to be lifted. But Alex lost the battle. For whatever reason, rescue did not come.
Jess soldiered on.
It just so happens that we were with Jess at a church conference in Toronto. On the night of January 20, 2010, God SPOKE to Jess and in a moment of laser clarity, showing her that He was pushing a “reset” button on the destiny she thought she had lost. He was restoring to her what she thought was no more.
That night God also gave her an impartation of JOY and LAUGHTER.
The bitterness and the grief melted away and she began laughing with delight. For weeks she was almost giddy and exuberant.
It was like nothing I had ever seen.
All I can say is, you had to see it for yourself to fully appreciate it. I’ve told you some miracle stories. People getting healed of lupus, deafness and paralysis are all remarkable. But being healed from aching loss and sickening sorrow over a lost husband and dear son – that one takes the cake.
It’s not that she doesn’t miss Alex or Jamie. Or that she doesn’t still grieve. It’s just that the bitter sting has been taken out. Jess experienced a literal impartation of the beautiful scripture of Isaiah 61:
For those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
My friend, I do not know why Alex and her husband were taken from us. God alone knows the answer to that question.
But God did minister to her in her sorrow in a most profound way.
YOU have also lost loved ones.
YOU have also had unanswered prayers. We all have. I know the feeling of exasperation and desperation when you pray and it feels as though those prayers are bouncing off the ceiling.
Jess Smiley knows that feeling too. Believe me, she does.
You pray for the uncle or aunt or grandpa or child. Your prayer doesn’t get answered the way you want it to. It’s bitter and dark.
But you know what…
You only have to experience ONE undeniable miracle and then you KNOW. After that, there is no going back.
And that’s what happened to me. I’ve only shared a small collection of stories. There are others. They’re real and I’ve seen them with my own two eyes.
Experience #6: 0n April 17, 2012, I was at a conference in Moravian Falls, North Carolina, sitting right next to a woman named Dierdre from Sydney Australia when she was healed after 40 years of severe hearing loss in one ear. Here’s me interviewing her about what happened:
Remember Brian Burgee from Tampa Florida, above, who was deaf in one ear and was healed in 2008? With the Dierdre experience I have now seen TWO people who were healed from deafness in one ear, both from childhood accidents, both deaf in that ear for more than 30 years. I was a personal direct witness and I have both testimonies on video. Recall that Burgee’s healing was also verified by reporter from the Charlotte Observer.
I solemnly attest to you that all these people and experiences are true and I have reported them to the best of my ability.
I will never again be at the mercy of theories from someone who thinks miracles are fake. Cuz I know they’re real.
But they are my experiences not yours.
Do you want God to show up in your life?
Then right now I give you permission to ASK HIM. If you seek God you will find Him.
But there’s something else I wish to offer you as well.
And that is:
Documented evidence of other miracles.
1. The book “Real Miracles” by Richard Casdorph, M.D., medically documents 10 miracles. Each chapter is a case study of one miracle, including doctors reports, xrays, etc. It reports ailments like huge tumors, Multiple Sclerosis and cancer vanishing completely, with medical documentation.
If you’re the least bit curious about this, just go ahead and buy the book. It’s on Amazon.
2. In Catholic circles, the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima on October 13, 1917 is very well known and has been exhaustively documented. Literally 70,000 people including all kinds of newspaper reporters and people of every age and background testified to what happened near Fatima, Portugal. The event was predicted in advance on July 13, August 19 and September 13 that same year by three children. Which is why thousands of people were there to witness it.
Wikipedia does a good job of summarizing what happened. (Yes, I understand, if you’re a protestant you probably don’t relate to the “Virgin Mary” stuff. That’s OK. There’s no rule that says you have to.) I encourage you to study the event for yourself and see if there isn’t substantial evidence that something miraculous occurred.
3. In September 2010, the Southern Medical Journal published an article titled: Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Proximal Intercessory Prayer (STEPP) on Auditory and Visual Impairments in Rural Mozambique. The official publication can be found here and the original authored manuscript from Indiana University can be found here. 24 people were tested; hearing of deaf subjects improved by 10-60 decibels. Vision of some of the blind subjects also improved, ranging from none to 15X.
I am personally only 1 degree of separation from the healers involved in this study. Here in Chicago I have some friends Nathan and Liz Stanton. They were married in Mozambique by pastor Heidi Baker who is a missionary there. For the Southern Medical Journal research, Heidi Baker partnered with Global Awakening in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania, who sent a teaching team to my own church not long ago.
Heidi Baker is well-known in Mozambique for going into villages, asking villagers to bring her their deaf, then healing them. At minute 5:56 you’ll see Heidi Baker heal a deaf woman in front of a large crowd of people, live:
This video is an excerpt from the movie Finger of God. by Darren Wilson. He’s the narrator of this documentary. I’m personally acquainted with him, having met him in November 2009. Darren himself was ardently against miracles until a relative experienced a miracle he could not explain, which launched him on a journey of investigation.
4. On Friday August 30 2010, Delia Knox was healed after two decades of paralysis. She stood up in her wheelchair in the Mobile Alabama Convention Center and walked around the room in the presence of thousands of eyewitnesses.
The following report appeared in the Mobile Alabama Press-Register, September 2, 2010:
MOBILE, Alabama — On Christmas Day 1987 singer and evangelist Delia Knox lost the use of her legs after a car she was a passenger in was struck by another vehicle driven by a drunken driver.
Now, on a video made last Friday, Knox is seen walking for the first time in 22 years during a revival at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center.
The video, which is on YouTube and on the site of the Mobile church run by Knox and her husband, Levy Knox, is said to be a testament to not one, but numerous miracles said to have taken place during the Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival.
You can watch the YouTube video of the live healing taking place here:
On Thursday October 21, 2010, Delia Knox returned to her home town of Buffalo, New York and into her mother’s arms. The local TV station WIVB Channel 4 taped the homecoming and reported the healing:
Delia Knox and her husband Levy, next to her wheelchair
Finally there are some things that need to be said about miracles. Quoting 1 Corinthians 12:28:
“And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
“Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts.”
If you’re a Christian, I challenge you with this:
Much of the church has been actively disobeying this. These verses clearly present a hierarchy of authority and gifts:
1. Apostles
2. Prophets
3. Teachers
4. Workers of Miracles
5. Healers
6. Helpers
7. Administrators
8. Those who speak in tongues
The protestant church has amputated #1, #2, #4, #5 and #8. The teachers and administrators have been left in charge.
Paul said to desire the greater gifts.
I know pastors and seminary professors who’ve been fired from their jobs because they believed in miracles. How tragic and anti-Christian that is. I have a friend who had severe ADHD and was deaf in one ear. He was healed of both at once in May 2007. He won’t let me use his name and picture here on my blog because his father is a prominent figure in evangelical Christianity and news of a miracles might threaten his dad’s career.
And we wonder why the church is anemic??? We wonder why there’s an atheistic bias in the western world? It’s no surprise church has become a flaccid, legalistic, boring institution. A dreary way to kill an otherwise enjoyable Sunday morning.
It’s because 5 out of the 8 spark plugs have been yanked out. The engine is coughing and sputtering on 3 of its 8 cylinders.
Why are “Cessationist” arguments invariably so complex and insert all kinds of assumptions which themselves have no scriptural support?
MANY Christians say to me, “Absolutely I believe God still heals. God can do anything He wants to. God just does it whenever he chooses to now. He doesn’t heal through healers.”
If that’s you, I’ve got a question for you:
Can you show me ONE place in scripture – Old or New Testament – where ANY person was healed without a healer?
The church has sliced off one of its testicles and thrown it in the garbage. No wonder it doesn’t feel like a man.
This is one of the reasons that TV healing ministries have become such a circus: it’s partly because most of Christianity has marginalized the healing gifts. This is why some healers are charlatans. But it’s a whole different world when you see people whom you’ve known for years get healed in person, with your own eyes – not on TV. When you experience it for yourself, like I have.
When the church begins to operate on all 8 cylinders, it becomes a force to be reckoned with. As all my friends who’ve been healed will attest. The atheists and cynics and religious gestapo can whine and moan all they want to, but real people are being set free every day.
(Oh, and I haven’t said a single word about the awesome power of prophetic people. I’ll save that discussion for another post.)
In Matthew 11, Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist was in prison. He was depressed and discouraged. Nothing was going the way he’d planned. He had grave doubts because his prayers weren’t being answered.
John sent a message to Jesus.
When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 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. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”
Amen.
Perry Marshall
P.S.: There’s a popular atheist jingoism these days: “Why doesn’t God heal amputees?” It’s often stated with spitting anger and venom. The assertion is made that there’s no such thing as an amputee whose arm grew back. This held up as proof positive that miracles don’t exist.
To date I haven’t personally met an amputee whose arm has grown back. Today I told you what I have seen. The closest I’ve come is my friend Yosef Bender from Chicago. Yosef was at a Kathryn Kuhlman healing service many years ago. (Casdorph’s book “Real Miracles” investigates 10 of Ms. Kuhlman’s healing incidents.) Behind Yosef was a woman who had one arm that was too short with a single finger at the end instead of a hand.
From the stage, Kuhlman called out that there was someone up in that section whose arm was deformed. A few seconds later, Yosef heard this intense commotion and loud crying behind him. He turned around and this woman’s hand had fully grown back. She was so happy she was crying hysterically.
This is as close as I’ve personally gotten to a healed amputee.
Documented histories of healed amputees do exist. The Miracle of Calanda occurred in Calanda, Spain in 1640, according to 17th century documents. The documents state that a young farmer’s leg was restored to him after having been amputated two and a half years earlier. This event is described in detail in the book Il Miracolo by Vittorio Messori. This is described in detail on Wikipedia.
I rather suspect there are at least a few healed amputees out there. Will the skeptics listen to their stories? I don’t know. Will they change the skeptics’ minds? I don’t know. But if you want to think for yourself investigate these things on your own, I recommend that you start by reading “Real Miracles” by Richard Casdorph, M.D.
Why is everyone praying to have a good life on earth,while God himsef says,that in heaven it is so nice that u on earth can not even think how nice it is in Heaven! If we all believe what God preaches is the truth,why not praying to God,that he must not prelong the agony on earth,and rather let u/us die,so that u/us can go to heaven!
This universe and everything inside will end eventually. Our bodies also will die and rot.
