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.
Dear Perry, 4give me for using this blog to contact. Things are complicated otherwise. My question is.. Are there any significant scientific amendments or elaborations etc. to Dr , Ross` 1996 talk about Exotic Matter and ff.?
I often direct people to that part of your site and would like to know what the ” current ” position might be. Thanks for all your work. You have some brain !
There is certainly new and updated information – Hugh Ross’s site http://www.reasons.org has all kinds of articles. They do podcasts, they’ve published a number of books and I’d strongly encourage you to browse and see what they’re up to.
Jim,
I don’t think the evidence of the shroud is conclusive because there are various counter arguments. There is controversy over the dating methods and the actual cloth has been dated the 14th century. So although I would love to believe it genuine, there is a possibility that it is not. But Jim I would love to see your video and make up my own mind about it. It would be a marvellous opportunity.
The reason it was dated 14th century was because after the it was damaged by fire, nuns repaired it using different materials which then the date of the original material and the ones the nuns used produced that sort of dating. At least that’s what i’ve read if i’m not mistaking.
Benny, you said,
“I consider myself as Type-One person and believe God is simple thing to understand. Simple in term of finding God in His creation (universe); not in “His” multi-interpretation of Bible’s content.
God has given mankind a mind, conscious and intelligence to find God in all centuries. So why people stick to “old-fashioned” cultures written in Bible? People, cultures and knowledges are evolutes; think of creation of universe for example… If the Genesis version of story is written in this science-awareness era, I believe the story would be more scientific than just a “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” and “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”….
Well that is your opinion. It’s fairly well written and I believe that you are being truthful in that you believe what you say.
I am not offended by your honesty and I hope that you are not offended by mine.
The revelation that Jesus had is that God is our father. Spiritual father and even our natural father in a sense since he ultimately created us.
God is a person. He LOVES US! He wants a personal relationship with us. He can be discovered. He can be known. Nature is great. You can meet with the living God there. I have done that. But nature is not God. God created nature. He is so much more. There is a promise in the OT (old testament) somewhere that says “if you seek me diligently you will find me.”
I believe that you are right about one thing. There are 2 kinds of people. Some that are born again and some that are not. You are not born again. I am. Does this sound smug?Sorry about that. To be born again…these words don’t even make sense to you. Do they? The good news is that you can be born again! Praise God.
Pray (talk)to our Father. Ask with a very humble and very sincere heart to show you TRUTH. Ask for eyes to see and ears to hear. You must ask with faith. You can’t know the truth by trying to figure it out with what you know now and with your intelligence. Let Him guide you. Keep watch for his leading and guiding and the circumstances that you find yourself in. Let him reveal himself to you. I will pray for you now that God would reveal himself to you.
As you draw close to him you may have conviction of sin in your life. Repent. To repent is to grieve for your sins and to stop sinning and move on. If you can do all of that then perhaps one day you will be born of God.
God is revealed to some extent in the Bible. The Bible is like a treasure map that leads to the treasure. The treasure is God.
Yay~
Actually I’ve been thinking lately about the scrapes I’ve been in. I spent my childhood being beaten by my mother and brother, and having pretty bad accidents besides. I fell at least 15 ft out of a tree and tripped down the stairs, hitting my head on the wall at the bottom. Then there was the time I got pneumonia…
So, yes. I am thankfully unharmed.
Perry,
How do you know for certain that the guy who Todd Bentley claimed the Lord told him was deaf for 34 years was not a plant in the audience?
I am a skeptic because, from my own experience with healing by the Holy Spirit, the Lord has given me word of knowledge about people but rarely such specific information. Plus, the Lord has encouraged me to *not* make a spectacle of myself. I could probably make a lot of money by doing the same thing but I fear the Lord would be displeased and take away this charism. I don’t think He wants us doing these things for show or for profit. But am I wrong about these things?
Do I believe the deaf can be healed? Absolutely. One time, a man with skin cancer by his eye asked me to pray over him. I did so and touched the cancer. The cancer was healed and the next day he called me and said that he had woken up in the night hearing strange noises in the house. But that’s when he realized that he had regained hearing in his right ear. He had lost hearing in his ear about 20 years before from an exploding mortar. He was healed of deafness even though I didn’t know he had a deaf ear and the Lord did not tell me.
The guys up on stage make me nervous because they seem to lack piety and humility, something the Lord seems to demand from His servants. Can you help the rest of us reconcile this? Are those people who get up on stage and heal for money the real deal or not? Do they truly heal by the power of the Holy Spirit? If so, does God want them to be making spectacles of themselves or profiting from their charismatic gifts? It is written that it is fitting for those who spread the Gospel to derive their living from it. But healing on-stage seems to cross a line; or does it?
These are not criticisms but sincere questions.
Perry,
It’s entirely OK with me if you do not post this comment or my prior comment, regarding Todd Bently. First, I absolutely believe in miracles and the healing power of God. I have no excuse not to believe. If you decide not to post this, please, respond to my email address to let me know your thoughts. I will appreciate that.
I’ve watched it before but for some reason, the Lord brought the video to my attention of Todd healing people on stage. When I watch that video, I get a very uneasy feeling and “Simon the Magician” comes to mind. While I recognize that you did your homework to validate the story of Brian Burgee, via Charles Chandler, I remain unconvinced. I’ve prayed for the truth about Todd but, so far, the Lord is making me figure this one out. I think it’s because God wants us to study this more in-depth.
From experience, there are some glaring inconsistencies between what we see on stage with Todd Bently and what I know to be true about healing miracles by the Holy Spirit. I have been involved in and witnessed numerous miraculous healings and, while some people become light-headed and need to sit down, none have ever fallen down. For Todd, everyone seems to fall over and they all do it the same way, as if rehearsed. The man whose deafness was healed when I touched him remained quite conscious and did not even realize that his ear was healed until later.
So far, I do not know of any account in scriptures where Jesus or a discple touched someone and they fell down. Nor did they shout, “Bam!” I know “healers” who have been trained to do these things but I have never witnessed anyone be healed that way. This does not mean it can’t happen but, based on true experience with healing by the Holy Spirit, what we see in that video is fabrication, deception, mind tricks, or perhaps mass placebo effect. It’s important to remember that we are healed by our own faith. So, it’s possible that people can be healed because they believe God heals them, regardless of the man on stage.
I recommend reading about Simon the Magician. This is not an accusation of anyone in particular but those who falsely claim charisms and do so for show and profit do a great dis-service to Christianity, especially those whom they deceive and later lose their faith because of it.
Please, forgive me if I offend anyone. It’s not my intent to offend in any way. If I am wrong, I will be quick to admit it.
In Christ.
Jim, How are you getting on with the video that you promised to attach. Did you solve the problem? Have you learned what to do?
Apologies, I’ve not been working on this as I’ve had other greater distractions. However, I do have a photo selected to upload. I just need to select a web loction to upload it.
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read something like this before. So good to search out somebody with some original ideas on this subject. realy thank you for starting this up. this website is something that is needed on the net, someone with slightly originality. helpful job for bringing one thing new to the internet!
There is POWER!!! POWER!!! wonder working POWER! in the precious Blood of the Lamb!
Amen Bro’ Perry.
What a mighty JESUS we serve!!! Thank you ABBA Father!
We (mankind) were bought for a price, each one of us…The GIFT is paid for…We simply ACCEPT the Gift JESUS died for!!! Amen.
FAITH is what stirs the Father. His Holy Spirit MOVES us!
You wrote in such TRUTH:
Paul said to desire the greater gifts.
The church has been banning them.
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.
And we wonder why the church is anemic. We wonder why there’s an atheistic bias in the western world. We wonder why 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.
The church has sliced off one of its testicles and thrown it in the garbage. No wonder it doesn’t feel like a man.
My friend, let me assure you: 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.
Brother that IS the rubber meeting the road!!!
The BATTLE of the FLESH vs the SPIRIT.
Our flesh bodies are described as TENTS in Scripture.
The Passion of Christ shown of Todd Bentley depicts the REALITY of the flesh battling the Spirit. Temptations of carnality become greater and greater, for we are in the midst of a HUGE and INTENSE Spiritual Battle.
We are to donn the whole armor, and Paul said that he’d prefer us to be like him (celibate), but to avoid the burn of CARNAL passion, we should take a God fearin’ Jesus lovin’ spouse. Then deny one another NOT, to prevent temptation from leading us astray.