But before it all ends, there are a lot of things to be accomplished. They are more important than the world and our bodies.
Miracles are not an end to themselves. They are allowed to happen for the Glorification of God, by which sinners will be given hope to inspire them to save themselves. Jesus raised Lazar from his grave, but Lazar died later. But the raising of Lazar inspired many witnesses and those who heard about it; made them realise the greatness of God, Jesus’Divinity, and that there is life after death. Eternal Salvation of your souls and souls of those around you or know you are more important than the miracles themselves which are usually of a more temporary nature.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
2 Corinthians 13:5
Most of us leave for church about the same time every Sunday. We arrive at church at about the same time and sit in essentially the same place. We sing about the same number of songs and listen to a message that is about the same length each Sunday. It’s all fairly routine.
Churches have learned that they quit growing [in size] when people fall into a routine. Once something becomes routine, it’s no longer interesting. In fact, it can become grinding (it is remarkable how quickly the average church can be vacated once the meeting is over). Consequently, many churches change their services around, bring in special speakers, embark on building programs, or have the pastor do stunts like dressing up in fishing sports gear for a message on “fishing for men.” They try many different things to break the routine and get people excited about their church. Many church leaders forget that it’s not about the program or the place, it’s about Jesus.
If we’re not careful, we as parents we can fall into a similar trap. We can focus so much on how our children act, dress, talk, and behave that we inadvertently create an environment that is full of nothing more than routines. The problem with that is that many children grow into adulthood with a false idea of what Christianity is all about. After all, if we come to dread the routine of church, don’t you think that your children could come to dread the routine of Christian life imposed upon them?
I’m not suggesting that we abandon the routines and disciplines we bring to their lives. What I am saying is that we focus more on what Christianity is really about: their relationship with God. Don’t let your children grow up believing that all Christianity is about is daily grind of routines.
2 Corinthians 13:5 (KJV)
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
The scripture here says to “examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” And to “prove your own selves.” Attending church does NOT mean that you possess your faith. Going through the motions, acting like a Christian, does NOT mean that you are “in the faith.” If you have experienced conversion, the reasons for your prayer and the circumstances surrounding it will be very clear in your mind. You will remember dealing with sin in your life, exactly why you prayed, and you will remember the change in your life.
Lost Faith
Judges 13:1-14, 23-24 (KJV)
1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
8 Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.
11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.
12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?
13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.
14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.
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23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.
24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
Samson was born of parents who were dedicated to the LORD. They, in turn, dedicated Samson to God. He was raised as a Nazarite; therefore, he never cut his hair or drank wine. It wasn’t his choice: his parents made this choice for him. As time went along, he saw God’s blessing in his life, and simply continued to serve God the way he had been brought up to do.
Like Samson, I was raised by Good, dedicated, Christian parents, & many people have been raised by good dedicated Christian parents. If you ask me if I was saved, most surely I would tell you that I was saved, Like many of you who when asked when did this salvation happen would say when they were six years old. If you ask them how it happened, they will probably tell you how they remember praying but they cannot remember much else. The same was with me too. But Let me tell you about my Miracle you see , at my birth when I was around Six to seven months old , I contracted this disease called “Polio”, which affected my waist downwards. I was totally paralysed , when my parents used to carry me, my legs used to dangle , totally lifeless.
The Doctors after examining me told my Dad
“I am sorry , This Boy will never walk again , Everything He does will be on the Bed!”
You See I have told you, I have very Godly Christian parents. My Dad replied to the Doctor saying
“Doctor, You have failed, by I have a Doctor up above, who never fails! … I WILL BRING THIS BOY WALKING BACK TO YOU!”
See my dad had Faith and faith spoke, not trusting in himself, but putting all his trust in the one who heals all our sicknesses and heals all our diseases. He bought me back home and started to spend time in prayer and fasting. Everyday as he used to go to work and during his breaks, he would pray, he wouldn’t go out for lunch, but would pray. Dads colleagues thought he was saving money ,but he did not care what they thought, Dad would pray , and every day Dad would return home and tickle my legs to see if there was any sensation returning to my legs, this was his daily routine, daily praying, daily fasting, daily returning home and tickling my feet, but nothing happened.
Then one day , after about two weeks, during his return, he came and tickled my legs and this little boy started to pull back his legs …. Yes the sensations returned, Hallelujah!! and gradually the legs strengthened and very soon I started to walk.
Oh ! Praise the lord somebody!! He sure is a miracle working God, Hallelujah!!
Dad took me back to the Doctor to show him the power of the Living God which works in mans lives even today. I not only started to walk , but Run , Jump, I played Soccer, Cricket etc… representing our School , also College, played for my Company I worked for, etc…etc… I went to church with Dad and had experienced such awesome miracles in my life , BUT I WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN !
You see I grew up like a normal teenager, loved to do stuff, and when something went wrong for me, I would come to God, because I know God hears prayers and answers them I have experienced them haven’t I ?
Just because I was born in a Christian family, experienced miracles, and just because I went to church, did not make me or for that matter, any one a Christian. Just as,for .e.g: if you go to McDonalds’ doesn’t make you a burger or just because you went into a garage doesn’t make you a car. Similarly, going to church does not make one a Christian. Yeah I called my self a Christian
One Day When I was about 21 year old, I went out to play a game of soccer which was quiet a distance away and I went on my bicycle, it was a game to be played under floodlights, we played …we won… and I was returning home that night, it was around 11.30pm cycling down and wanting to reach home fast to avoid being yelled at for returning late, I decided to hold on to a truck(back of the truck) and I did. That truck pulled me faster than the guys on the motorbike when at a place close to home I decided to leave the truck , when I did leave the truck the truck slowed down to turn left , I was on the left side too but I couldn’t slow down,…. to fast to press the breaks … I would skid and come under, I came at the side in between the two wheels of the truck…. hit my shoulder, I jumped on the other side , and fell rolling on the side of the road , the bicycle then fell over my legs and the rear wheel of this fully loaded banana truck went over the bicycle, crushing my feet and the bicycle …. All this happened in split seconds. My legs numbed did not feel any pain for a while, lying down on the edge of that highway ….. when my team mates who were on the motorbikes came and carried me to the hospital …. which is where began my six month ordeal undergoing various surgeries and bone grafting and skin grafting etc… and again I needed God !, I prayed God heal me, my parents prayed, the church prayed.
YES !
In Six Months time …. I started to walk again , gradually I started to play again and this time I played soccer much better … I won the BEST GOAL KEEPER award at a prestigious soccer tournament held by one of the top clubs in Bombay, BUT…… I WAS STILL NOT A CHRISTIAN !
Simply going through the motions of a prayer because you believe that this is what you’re supposed to do is not salvation. It’s no more than what Samson did. He simply did what was expected of him. When Samson entered adulthood, he lived a very inconsistent life. He wasn’t the typical man of God with a burning zeal for God and unwavering faith. Instead, we find a man who paid little attention to God’s law other than that part in which his parents had raised him.
Judges 16:17-30 (KJV)
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her. There hath not come a rasor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
Many people have a twisted idea of what Christianity is all about. They were taught by their parents and churches to live out certain behaviours’ and have come to believe that this way of living is being a Christian.
In the passage above, we find Samson telling Delilah from where his strength comes. It’s interesting here that Samson does not attribute his strength to God but to his hair and his parents. This describes the state of many people who attend church today. They are well-behaved, sing songs, dress and talk properly, all because that this is the way they were raised. Many people have been raised in the routine of Christianity and, like Samson, I saw my spiritual life in the thing I did.
Judges 16:18-30 (KJV)
18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
Samson lost the things of God he possessed because he placed so little value on them. Many children who are raised in Godly homes eventually cast aside the ways of their parents when they grow into adults. This happens because they have never come to see their parents’ ways as anything more than routines. Go to Church, Read your Bible, Come for prayer meetings.
Some children look forward to leaving home to escape from the pressures of how they were raised. They want to escape the emptiness they feel as they go through the motions of family devotions and prayer. They want to escape the knowing that they feel nothing in their hearts. But what they fail to realize is that when they leave home, they take their hearts with them. They may be able to escape the routines of their parents, but they cannot escape the emptiness in their hearts.
Since Samson’s faith was never something that he valued as his own, he eventually lost it. He lost everything and found himself bound to a mill, grinding his life away. He had no future and hope.
Samson didn’t just lose his parents’ faith. Samson was made a mockery. He was made a mockery to himself, a mockery to his family, a mockery to the people he loved, and a mockery to the God he thought he had outgrown. And he lost the respect of everyone – even his friends.
You may think that if you can just get away from home and church, you can escape what’s eating away in your heart and find peace. But Satan will not leave you alone until he has made a mockery of your life. He not only wants to destroy you but your testimony as well.
There Was A Questions I had to answer in my Life
Where will I spend eternity, had I died in that accident ? and the same Question you have to answer for your Life
Where will YOU spend eternity, if you died Tonight?
I realised I was just like the two thieves who hung on the cross next to Jesus. Both were Vile both were throwing tantrum and mocking Jesus , And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. “(Luke 23:39-43) one said “If you are the messiah …save your self and save me too!! You see this thief was just like me, only interested in ME, what happens to ME!, How can I Get what I want, Prove yourself by HELPING ME !! oh I was so vile like the thief, to come to the Almighty God only when I had a need and when the need was met … I lived my usual life again back to partying, smoking, drinking and filthiness and oh yeah doing good was included somewhere there too.
You See, Dear Reader, I WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN AT ALL !! and if I has died that night, I would be at the same place where that thief on the left of the Cross of Jesus, spent his eternity … UNDER the JUDGEMENT of God’s wrath !!
I thank God for choosing me for salvation for when I look at the cross I see my saviours love for me, who saved me from all my filthiness and SIN. I could see why the thief on the right hand said what he said “ But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou are in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
What happened in that scene to change that one thief’s heart-to give him the heroism to stand up for Jesus and the humility to submit to him? He hears at arm’s distance. When the crowds hurled their insults at Jesus, he did not retaliate; when Jesus hung there suffering, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted Himself to God the Father who judges justly.
YES – in that moment, as the Thief looked at the Jesus — weak, broken, disfigured, a battered human from whose body flowed pain, cruel tortures, blood and drippings of enemy’s spittle– that thief tilts his head and strains to hear from Christ’s swollen lips, purple and black from beatings. And then something flowed from Christ’s hoarse and dry mouth, words that were pulsated from a heart of Divine Love. Listen again from Luke 23:34
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
And in that moment a former accused, reviled – a condemned robber – a thief nearing death – hanging in the balances – on the way to hell – believes and repents.
I saw My Sin in the light of GODs WORD and could not take it lightly anymore- I am sure it was because of my parents who never gave up on me and always lifted me up in prayer for my salvation. ALL I could do is REPENT!!, and turn to the only one who paid the price of my SIN upon the cross under the complete WRATH OF GOD, who crushed his only Son, so that I could be called a child of GOD!!
Oh dear reader, Miracles is not a sign the a person is saved, but only in the realisation of his Sin in the light of Gods holy word , his repentance, his turning to and his putting his total faith in the hands of Jesus Christ, who paid the price i:e the wages of SIN is DEATH … this death which belonged to me was paid by my saviour JESUS CHRIST
Let me continue with Samson….
22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
At the end of Samson’s life, he finally lifted up his eyes and acknowledged God. Samson found his faith. Even though his hair was once again beginning to grow, he came to understand that it wasn’t about his hair. In the end, he realized that it wasn’t about his parents, his family devotions, or the routines that he followed his entire life. It was about God, and true strength comes from God.
We must, like Samson, find the miracle of faith on our own. Conversion is not a routine we learn from our parents or Sunday school. It’s a miracle that transforms our lives and fills us with lasting strength, and through it we have strength to overcome the enemies of our faith.
It’s interesting to point out that Samson simply said, “Remember me… (v.28).” These same words were uttered by the lips of another man who hung on a cross near Jesus almost 1,500 years later: “Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom(Luke 23:42).” Like Samson, his cry was one of desperation. And being desperate for God is just the place God wants you to be.
You See since I had Polio I walked with a limp. And people ask or think why is he limping is he really healed …. Now I say…. It doesn’t matter anymore, its NOT ABOUT ME … its about JESUS !! all I did was tell Him with all my heart REMEMBER ME !! JESUS …. REMEMBER ME!! Remember this dying me…Though vile like that thief, remember me and thee is where i loose all my guilty stains….!!
You have this same LIFE available to you and this LIFE is not found in Christian “Religion”. It’s found in a relationship with the SON.
It’s about Jesus
John 4:5-15 (KJV)
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
In this passage, consider Jesus’ response to the woman. She heard about the water of life from Jesus and wanted to drink from it. Many young people are just like this woman. Each day they are exposed to the things of God (the living water) through the teaching of their parents, family prayer, devotions, or the use of Bible-based school material. These young people have been raised in a Christian home and attend church. They know a great deal about the Bible. Many have come to the conclusion that this is all there is to Christianity. They are like this woman. They are trying to drink of the living water before they receive Jesus.
John 4:16-18 (KJV)
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
We find here that the first thing Jesus does is to bring her face to face with her sin. Serving God is not the result of your knowing about God or the things of God. You must first come to deal with your sin.
John 4:20-24 (KJV)
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
This woman had been serving God her entire life. She had been doing it in the manner she learned from her parents, and her parents from their parents. Many people are in this exact same place. They’ve rushed off and are serving God, some as deacons or elders, some as pastors, and some as parents, but they have skipped over the part that admonishes, “Go and sin no more.”
John 4:26 (KJV)
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
The woman had to get her eyes off the traditions she had learned in order to serve and worship God. It wasn’t about the living water or the place of worship: it was about Jesus. The miracle of conversation happens not when you try to serve God, but when He is revealed in your life. It’s about your relationship with Jesus.
We must not live our faith through other peoples’ relationship with Jesus. We must find our own. If you feel that you are like this woman – searching — then you probably are. You’re doing what is expected and saying what is expected but inwardly you know that it is just an act. It’s not real.
John 4:28-30 (KJV)
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
If you are wondering whether you’ve ever experienced the miracle of conversion, then look at what happened to this woman. She was changed. Once this miracle took place in her life, it poured out of her to everyone she knew. If you’re wondering why you’ve nothing to give others, perhaps it’s because you have never experienced the revelation of Jesus in your own life. Like this woman, you must first face your sin and then find the Savior.
If you, like this woman, question the acts of worship you practice, if you wonder why there’s no substance to it, and why you seem to be drinking from a dry well, then maybe you ought to do what this woman did. You need to set aside trying to serve God, repent of your sin, and allow the transformation of conversion to take place in your life.
Burning but not Consumed
I learned a long time ago that it is easier to offer salvation to someone who has never been exposed to Christianity than to someone who was raised in a Christian home and then rejected it. People like this are hard and cold to the words of the gospel, and do you know why?
Exodus 3:1-3 (KJV)
1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
If you’ve not experienced conversion but are going through the motions of what you think is Christian, you probably think that you understand what Christianity is like. I can guarantee you that you don’t like it.
In this passage, Moses sees an impossible sight. The scripture records Moses as saying that it was a “great sight.” The fact that he saw a bush that was burning was not all that unusual, but the fact that he saw a bush that was burning and not consumed was certainly unusual.
Moses had never met God. He may have thought he knew God and understood what God wanted, but he didn’t. If he really did understand God, this burning bush wouldn’t have surprised him. It would not have been a surprise that the bush was not hurt by the flames.
If you’ve not experienced conversion, you’re probably just like Moses. You think you know what it’s like, but you don’t. You say, “I’ve tried living for God, and it wasn’t enjoyable. I’ve tried living like my parents and friends, and I hated it.”
If you feel this way, it’s because you never have experienced a relationship with God. GOD WON’T HURT YOU. It’s NOT painful. It’s like a bush that is on fire but not burned. It’s a miracle.
Your bad experience is because you’ve tried to be a Christian without first becoming one. And it’s not painful as it may appear to be.
Revelation 3:20 (KJV)
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
The above verse is spoken to a church, these were so called believers , not the unbelievers. There are barriers to finding our faith. These barriers stand before us like locked doors. These barriers can be our past experiences. If you have tried to serve Jesus without trusting and knowing him, then you will fail.
Your faith must be something that you pursue on your own, not because you’ve been instructed by a parent or teacher. Your faith you’ll find when you decide to look for it, not when you’re told to. Where do you start? Where do you go to find it? You start when you acknowledge that you’re not saved. When you do this, you’ve opened the door.
Close your eyes right now and consider whether you’re in the faith. Remember the burning bush. God will not hurt you. He’s not a sadistic tyrant just waiting for you to fail. If that’s how you see Him, then you have never known Him. God wants to heal your heart. He wants to give you peace. He wants to do a miracle in your life.
If you think you will go to heaven, You cannot and will not. You must be born of God. That is why you have got to get beyond just being carried along by mom and dad’s influence to instruct you and teach you and pray for you and with you.
“……Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God! That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew. The wind
bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” John 3: 1-8.
And you must personally cry to God.
“Oh, God, I thank you for a mom and a daddy who teach me your ways and your word and who teach me and spank me and train me. And I know they want me to go to heaven, but, Lord, you said, ‘Except I am born again, I cannot see, I cannot enter.’ And you have said that being born again is a sovereign work that you alone can do. Oh, God, do it in my by your power.”
Excellent story!
NOT A STORY Perry !! Its the truth about my Life
Praise His holy name, SALVATION is the greatest Miracle !!
This story is just too long! I do not have time to read it all. by the time I’m a few sentences in I have forgotten the beginning. Person testimonies should be breif. it does not help me any at all to know someones story. It could all be made up for all I know.
I thought the God of the ancient Isrealites was a Tyrannical and sadistic God.Look what he and Satan did to that most righteous of believers, Job. God hands Job over to Satan, supposedly, to test him. Then just stands back and lets Satan do his worst. Is He playing a little game here?
I have a request…my father has been diagnosed with dementia and my family is praying for nothing less than a miracle. His name is Grey Hama. Would somebody pray for a miracle for him and I promise to testify on this blog when the healing happens. Notice I said, “when” and not “if” the healing happens. Prayer knows no boundaries so people of God, help me pray for a miracle I can document first hand.
In Christ
Pearl
You got it, Pearl. Make sure some intercessors go lay hands on him too.
Thanks, Perry. Will do and will keep you informed in Jesus’ name.
This site and miracles are so great. I believe too that Jesus is living between us. I’am a person that are not attending any churche. But following on website Bible verses and reflection words and etc, I getting a testimony every day. (thank to our GoD) I will ask your pray for the healing of feet of my mother that are suffering of this, For the healing of the addictions of my Brother, For the Financy of our Family and healing and harmony and healing of my son and my future husband. Thanks God For all from right now. THANKS IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST.
I did not subscribe to your site or list and whoever put my name into it is a scumbag. I am an atheist, dedicated atheist and do not believe there is a god, there can not even be a god and you and anyone that does believe that myth is foolish, uneducated, and really, really needy. Remove my name and address permanently and you can notify whoever gave you my name that they are foolish just as all the believes that waste their time, money and life in hopes of more than the here and now.
Judy, I think your eyes are closed. Antony Flew the arch-atheist professor of philosophy at Reading University, England, decided after a lifetime of vociferous atheism second only to Richard Dawkins, that there is a God. More a supreme creative intelligence in the universe. He came to that conclusion by applying his formidable intelligence to the evidence we have before us now. He was eventually swayed by DNA, a coding system for the synthesis of our bodies and consciousness. He couldn’t see how these could have possibly arisen by blind natural processes. And I would add another phenomenom, love. How could a being such as us evolve by purposeless Darwinian processes be capable of love? Love has such power people have died for it. There are many manifestations of love from a mother’s love for her child to the love between a man and a woman to the love we have for our families. What Darwinian process of random mutation and natural selection could create that incredible gift of love? Just think of love in all its manifestations. It has such power. If you think believers are foolish then give us an explanation for the above.
Perry, I have done my own direct observations of some so-called physical miracles. I also have done research on different theological positions about the idea of miracles defined as physical impossibilities caused by a supernatural God. Are you aware of what kind of God you are portraying by affirming that the cause of those miracles is a divine intervention?
Perhaps you have good intentions, as many in the history of Christianity, but the consequences of your writings on ignorant or needy people are not free of the most contradictory and perverse traits of the uninformed Christianity.
I believe the implications of these miracles I describe today are the same as they were 2,000 years ago.