Then, to be EXPECTED, because the opposer is NO GOOD, the JESUS lovin’ married couple shall be tested CARNALLY continually. Satan and his minions attack through THE BLOOD.
JESUS’ BLOOD TRUMPS ALL!!! Every knee is gonna BOW to HIM!
We MUST love HIM first, and pray in HIS name, and in FAITH USE ALL THE GIFTS HE WORKED SO HARD FOR!!!
Jesus! Messiah! Emmannuel! DID, IN LOVE, RENT IN TWAIN THE TEMPLE CURTAIN from the TOP to the bottom.
If one KNOWS Jesus, then they are talking to Him all day long. For HE is The Great Shepherd and His sheep know His voice!
Ye must be born again.
FAITH in JESUS is where we find our vehicle running as He intended. On all eight cylinders and a pair of balls.
Actually we embrace NINE Gifts of His Spirit, and man “runs” the show…not momma.(i didn’t make the rules, nor determined your sex, so don’t be hatin’; Those who find themselves at this moment offended might re-consider their depth of SPIRITUAL TRUTH)
We MUST REPENT continually, because the flesh is no good. A filthy rag.
Amen!
OUR LIVES SHOULD BE ALL ABOUT JESUS,,,
For HE is the ANSWER!
The LORD ALONE shall be exhalted!
God Bless All,
Michael Johnson
Perry,
I agree completely with what you say in Lie #8 regarding what the church has done to limit its own power.
You say, “The church has cut off one of its testicles and thrown it in the garbage. No wonder it doesn’t feel like a man.” To which I would add, no wonder it doesn’t *appeal* to men.
There is too little for men to do in most churches, at least once the lawn has been mowed, the sanctuary cleaned and whatever needs fixing repaired. There is certainly little power.
But you also say that the *Protestant* church has amputated apostles, prophets, workers of miracles, healers and those who speak in tongues.
Fair enough, but are there *present day* apostles and prophets in the Catholic and Anglican churches? Present day — and living — workers of miracles and healers? Outside of the Charismatic Catholic movement, where does one find speakers of tongues in these churches? As far as I can determine, the Charismatic Episcopal Church, which once held great promise, has thrown over the ‘charismatic’ side in preference to the ‘episcopal’, apparently in the interest of being regarded as legitimate by older liturgical churches.
I think the church — both liturgical and ‘modern’ — has much for which to answer when it comes to miracles. As you note, miracles do occur. What is not happening is communication regarding miracles. Of course the world ignores them, of course Satan wants people ignorant of them. But Christians aren’t talking, either. I have no idea what may be happening in ‘other’ churches, nor are the people in them conversant with what may be happening in ‘my’ church. Certainly there is no witness to the world.
God doesn’t perform miracles to gratify us, He uses them to reach out to us. The Bible says that signs and wonders verify the preaching of the Word. That wasn’t true only in the ‘old days’ when few knew how to read, it is true today, because *Biblical* illiteracy is rampant, even in Christendom.
How motivated is God to perform miracles among passive consumers who don’t tell anyone what they have witnessed?
We are afraid — afraid of making God ‘look bad’ (as if that could happen), afraid of being disappointed, afraid of looking bad ourselves if what we ask doesn’t come to pass. On the other side of the coin, we are afraid of reinforcing the world’s stereotype of Christians as ignorant, gullible rubes if we do report miracles that later turn out to be false or to have other explanations.
Worse still, there is no shortage of people willing to take credit — who remain ‘on stage’ while the lame walk, the blind see and the deaf hear (and too often come back after the service to retrieve the crutches, white canes and hearing aids that they ‘threw away’). With sickeningly easy familiarity, poseurs ‘shoot blessings’ at people and blow on them to ‘make’ them fall down. High-profile televangelists have their followers chant, “even the demons are subject to us in His name!” as though forgetting that the passage in which that phrase occurs is a rebuke; Jesus reminding the disciples that they should *not* marvel at that but rather at the fact that they themselves have been saved.
Against that backdrop, it is miraculous that miracles still occur; another testimony of God’s grace and longsuffering.