Perry, as you surely know, physical miracles belong to the category of Christian dogma; that is, the divine explanation is out of question and is assumed as a good thing, and hence no other possible explanations or negative implications are seriously considered. But the fact that we humans have the ability of reason implies the need to think about the message behind the dogma, the fact of 2,000 years of the history of Christianity indeed has an underlying message, that fact sheds light on the dogma’s meaning.
For example, there is the dogma about a miraculous inspiration directly from the God’s mind to the mind of writers of the Bible to write the words from God. Yet —and based on the 2,000-years historiography of the Bible— there was no miraculous conservation of those words, since all originals or autographs are lost and the copying process doesn´t justify absolute certainty of a message delivery directly from God. So there are implications for the dogma based on 2,000 years. The context for the faith of those in the early centuries of Christianity is not the same context for the faith of current Christianity. Assuming there is no difference, could easily misinterpret God and misinterpret the meaning of current physical miracles.
We can easily evaluate the degree of corruption of various books of the Bible by comparing the hundreds of variant copies in multiple languages and from various eras. You can trace the lineage of manuscripts by tracking copying errors.
For example until the 20th century the oldest manuscripts of the Old Testament were physically dated 1100AD. Then the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, dated 200BC. The differences between the DSS and the more recent copies ranged from minor to negligible.
Based on the evidence (and all these documents are in the public domain and available online), there is no serious reason to doubt the overall reliability of the Bible manuscripts we have today. In fact if you’re going to objectively evaluate the Bible by the same standards as any other sources of ancient history, the Bible is the most reliable historical document in existence, because there are more copies. The copies are more consistent than any other ancient manuscripts.
That said, there is no need for the copying to have been absolutely perfect, word for word, for us to trust it. No one needs 12 decimal places of precision to read the Bible. Most of the text reads at a 6th grade level. You can reconstruct all but 11 verses of the New Testament just from 2nd and 3rd century commentaries. Minor copying differences are a trivial issue because the overall message is reasonably clear in any translation.
Absolute certainty is not necessary, Marco. In every single version of the Bible, people laid hands on other people and they were healed, and performed miracles no one else was able to perform:
John 10: 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
Perry, very well, your explanation indeed addresses the concern about the reliability of the words from the most ancient sources. But, it does not address the question why there was no miraculous conservation of those words since there was a miraculous inspiration in the first place.
Besides that, there is also the dirty political process that brings us the biblical canon. Do you really think that a miraculous message will need the help of such anti-Christian behavior? In the same vein, and considering the abusive and deceiving practices of many who proclaim physical miracles, do you really think that a real miracle can be attested nowadays? Don’t you think that for the sake of individuals —for whom the Gospel is intended, in contrast with the masses— serious doubt must be advised about physical miracles?
Marco,
You could ask an even bigger question:
“Why would got trust the transmission of the Gospel message to human beings at all?”
I don’t know. But what I believe is the the Holy Spirit is the TRUE witness in the world, and He accomplishes what He wants despite our failings.
That said, we don’t need miraculous conservation of the Bible to know what it says.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Marco, will you accept his free gift that he has given you?
Re: the Canon – You can go with a wider canon – 78 books as the Catholics do. You can go with the protestant canon and accept 66 books. You could toss out every book that you think is remotely questionable like James or 1 Peter until you only have 5 left, and only accept Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, Acts and Romans.
Would the gospel message be any different with 5 books than 66?
If you only had the book of John, would the gospel message be any different?
What do you think of the videos and miracles that I attested to in this blog post? Did you watch them?
In order to approximate to an answer, about the changes in meaning when one or several books of the biblical canon or apocryphal books are considered, we would need to talk to a philologist. In the meantime, without any sort of erudition, just a careful comparative read, we could found not a single message, but many messages related to single subjects.
I have read the blog post, I watched the videos, in which I cannot find difference with cases that I have seen in the past, many of which are confirmed cases of shameful scams.
There is plethora of possible explanations for each mentioned case. The explanation of a physical miracle is among the explanations with the weakest support. A physical miracle is an extraordinary explanation, so in order to reach an articulated certainty about it then extraordinary support must be provided. Otherwise, if we just ask to have an unarticulated certainty, so-called simple faith, then I choose to better have an articulated uncertainty.
OK, so let’s consider the deaf people in the scientific study whose hearing improved 10-60 decibels upon receiving hands-on prayer. What’s the plethora of other possible explanations?
People often tell lies. We human beings have deep-seated desires and very often we want to believe the reality of those deep-seated desires, even if that requires to be involved in a scam -although we would not be willing to use that word for our own case. We people often have huge debts or rampant greed which could be motives to cheat in order to get good money, etc. If we are looking for the support for an articulated belief then there is much more support to justify a belief in any of the just mentioned explanations than in the explanation of physical miracles. Surely you would concede that the videos and the testimonies are a very, very poor, kind of evidence. Even with a basic acquaintance of current epistemology we could identify that data from our senses are the least useful to substantiate our opinions. Theory and experimentation are nowadays much more relevant than observation and sense data. In this context, a theological theory that describes, explains, predicts and controls a significant number of cases would be indispensable in order to start putting attention to it as a system of interpretation for those scattered, dubious, and sensationalist cases.
Actually I don’t agree with you that these videos and testimonies are very very poor kind of evidence. I have provided peer reviewed journals documenting miracles. I have shown uncut videos of miracles taking place live in front of thousands of people. These events are also researched and attested by a news media that is known by all of us to be biased against such things.
When you say ‘Theory and experimentation are nowadays much more relevant than observation and sense data” -please explain why any theory is more reliable than observation.
We do have a theological theory that describes, explains, predicts and controls a significant number of cases. It’s called the New Testament. The Southern Medical Journal paper documents that the same hands-on healing prayer described in the NT does heal deaf people 10-60dB.
Did you read the paper?
In a nutshell: the track record of our senses fooling ourselves makes them an unjustified base for reliable knowledge. For a full explanation of what contemporary science is, and what reliable knowledge is, please build your own opinion by researching the history of philosophy of science. The science account that proposed observation and sense data as the starting point and main trait of scientific knowledge is an account from the beginning of the past century; it no longer reflects the contemporary view of what is science and reliable knowledge. An updated view of what is science is needed in order to demarcate it from pseudoscience. I am unable to find any basis to put that paper in the realm of science. Please, for the sake of those children in the videos, stop promoting that paper as scientific, there is no basis to seriously take the explanation of physical miracles as scientific.
If you chase an updated view of science, you will also find what a theory is; once you got that, please revisit your saying that the text of the New Testament is a theological theory.
How do we do science without using our senses?
Dear Perry,
My computer is still playing up and I was not able to respond using your last email warning me. This link will have to suffice.
Your site here boasts of being “unvarnished”, yet when this happens, you don’t seem too happy about it.
It is very sad that you are “tired of character judgments” when “the spiritual man judges all things” and the Scripture you quote from the Serrmon on the Mount” is misquoted as usual. There are two Greek words for our one word “judge”.
“First remove the log from your own eye, then you will be able to see clearly in order to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
The FINAL Judgment of who is going to be in hell or Heaven is NOT the kind of Judgment we are allowed to make. However, “It is a joy for the righteous to do judgment” and the New Testament has many examples of God’s people judging and in fact we will even be judging angels. So if we are not able to even make a start here then how do you expect to have any credentials to judge angels at the end?
My judgments are based on the Scriptures and literal experience. It is all documented in my files and has been an ongoing process for 18 years.
Sorry your outlook makes me look “insecure” to you, but I am attempting to address certain issues that have been grossly overlooked and deliberately twisted. On the contrary, “Love rejoices in the Truth.”
I believe Jesus was very “animated” in His approach. Not “dead” like the Pharisees He was addressing. The opposite to love is not hate, but indifference.
So what you are saying is that if someone is about to run across the road in front of a truck and you are standing at a distance, that you would simply whisper some gentle words in the hope that the other person will stop and not be run over and killed?
Perry, there is a “DUTY OF CARE” even in the WORLD! In the workplace, if one does not look out for his fellow worker and he is injured or dies, the they are held accountable and can even be charged as a criminal! “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Yes!
Isn’t it written, “On some compassion making a difference. Others haul them out of the fire.”? Just what kind of milk-sop “Christianity” are you involved in here?
When we speak audibly, do we speak in monotone? Are there not times when we raise our voice, emphasise certain phrases or words? Become excited, or distressed or sad? There are few options open for this effect in the written language and so for this reason, plus the fact that I shall remain faithful to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that I shall continue in whatever He has put in my heart. Are you quite at ease then with the lies and deception leading people astray and destruction using your Bible and thieving your Treasure with which to carry on this horror? Are you quite happy to eat and drink at Nebuchadnezzar’s table using the Holy Vessels of the LORD Yahweh?
“To the pure, I shall shew Myself to be pure, but to the froward, I shall shew Myself to be most unsavoury”
It seems to me that the real reason you protest against what I am saying (and DO NOT protest rightly against Babylon the Great) is that you are supporting her.
If you need to unsubscribe me, then so be it. We all have the same Bible to read and will all stand at the same Judgment. And “Judgment begins at the household of God.”
I would prefer though, that you really get to know the Lord Jesus Christ and His followers and remember, that they were not always “sweet natured” and soft in their response to evil – especially when it was performed in God’s name. There are a number of us who have been truly awakened to the Truth
and have come out of Babylon to “blow the trumpet in Zion” and if you do not know any of us yet, then I pray you will soon.
Assuming that you believe “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” and doesn’t remain “safely” at arms length in a Book called the Bible.
We live in 2010 which is more than 2,000 years after the first Church began in the upper room. The Roman Catholic Church was not even heard of then although paganism was rife.
You know, if one knows the Truth, then one does not have to study enlessly the FALSE teachings and doctrines to try and figure it all out. The falseness becomes CLEAR when “held up to the Light” As is written, “When the wheat matures, the tares also appear”
You along with everyone else has a choice of staying with the Mother of Harlots or coming out of her My people. It is clear in Jeremiah 7 that it is much easier, more comfortable and more “profitable” to remain in the arms of the goddess. It IS hard to follow Jesus.
The false Jesus comes in his mother’s name.
The True Jesus says, “I come in my Father’s name and you recieve me not. If one comes in his own name, him you will receive.”
Sorry Perry, this is not a tea-party and far more urgent that a “Coffee House”.
Anna,
Stick to facts & stop your accusations. Final warning.
However, “It is a joy for the righteous to do judgment” and the New Testament has many examples of God’s people judging and in fact we will even be judging angels. So if we are not able to even make a start here then how do you expect to have any credentials to judge angels at the end?
The “log in the eye” verse actually ends up instructing us to “cast the beam out of our own eye” FIRST, BEFORE “pulling the mote out of our brother’s eye” – NOT “Don’t ever pull the mote out of your brother’s eye”. What Jesus was saying here is that others will judge us by the same standard we judge them. So you may judge others but how can you if you yourself cannot see well?
Another verse of scripture often used inaccurately to support the fictitious commandment: “Thou shalt not judge.” is John 8:7b, where Jesus, addressing religious leaders concerning the woman caught in adultery, said: “…He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone…” Again, liberals and well-meaning Christians alike stop and read no further than the word “stone”, leaving the false impression that adultery really isn’t such big deal after all and maybe sin in general isn’t as bad as we once thought.
Was Jesus telling them to keep their silence concerning adultery and be more tolerant of sin? NO! He was again teaching them to not be hypocrites – sending the woman away with specific instructions to “sin no more”. (i.e., Stop your adulterous ways and repent).
As an example, I can show you one of the logs you can remove from your eyes before you start judging Catholic teachings.
You accuse Catholics of communicating with the dead, when they pray to saints whose earthly bodies had died. And you say that you have the Holy Scriptures to support your accusation. But please read the following passage from the scripture.
Matthew 17
1After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. 4Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” 6When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.
(See also: Mark 9:2 and Luke 9:20)
Did Peter see a “living ” Moses or a “Dead” Moses?
Or was it the “Evil Spirit” who appeared in Moses’image?
“So what you are saying is that if someone is about to run across the road in front of a truck and you are standing at a distance, that you would simply whisper some gentle words in the hope that the other person will stop and not be run over and killed?” .
Dear Anna, I believe that you are a good person and that your intentions are very noble. But the problem is that you shout grave warnings about an oncoming truck, when in reality, there is no truck at all.
I hope and pray that you will change your attitude and stay in this forum. We all love you.
That’s up to you to find out possibly answers to your question. I am not saying anything near what your question imply. Seems to be the case that you are very sure about the reality of physical miracles by supernatural causes, but there is plenty of room for the contrary if we consider seriously the business of justified belief and reliable knowledge. Therefore, promoting such an unjustified belief would easily fall in the kingdom of deception. Most likely you are completed convinced of the goodness of what you are doing, of the holiness of your crusade to bring the divine to people’s lives. Yet, that certainty represents the main problem of such a position because the schema for reliable human knowledge lacks precisely of such certainty. In other words, the fact that you are so certain is suggests that this is not a case of reliable knowledge.
Perry i understand science is observation and conclusion from observing the evidence. Am i right? I always wanted to be a scientist but became a computer tech instead. I ask the question! Can the garden of Eden be used as an example of what Paul refers to as “oppositions of science falsely so called:”
eg
satan suggested God’s truth was in fact a theory and a false one at that. He then proposed his own alternative theory the “antitheses” of what God had said,
Eve made the “observation” when she- “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes …and desired to make one wise” she then tested this new theory, ate, and mankind paid the price! It seems as i read the posts here, that the question “Did God say” is still hotly debated to this very day. I am also mindful of the man slated by many as the terrible unbelieving doubter, Thomas, (is this a picture of mankind generally?) , Thomas was given the very proof that he asked!! And that by no less than Jesus himself.
If Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever, and then, we pray for Martin Ward Then this Jesus of the Bible will open his eyes and give him the proof he needs.
We should not lay the blame of mans sin at the feet of God. Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed -by inference – God “The woman you gave me, she made me eat”
It seems obvious that we cannot. God gave us the senses so that we can do things like science. Is there a hidden question in your question?
Maybe one should ask first: What are our “senses”? Are they limited to five? Do we have other senses like intuition, precognition, clairsentience or clairvoyance?
Maybe our “senses” are still developing as a species. It certainly seems that some folks have highly developed senses that others do not, whether you’re talking about hearing, smelling or even intuition.
Can an ear be trained? If so, can’t an intuition be developed? Maybe our non-standard senses are simply dormant rather than non-existent. What some consider to be unexplainable (hence dubious) phenomena are simply the result of a technology we don’t fully comprehend. Once we understand the technology, we will be able to apply the scientific method. Miracles will become normal events.
Pretty much everyone with intuitive, “psychic” or prophetic gifts will tell you that they spent a great deal of time developing those gifts and fine tuning those perceptions.
Just because some people are tone deaf and shout loudly that all they can hear is noise, does not change the fact that beautiful music is playing.
I can’t speak for others but, in my own case, I did not put any effort into developing gifts of the Holy Spirit. Yet, they manifested. This is why they are called gifts. I spent no effort learning how to heal by the Holy Spirit. In fact, I discovered this charism quite by accident.
I do agree, however, that learning to understand what we hear from the Lord can take effort. For instance, when we receive prophecy or word of knowledge, the meaning is not always clear. So, we spend time in prayer to discern the meaning of what we are told and what to do with the knowledge.
The point is that charisms of the Holy Spirit are not taken by one who would have them for themselves. It’s up to God to give these gifts. There is no learning nor effort to develop the gifts, in and of themselves. However, there can be a great deal of effort involved in other ways. For me, the experience has been a great lesson in piety and humility. It can be difficult learning to lower ourselves to serve God by serving others. Perhaps, for others not so difficult but a difficult lesson for myself.
Dear Jim Brechtel, God does not speak literally. Bible and all other holy books are men-made documentation of their interpretation about God in many ways; some would say they got inspired by God and led them to write, some say they have 6th sense and power from God.
The truth is follow your genuine consciousness without being contaminated by all religions taught. Think out of the box.
At some degree Bible is true but only true as said in the Bible without men interpretation. Most of the time men read the Bible and make their own interpretation as if that are what the Bible says.
I consider myself a religious person but do not necessarily bind to any holy book and its human interpretation of those books.
Benny,
I will agree to a point. God does not always speak literally. Sometimes, He speaks in parables. For instance, the parable of the fig tree and what Jesus said about a tree being good or evil but cannot be both, I agree, is figurative speech.
However, God does indeed speak literally at times. For instance, the God of Abraham and Moses, Yahweh, declared that He is the only one true God; we shall have no other God before Him. Regarding holy books, if you do not cling to God’s Word, as written in the Holy Bible, then you are in danger. Jesus Christ said, “I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No-one comes to the Father but by Me.” Is that not a literal statement? He did not say you can come to the Father by buddha nor a hindu demon nor allah. Only by Jesus Christ can we go to the Father.
God inspired the Scriptures of the Holy Bible but not the holy books of religions that worship demons and false prophets. Man wrote the words in the New Testament but they document the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, God made man. Jesus’ life was not just inspired by God because He was God and what He spoke as man were the Words of God.
I am far from naive, regarding non-christian religions. I tell you the Truth. They are inspired by the enemy and much, or all, of what they teach is deception.
Benny,
You may not be naive about non-Christian religions but you should consider how you present your opinions, assuming your intent is to gather others toward your truth. Try using the carrot rather that the stick. Folks are tired of the stick and claims of demons and “the enemy” won’t win you any hearts.
Romans 14:4 encourages us to avoid condemning or despising the faith paradigm of one who answers to a different master. This concept of mutual respect is has long been overlooked by those who are passionate for their faith but have slipped into spiritual competition and are angry at the “infidels”. Obviously this folly is not limited to Christians.
History is filled with examples of religion or faith paradigms being used as an excuse to suppress and commit violence upon one group or another. This crime against humanity has been committed by both religious and political groups, even to this day.
Tolerance and respect for different spiritual paths is the essence of today’s Interfaith movement. It’s not an effort to create a single religion, but an acknowledgment that we all have different perspectives of the same truth.
Like the quote in Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come”. Try to focus your passion for creating a better world and guiding others towards an optimal truth by emphasizing the carrot rather than the stick.
Sorry Benny, my last comment was directed at Jim Brecthel.
John Donovan, Why do you write “God” as “G@d”? Just curious. I’ve seen other people do this.
Benny,
I have to agree with you that interpretations can have limited value. Apocalypse 22:18 cautions against spreading interpretations that detract or distort the words written therein. It’s one of the reasons I always try encourage folks to make up their own minds.
Distortion or not, we’ve got what we’ve got and the real goal is not to toss the baby out with the bathwater but to separate the wheat from the chaff. Try to glean the wisdom from the notions that may be caused by irrelevant cultural bias or even contrived political ends. What are the eternal truths and what are the obsolete ones?
I seem to remember some NT quote saying that the interpretation one gets from scripture largely depends on the spirit of the interpreter (If anyone knows this passage I would be grateful). For example, if you read scripture looking for proof that there is no G@d, you can “find” it.
One of the ideas that guides my interpretation of scripture is the idea that G@d is Love (I John 4:8, 16). The Spirit is this, and It illuminates the Truth where intellectual prowess or popular tradition can fail.
Of course this begs the question: What is Love? Answering this question guides my understanding of scripture and it’s various interpretations.
You can go with a wider canon – 78 books as the Catholics do. You can go with the protestant canon and accept 66 books. You could toss out every book that you think is remotely questionable like James or 1 Peter until you only have 5 left, and only accept Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, Acts and Romans.
Would the gospel message be any different with 5 books than 66?
If you only had the book of John, would the gospel message be any different?
All words expressed by Man direct us to Jesus. Every Chapter from Genesis to Revelation in the Bible refers to Jesus. If we look, we will be able to see Jesus in the DNA of a man. Every man and what he expresses is a hologram of Jesus. We can break or cut up a holographic plate or film into a thousand pieces, and each of them will show us the same picture. But we can get a clearer and more detailed picture if we have a larger plate or film, especially if the the plate or film is scratched or muddied in some places.
Perry,
I am 62 yrs. old., have been a Christian for 32 years & had an after death experience. I died and came back. It was wittnessed and confirmed by several Christian & non-Christian doctors, some of who were present at the time. It was also wittnessed by many frients who were in the room and by some hospital staff.
I met Jesus, talked to him for a while & He sent me back to my body.
I can provide details if you wish. The details have made a difference in many peoples’ lives.
Richard,
I have a friend whose mother had a very impactful near-death experience as well. Of course we would be interested in whatever you have to share.
Perry
Hi, I wonder why are there still lots of people defending a dogma that arose after man was born?
Is the bible susceptible of scientific proving? I don’t think so, the thing is si,ple, people usually need something to believe in because they are walled in theri fears and sorrows, that’s all. But there are a lot of silly people who are followers and then arise “smart” men such as Jesus Miranda who wisely deceive these moron followers. Isn’t it just like that?
Thanks for email with encouragement on miracles. I am a Physician Assistant working in OB/GYN. Just today I had a patient who the medical assistant put in a room as a surprise for me. I had prayed for her privately, just the Lord and I, at a visit back in July/August of this year and had a very short window of time with her as she travels into the US for healthcare from Ubikistan. When I walked into the examination room today, I was pleasantly surprised by her presenting me with a lovely bouquet of flowers as she thanked me profusely for the care I provided. She was alive because of something I heard God tell me as I saw her one day during a very busy clinic schedule. I pressed into God and he pressed into her. She is alive today because He is good. Miracle upon miracle, our God is good.
Hi dear pery
thank u for your more useful subjects, i used to received more of yore mail but now its so rare and occasionally.
best regards
Arta
After having read all this discussion, I am almost convinced that there exists a program to brief Roman Catholics about the argumentation they shall develop if questioned about some of the deviations of their religion, which lead so many to wonder if it is really from God, or if it is a movement straight from hell. There are so many practices in this church which are not compatible with the Holy Scriptures. And the attitude is the same : no questioning, otherwise you are considered as a deviationist. What does this church do with the freedom of God’s sons ?
What does this church do with the freedom of God’s sons ?
The Catholic Church wants to make sure that Catholics are informed and guided sufficiently that they do not lose their way like Lucifer and Adam, who were also Sons of God who had but misused their freedoms.
Interestingly, you can notice that we get more freedom when we follow rules. When everybody follows traffic rules, we can travel faster with less accidents and chaos in the roads. Rules are for us and flouting rules always eventually result in less freedom, and can in some cases also land you inside a prison.
Yes,the scriptures say that miracles will cease. It said the disciples did miracles only in part (was limited) When that which is perfect is come that which is in part was to be done away. Speaking in tongues (languages) was the gift that most had.
The early miracles by Jesus and the apostles were instant on the spot and entirely superior to the so called miracles that you claim happen today. They were not totally healing miracles: raising people from the dead, turning water to wine etc. What you mention are not miracles but providence of God.
The purpose of the early miracles was to help in preaching the gospel. We have the New Testament which is the perfect and miracles are not needed to confirm yhe word.
Bruce Pennington
Where do the scriptures say that and what is the context? Please quote the passage in detail.
Dear Bruce I am delighted to be able tell you i must support Perry here!
I can find no scriptural support for your claims!
“Yes, the scriptures say that miracles will cease”
Scripture does not support this
“The works that I do shall you do also … and greater works ..shall you do . (not lesser) – because I go to my Father”
Personal experience also backs up Jesus statement.
My wife was born with cerebral palsy, walked in constant pain for the first twenty years of her life. Was told by the medical profession she would get progressively worse, never able to be married or have children, and at the age of about 40 would be in a wheel chair for the rest of her life. Since she became a christian and received the Baptism of the holy Ghost, she has walked and stood with no pain, her sway back instantly straightened. We have been married for 44 years and have 4 children and she, not even close to a wheelchair! Just try to tell her that is not a miracle!.
Our youngest son at the age of twelve had measles, raging fever, delirious, covered in spots from forehead to feet Instantly healed (when he prayed, and received the Holy Ghost baptism) Instantly the fever (105 deg F) subsided, within a few minutes all the spots had gone and he was out of bed, lucid and watching a kids movie on TV.
I could post pages after page of similar stories from, yes, thousands of people that i have met/spoken with since the first miracle in my life in 1965!
Here is a documented healing from Hep C together with copies of the medical certificates!
The Lady is well known internationally amongst music circles.
http://www.rci.org.au/publications/vor/2001/200106_vor/lisagerard.htm
“The early miracles by Jesus and the apostles were instant on the spot”
Bruce. I seem to recall that the lepers were cleansed as they went! – not instantly, also the man on whom Jesus put clay and spittle. At first he only saw men as trees walking – At the first instant not perfect!
” 1. The purpose of the early miracles was to help in preaching the gospel.
2. We have the New Testament which is the perfect and miracles are not needed to confirm the word.”
Fist part: Conceded to you I agree..
Second par:t Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever neither has the Gospel changed!
Today just as it was when Jesus walked the earth, many are first introduced to Jesus precisely because He performed a miracle in their lives or in some person they are close too. Just as it was in the early Church, so it is today .
The written Word of God as Perry points out is not “word perfect ” it contains errors, and now we see through as were a darkened glasses – but when that which is perfect is come (Jesus personal return) then that which is imperfect shall pass, and we shall see Him (The perfect one) face to face.
Universal Evolution — the gradual development of species in all the kingdoms of nature — works by uniform laws. This is admitted in both modern as well as Esoteric Science. It is equally a law that development works from the less to the more perfect, and from the simpler to the more complicated, by incessant changes, small in themselves, but constantly accumulating in the required direction.
No more than Science does esoteric philosophy admit design or “special creation.” It rejects every claim to the “miraculous,” and accepts nothing outside the uniform and immutable laws of Nature.
That which was natural in the sight of primitive man has become become only now miracle to us.
Those who have not given attention to the subject may be surprised to find how much was known in former days of that all-pervading, subtile principle which has recently been baptised THE UNIVERSAL ETHER. The phenomena of natural magic to be witnessed in Thailand, India, Egypt, and other Oriental countries are an absolute physical effect, due to the action of occult natural forces.
The thaumaturgists of all periods, schools, and countries, produced their wonders, because they were perfectly familiar with the imponderable — in their effects — but otherwise perfectly tangible waves of the astral light. They controlled the currents by guiding them with their will-power. The wonders were both of physical and psychological character; the former embracing effects produced upon material objects, the latter the mental phenomena of Mesmer and his successors. This class has been represented by two illustrious men, Du Potet and Regazzoni, whose wonderful powers were well attested in many countries. Mesmerism is the most important branch of magic; and its phenomena are the effects of the universal agent which underlies all magic and has produced at all ages the so-called miracles.
And why can’t you use Esoteric Science and Mesmerism and occult natural forces in India and Egypt to make some food for the starving millions, and medicine for the millions of AIDS patients in those countries
The problem arose when Constantine befriended Christianity, and introduced the sword. The ‘Sons of Thunder’ were endorsed and Christ’s pacifism went out of the window as the ‘church’ was reorganized so the the Holy Spirit was ignored or quenched.
Well put Hugh.
After this, anyone exhibiting Holy Spirit conversion behaviour was done for. I am amazed that Francis of Assisi got by unscathed -for the fire was a common remedy for such idiosyncratic behaviour.His father’s standing in the community was what probably saved him; a soldier with post-traumatic stress.
Perry,
a comment on some discussion about Fatima and healings in Lakeland. There are demonic healings and miracles, not everything supernatural is of God, even if it appears to be “good.” The point of discernment is whether Christ is glorified in the event, or some other spirit.
For Fatima, the angel of light who appeared as the virgin Mary (who is a human being) said “I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart,” which is blasphemy. There can be no consecration other than to God, never to the heart of a human being.
For Lakeland, Todd Bentley’s message was that the Church knew enough about Jesus, and needed to engage with angles. Jesus said we would know true and false teachers by their fruit. I Todd Bentley’s case, the fruit was adultery, and the manifestations of “anointing” were loss of motor control and shrieking, a sign of demonic activity.
True manifestations of the Holy Spirit glorify Christ, not angels, not the virgin Mary and not “anointed” ministers.
“I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart,” which is blasphemy. There can be no consecration other than to God, never to the heart of a human being.
What is blasphemy?
Jewish priests and scholars of the Law and Prophets thought Jesus’claim to be Son of God to be blasphemy.
Many Christian scholars thought believing in the “Holy Trinity” was blasphemy.
Many Christian today think that addressing St. Mary as “Mother of God ” is blasphemy.
Given below is a History of the Consecration of Russia and Related Events, which you can go through to decide if they are holy or demonic. You can discern good from bad from its fruits.
Luke 6:43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
July 13, 1917
Our Lady promises to “come and ask the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart”1
June 13, 1929
Our Lady fulfills her promise, asking “for the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, promising its conversion through this means and the hindering of the propagation of its errors.”2
date unknown Pius XI (1922-1939) informed of this request3
1938 Portuguese Bishops ask Pius XI for the Consecration of the World to the Immaculate Heart. It is said they were influenced to do this by the spiritual director of Bl. Alexandrina da Costa (1904-1955).
June 1940
Request made to Pius XII through the Bishop of Macau, and a little later through Father Gonzaga de Fonseca. Mention is made of Our Lady asking the Consecrating of Russia to the Immaculate Heart.
December 1940
Sr. Lucia writes letter to Pius XII, saying that Our Lord Himself requests the Pope to “consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with a special mention for Russia, and order that all the Bishops of the world do the same in union with Your Holiness.”4
October 31, 1942
Pope Pius XII consecrates the world to the Immaculate Heart.
July 7, 1952 Pope Pius XII consecrates the Russian people to the Immaculate Heart
November 21, 1964
Pope Paul VI renews, in the presence of the Fathers of the Vatican Council but without their participation, the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart.
May 13, 1982
Pope John Paul II invites the bishops of the world to join him in consecrating the world and with it Russia to the Immaculate Heart. Many do not receive the invitation in time for the Pope’s trip to Fatima, where he accomplishes the consecration. Sr. Lucia later says it did not fulfill the conditions.
October 1983
Pope John Paul II, at the Synod of Bishops, renews the 1982 Consecration
March 25, 1984
Pope John Paul II, “united with all the pastors of the Church in a particular bond whereby we constitute a body and a college,” consecrates “the whole world, especially the peoples for which by reason of their situation you have particular love and solicitude.” Both the Pope and Sr. Lucia initially seemed uncertain that the consecration has been fulfilled, but shortly thereafter Sr. Lucia tells the papal nuncio to Portugal that the Consecration is fulfilled.
May 13, 1984
One of the largest crowds in Fatima history gathers at the shrine to pray the Rosary for peace.
May 13, 1984
An explosion at the Soviets’ Severomorsk Naval Base destroys two-thirds of all the missiles stockpiled for the Soviets’ Northern Fleet. The blast also destroys workshops needed to maintain the missiles as well as hundreds of scientists and technicians. Western military experts called it the worst naval disaster the Soviet Navy has suffered since WWII.
December 1984
Soviet Defense Minister, mastermind of the invasion plans for Western Europe, suddenly and mysteriously dies.
March 10, 1985
Soviet Chairman Konstantin Chernenko dies
March 11, 1985
Soviet Chairman Mikhail Gorbachev elected
April 26, 1986
Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident
May 12, 1988
An explosion wrecked the only factory that made the rocket motors for the Soviets’ deadly SS 24 long-range missiles, which carry ten nuclear bombs each.
August 29, 1989
Sr. Lucia affirms in correspondence that the consecration “has been accomplished” and that “God will keep His word.”
November 9, 1989
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Nov-Dec 1989
Peaceful revolutions in Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania
1990
East and West Germany are unified
December 25, 1991
Dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
This response is a case in point of “they received not a love of the Truth in order for them to be saved. Therefore, God shall send them a strong delusion that they believe the lie…”
This is both a strong delusion AND a lie as none of it is Scriptural.
Tony,”If the light in you be darkness, how great is that darkness?”
Don’t you even CONSIDER what these Scriptures mean?
Even this “peace” of which you speak is false! For it is written in Daniel, “There will be war to the end.”
Jesus tells us, “I did not come to bring peace to the world, but a sword of division.”
“When they cry peace and security, then comes destruction on them like birth pains of a pregnant woman and they shall not escape.”
The PURPOSE of this false “peace” is to UNITE the world into a false sense of security is and to usher in the mark of the beast (666) – headed by the ANTI-Christ (HE is the “peacemaker” here)
So all you peace loving children of Mary and others will be tricked and forced into taking the mark. Great help your “mother” will be in the end.
Even this “peace” of which you speak is false! For it is written in Daniel, “There will be war to the end.”
Dear Anna,
This universe and everything inside will end eventually. Our bodies also will die and rot.
But before it all ends, there are a lot of things to be accomplished. They are more important than the world and our bodies.
Miracles are not an end to themselves. They are allowed to happen for the Glorification of God, by which sinners will be given hope to inspire them to save themselves. Jesus raised Lazar from his grave, but Lazar died later. But the raising of Lazar inspired many witnesses and those who heard about it; made them realise the greatness of God, Jesus’Divinity, and that there is life after death. These results whose effects last eternally are more important than the miracles themselves which are usually of a more temporary nature.
I think if you are driven by love of Christians and Christian Church, rather than by hatred of Catholics and Catholic Church, your enthusiasm and energy will yield more productive and lasting results.
Dear Tony,
I have known of this marvelous event, the fall of communism and the story behind it but I was not able to follow the story in the same details as you did.
Please write more.
Thank you.
constantino
You forgot to tell us how to detect a phony miracle or wonder. And God said there would be plenty
Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
II Thess. 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
So how do you detect them?
Dear Perry and others, nothing in Christ can be reduced to a mere formula, however, the following are some
crucial pointers here.
This is two-fold. We must first be sure that we are in right standing with God and have crossed from death to life and secondly, we need to “Put all things to the test” and how?
By the “plumb-line” of the Holy Scriptures, confirmed by the Holy Spirit.
• You must be born again. “Unless a man is born again he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” “Whoever believes and is baptized (SPIRITUAL baptism) will be saved but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” For “Not all who call Lord, Lord will be saved but those who do the will of the Father.” (not Mother!)
Without the Spirit of Truth we have no hope of discerning Truth from error or seeing things as God sees them. We have no hope of avoiding being deceived.
• This allows us a love of the Truth, and we need to live and DIE for a love of the Truth else, “…they received not a love of the Truth in order form them to be saved, therefore God Himself will send them a strong delusion that they believe the lied. That they might all be damned who did not love the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
• By developing spiritual discernment, we go on to discern the spirit of those around us. Even though the gift of discernment is not given to all, we can still test all things with Scripture and this is why we need to have a complete picture of what the Bible is saying and not just cling on to a few choice verses that add weight to our particular belief system/religion. “Man does not live by bread alone but by EVERY Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Referring now to your original question about how to detect them.
• “When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” (Isaiah 8:19,20) Are Catholic saints for example not MEDIUMS and SPIRITISTS? They have THOUSANDS of “saints”, plus Mary, who MEDIATE between God and men, when it is written, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus.”
• If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-3)
• So now we need to check WHICH GOD people are leading us to and what IN REALITY (not what they tell you, for “satan is a liar and the father of lies”) but WHAT are they REALLY worshipping and leading you to. The word worship indicates total love and adoring, much like a dog licking his master’s hand. You can check this definition out in the concordance if you wish to confirm this.
Remember that Paul tells us, “Even though there be MANY LORDS and MANY GODS…” And it is also written, “Satan is god of this world” AND “Prince of the AIR”
Not forgetting the terrifying Scripture about the OTHER Jesus, DIFFERENT gospel and DIFFERENT spirit. (see 2Cor11:2-4)
• To labour this point yet again. The TRUE Lord Jesus Christ COMES IN HIS FATHER’S NAME (“and you receive Me not”) “IF ONE COMES IN HIS OWN NAME, HIM YOU WILL RECEIVE.”
And “Whoever believes in Me DOES NOT BELIEVE IN ME but IN HIM WHO SENT ME.”
Continuing from Deuteronomy 13 (vs4-8) “Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which [is] as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; [Namely], of the gods of the people which [are] round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:” (Deuteronomy 13:1-8)
“On some, compassion making a difference. Others, haul them out of the fire.”!
“There is nothing new under the sun. What has been will be again and what has been done will be done again.”
“That which is, it already has been.”
Anna you are spot on.
Sadly there is in Australia and i believe in most Western formerly “Christian” nations, there is a lack of the knowledge and experience you enjoy.
One or the remedies for this is an understanding of what Chritian and Christ in the Bible context are/mean, in contrast to the popular notions.
Christ is at first not a name. (I do not say that we can not use it as such)
It’s from a Greek word Christos the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew form “messiah” (mashiach). Both words literally mean “Anointed One.”
In Acts we read “How God “anointed” – (“christosed” “mashiached” – Anglicized to help make it clear) Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with “power” (Gr dunamis – ability, from where we get our dynamite – dynamic): who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
Jesus anointing was when the Holy Ghost came on him at His baptism by John “This is my beloved son in whom I AM well pleased…”
Unfortunately for many, it is never made clear that being “born again” is to “follow the pattern” (a vital biblical principle: “see that you make it according to the pattern….” was made clear to builders of the Altar, Ark,Temple, Tabernacle, etc. (They altered the altar – and it cost them)) This holds true to those also who would follow Jesus. He is The Pattern and like Him we should be baptized in water and in the Spirit – as He was – one baptism “down in the water (buried) up in the Spirit (regenerated-transformed)” .
The book of Acts is copious with detail of what the early church expected to see and hear when new folk entered the church!
Jesus commanded the deciples to not leave Jerusalem until they received {The promise of the Father} which, said he you have heard of me.” He made it clear they would receive “power” (dunamis) from on high (Luke 24:49)
Acts 1 4 “and commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the
*{promise of the Father}, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence….. But ye shall receive “power” (dunamis) after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (everywhere, all places, to our time)”
* To me the “Promise of the Father” is {from scripture and experience) the selfsame promise made as Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden – it was the promise of salvation to come “And I will put enmity between thee (the devil) and the woman, and between thy (the devil) seed and her seed (Jesus); it shall bruise thy head, and thou (the devil) shalt bruise his (Jesus) heel.”
And now in Jerusalem at Pentecost (again – according to the pattern) the opening of fallen man’s access to the victory obtained by Jesus crushing the serpents “head” (is this also symbolic for satan’s authority over us?)
NB When in John 1:12 we read “to as many as believed on him to them he gave the “power” to become the sons of God” “Power” here is Gr Exousia and is “power of choice-authority” not “dunamis” (ability – dynamic – dynamite)
This i believe is the main reason we see an abundance of miracles in the early Church and in modern “PentecostaL” groups – but little plus a lack of faith in orthodoxy: They have not been taught to exercise the “authority” of John 1 (Many are told this is enough, but the pattern is incomplete) and then receive the “ability” of Acts 1:8 and Acts 2 :36-38!! Only then is the pattern complete and now then we must walk on in the Spirit!
“They shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set them free”
They have THOUSANDS of “saints”, plus Mary, who MEDIATE between God and men, when it is written, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus.”
Dear Anna,
When you run out of milk,
do you go to a grocer, or supermarket,
or do you go to a Church and pray to God to deliver you a packet of milk
or ask Jesus to mediate between you and God to arrange delivery of a packet of milk?
I don´t think one needs religion or to believe in god to live an honorable life here on earth. You don´t need the church to tell you what’s wrong or right. No need for the Ten Commandments for my brain to understand that I am doing wrong to people, and therefore that´s how we should live our life. Living the best way that we can and not doing to others what we don´t like for our-self. No matter what the church or a God in the sky has to say about it (or don´t)
I strongly believe that God is a social movement
Religious People claim that we are the only living beings with a sense of mortality, and therefore we have a supreme being watching over us. But a five year old can tell that´s just intelligence of the human mind. We need to believe in something to be sure we´ll be alright after this adventures life is over,
We fear what we don´t understand, and the church makes lots of moneys keeping us afraid of things, just like government, just like everything else (don´t get me started on Church)
I live my life the best I can, by human pain (physical or emotional) we measure a lot of the wrongs in life, if I punch in the face you will get hurt, so don´t do that to other people, it is not rocket science people!!!
How I live my life here in Costa Rica it´s probably very different on how u people life yours in the States, and a lot more different on how a little kid in Bagdad is raised. Who’s to say I’m right or you´re wrong??? I don´t
Religion preach about wisdom and comprehension, and that´s a good thing, but we humans are too stupid to miscomprehend a simple thing like that, I know for a fact that many of you would think that a person in Bagdad will Go straight to hell just for praying to Allāh, no matters if his deeds were more Christian like than yours. right??
We make our own way in this earth, if you don´t do things for your-self no magic candle in the sky will
We’re alone and forgotten
You may fell especial on your 130.000$ houses pretending god listens to you, that god cares for you just because you kneel 3 times a week before a priest
Do you really think that?? Are u that naive??
Why are you the lucky one and not a little kid in Bagdad who has watched horror all his life, I would give many things in my life to see a single act of divine intervention. God works in mysterious ways you say. Well………….yes, it´s very mysterious to me too, I’ll give you that one
And if that´s how god operates then I will not have part in it
Live life the best you can, help people that needs aid
I don´t need no priest or a God on an Empty Sky to love or help people and to live an honorable life.
Sorry about the English, and i think this is the wrong blog for this specific topic,anyways
Perry, I suggest you google ‘Two Sister Lucys of Fatima’, and you will get another slant on the integrity of the hierarchy’s handling of the aftermath of the ‘event’.
Perry,
I think the next passage answers the question. Matt 7:23 continues the thought and gives the reason why “signs and wonders” or other gifts aren’t enough to detect the dark from the light. It states pretty clearly how a holy gift can become a mere gimmick when it is devoid of Good Spirit. From the Diaglot’s Greek translation, “And then I will declare to them, because never I knew you; depart from me, those working the lawlessness.”
Even the Dalai Lama (and others) speak to this when examining the proliferation in modern society of various forms of Tantric science. He calls the decantation or separation of technology from it’s original intention (to promote genuine loving between humans) a form of gimmickry. I think Jesus was saying the same thing.
Some of the miracles experienced or witnessed ages ago can now be explained with science. That doesn’t mean they weren’t miracles (or aren’t still) but now because we understand the technology behind them, anyone can do them, not just someone of faith or who prays to G@d. Today there are many experiences or abilities that are considered miracles, signs and wonders if you will, but at some point the technology transcends the spirituality. Thus even those who are devoid of “the law” are then able to perform or experience them.
How to detect them? Look at the big picture. Personally, I like following motives and how the action follows the path of Love (G@d). A Catholic priest once told me that a good rule of thumb when judging what may or may not be a sin (off the mark, per “the law”) is to examine conditions, intentions and consequences. Whatever method you use, it’s obviously important to know the difference between fools gold and the real stuff.
You better read your bible again. It does say that niracles would cease “When that which is perfect is come.” It has come, the bible, New Testament. Most of the gifts of the Holy Spirit w ere given to the Apostles. Most of the disciples hd the gift of speaking in other languages which are sometimes callrd tongues.
The passage that says
“When that which is perfect is come.”
—please quote it in full context.
The end of 1Cor 13 refers to the second coming and the resurrection. The idea that the closed canon of Scripture is in view here is often used to say the gifts are no longer operational but that’s not what Paul is saying.
He’s saying until perfection appears we shall never UNDERSTAND perfectly.
If the Scriptures really are in view here why are there so many denominations and different interpretations of the Bible?
1 Corinthians 13:8-12 NKJV Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. (9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part. (10) But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. (11) When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (12) For NOW we see in a mirror, dimly, but THEN face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know JUST AS I ALSO AM KNOWN.
Do we know God as well as he knows us? Of course not! Only in the resurrection will this happen. That’s what Paul is saying!
1 John 3:2 NKJV Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM, for we shall see Him as He is.
Perry I think he refers to this passages: Love never fails. But whether there are [gifts of] prophesying, they will be done away with; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we have partial knowledge and we prophesy partially; 10 BUT WHEN THAT WICH IS COMPLETE ARRIVES, that which is partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a babe, I used to speak as a babe, to think as a babe, to reason as a babe; but now that I have become a man, I have done away with the [traits] of a babe. 12 For at present we see in hazy outline by means of a metal mirror, but then it will be face to face. At present I know partially, but then I shall know accurately even as I am accurately known. 13 Now, however, there remain faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
All wath remainse are faith, hope and love but the greatest of these is love.
Why??? For the moment we need faith, hope and love from the moment that the ones who earn the price of ever lasting live, they don’t need faith and hope anymore because the promisses are forfilled on the contrary with this love is something that wille exist forever.
if we annalise this in the cotext we can conclude – but as so offen not prove – that everything including miracles wil be done away with as not needed anymore for the spreading of the good news of the kingdom.
This will not mean that ther are no mircles annymoer today. But wer have to be very, VERY, VERY carefull with this, because – as we all now ‘satan wil turn himself into a person of the light, etc’ as the most of us well known, very prair that isn’t directed to God Allmighty in the name of is Son Jesus Christ our King and Savior – Is on very thin ice. Ther is as mantioned several times before ‘ONE MEDIATOR, Jesus Christ the Son of God, Who has died for the human race, so that people could believe in him, repent and ACT recordingly with ther faith, to be saved.
I don´t think one needs religion or to believe in god to live an honorable life here on earth.
Religion teaches you not only how to you live a honourable life but also why to live a honourable life.
You don´t need the church to tell you what’s wrong or right.
You don’t have to go to school to get educated or learn mathematics. But it would be more convenient for you, and probably more sensible especially if you have access to one.
No need for the Ten Commandments for my brain to understand that I am doing wrong to people, and therefore that´s how we should live our life.
Two commandments are enough.
Love God above everything else, and Love others as you love yourself.
Living the best way that we can and not doing to others what we don´t like for our-self. No matter what the church or a God in the sky has to say about it (or don´t).
But that is what the Church and God in the sky also says.
I strongly believe that God is a social movement.
He indeed is.
Religious People claim that we are the only living beings with a sense of mortality, and therefore we have a supreme being watching over us. But a five year old can tell that´s just intelligence of the human mind. We need to believe in something to be sure we´ll be alright after this adventures life is over,.
Nowadays, five year olds are smarter.
We fear what we don´t understand, and the church makes lots of moneys keeping us afraid of things, just like government, just like everything else (don´t get me started on Church).
So you should try to understand. When you understand, the fear will go away.
I live my life the best I can, by human pain (physical or emotional).
Sometimes it is not only pain. It can be also death. But when that happens, the lesson is too late.
we measure a lot of the wrongs in life, if I punch in the face you will get hurt, so don´t do that to other people, it is not rocket science people!!!
Do you want to wait to learn that a snake bite is painful after you got bitten once?
How I live my life here in Costa Rica it´s probably very different on how u people life yours in the States, and a lot more different on how a little kid in Bagdad is raised. Who’s to say I’m right or you´re wrong??? I don´t
There is nothing wrong in telling the truth.
Religion preach about wisdom and comprehension, and that´s a good thing, but we humans are too stupid to miscomprehend a simple thing like that, I know for a fact that many of you would think that a person in Bagdad will Go straight to hell just for praying to Allāh, no matters if his deeds were more Christian like than yours. right??
If his deeds are Christian like, then his Allah is Jesus Christ. Instead, if he kills people and plants bombs in buildings and buses and market-places, his Allah is Satan, and he will go to Hell for his deeds.
We make our own way in this earth, if you don´t do things for your-self no magic candle in the sky will.
On your own, you can make nothing. Not even a hair on your body, or a scrap of paper, or even a paper-clip.
We’re alone and forgotten
Who is “we”? Nobody will live one second without the constant attention and care of GOD.
You may fell especial on your 130.000$ houses pretending god listens to you, that god cares for you just because you kneel 3 times a week before a priest.
Not because you kneel, but because God cares.
Without God’s help you won’t be able to even drink a glass of water.
Do you really think that?? Are u that naive??
If you think that you can live on your own without any help from anybody else, you must be very naive.
Why are you the lucky one and not a little kid in Bagdad who has watched horror all his life,
If the people in a country follow rules, love one another, and live Christian lives, their children will live more prosperous lives. On the other hand, if the people in a country do not follow any rules, lives for themselves, rob each other, kills and hurts each other, mistrusts each other, children of those countries will suffer the consequences of the sins their parents committed.
I would give many things in my life to see a single act of divine intervention. God works in mysterious ways you say.
Try it out once. Live a holy Christian life, and see the difference in your life as well as those around you. Seeing the difference in you, your whole country can change for the better.
Well………….yes, it´s very mysterious to me too, I’ll give you that one.
Indeed, isn’t it mysterious??
And if that´s how god operates then I will not have part in it.
No, instead, you can initiate the change. You can become the seed of a good Christian tree when planted in the dirty soil of your country, will yield good fruits.
Live life the best you can, help people that needs aid.
Now, you are talking Christianity.
I don´t need no priest or a God on an Empty Sky to love or help people and to live an honorable life.
Now you are talking like Satan. Satan thought the same thing thousands of years ago. We can learn from his mistake.
Sorry about the English,
You are quite modest. A good teacher can help you with your English, and religion also. Nowadays, there are so many self help books, and resources in the internet which can help you to improve yourself if you are willing. But, I believe you need help.
and i think this is the wrong blog for this specific topic, anyway.
No, think you have chosen the right blog.
HI PERRY IM SERGIO IM 24 YEARS OLD.I have a few questions so u can answer for me. First of all i dont know why god is not here with us right now at this very moment?. It seems the he had forgotten about us and gone because we are living for without a purpose we dont even know if he exist because we cannot prove that he is real. Second of all what if the real meaning of life was just to reproduce ourselfs like if we were parasites or a virus and the only thing that we do was eat, work,study,sex and live the life, thats sad i dont like that living, god has abdoned us and went without giving us any evidence that he was here or he existed the bible its not a proof its just a book that humans created to manipulate other people with religion. Please try to answer this email i do believe in god but if you start thinking a little bit all the things dosnt fit right. Im just a person who is lost and would like to know the truth
I think God is right here with us at this very moment.
Jesus said, “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”
If the only thing that we do was eat, work,study,sex and live the life, that IS sad.
I would like you to read the book of John carefully and let me know what your impressions are. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1&version=NIV
soory about the writing im not an american in a mexican. I dont belived in the bible. This book was a creation of us humans to manipulate people. I cannot imagine a god who is listening to all of our prayers and helping us every time we need something. What if life had no meaning at all, what if all that we know where a bunch of lies. We humans created the word of GOD to had a purpose in life. If god existe i think he should be able to give us a proof that he is there helping us right noW IN THIS VERY YEAR 2010. Like i said we dont have a purpose in life than to life the life and be working on this society that it sucks. Hope i was wrong