Clearly from the videos, links and stories I share not everyone is silent about miracles. My church is fairly close to the Vineyard stream which I think does a great job of this. As does Catch the Fire ministries in Toronto (where the oft-criticized “Toronto Blessing” originated) and Bethel Church in Redding CA. I hope to play a part in reversing this trend.
I have seen miracle, signs and wonders. They are awesome! I love them. These testify to the love, grace and power of God.
We as Christians have to realize that even though we have experienced miracles, this is not an indication that we are truly going to end up in the Kingdom of Heaven. We need to know Him. Have we truly repented from our sins? Do we abide in him and bear fruit or do we resemble the world?
Many people Christians think that they are going to heaven but they are not. It is a narrow road and few find it.
What bothers me is this; no where do people preach or teach about the anointing. The 10 virgins – 5 had oil and 5 did not. What does it mean? Think about it.
Been a while since I was on here last.
It’s funny how people expect the worst a lot of the time and don’t consider good outcomes even when they’re just as likely to happen.
Out of the mouth of babes….
I’m an engineer by profession. Although I grew up in church my entire life, I’ve always found it difficult to trust in things I couldn’t explain, take apart, and put back together.
I grew up in a congregation that believed in miracles, but up until a few years ago, I never seen anything firsthand that I could verify and accept for myself as a real miracle. I’ve heard other close to me claim miracles, but I don’t believe a cancer patient getting 6 rounds of chemo and then going into remission hardly qualifies as a miracle.
As a young child, my daughter experienced many ear infections and like many children had tubes surgically placed in her eardrums. Most of the time, the tube will fall out within a year or two and the hole in the eardrum will heal.
Her case was different. After the tubes came out, she had holes in her eardrums for 2 years. As she became more active swimming and doing water sports, the holes became a problem and caused her to develop swimmers ear every few weeks.
Finally, the pediatrician told us about the 3 month rule. When these tubes come out, if the holes don’t heal within 3 months, they aren’t going to. The only choice is to have another surgery to repair the holes. He made note that he had seen her multiple times over the last two years and these holes were still present and now causing complications. He referred us to a surgeon.
We visited the surgeon. He confirmed the holes were there, and scheduled her for surgery two weeks later.
My daughter was 7 years old at this point. She was old enough to know what surgery was and she was terrified. With less than a week before surgery, she told her mom and me that surgery was no longer required, that Jesus had healed her ears while she slept the night before.
This was no surprise to me. At this point in her life, she still believed in Santa Claus. She could have just as easily of said the Easter Bunny fixed her ears while she slept.
But over the next 2 days she was so insistent that her mother took her back to the pediatrician. She said the doctor just snickered at her when she told him she just wanted him to verify the holes were still in her ears.
After examining her ears, he left the room and returned with a second scope used to view the inside of the ear. He then looked up at her mom and asked, “What happened to her?”
My wife told him the story as it happened. With my wife’s permission, he brought a second doctor into the room to confirm the holes were gone.
Call me doubting Thomas, but I was fascinated but skeptical when I got the call from my daughter telling me the story of what just happened at her doctor’s office. This doctor was my pediatrician at one time and I needed to talk to him for myself.
Two weeks later, I visited his office for my son’s checkup. I was trying to figure out a way to bring this up without sounding crazy. I didn’t have to.
As soon as he seen us, he asked my daughter to tell the story of what happened to her ears. For her it was as simple as, “Jesus fixed my ears”. He said, “That is the best explanation I can come up with.”
He also told me that day that in over 20 years as a physician, this was the only thing that he had seen that he would classify as a miracle.
I believed 100%, but I still needed more information! On the way home, I questioned my daughter. What did you see? Did you see something? Did you hear something? How did you know?
She summed it up very well with this simple response.
“I just knew he loved me enough.”
Perry,
I read your the story of your exploits in India with interest, particularly since it demonstrates that there is power still available for miracles, healings and breakthroughs.
Jesus says in Luke 10:19 –
“Behold I give unto you POWER…”
Nowhere in the scripture does it say that this power was ever withdrawn. It is still available to believers who fast and pray.
Years ago I decided to prove that this is the case. I wrote a book about it and posted a free ebook version of it on a website (Here’s the copy: http://www.firesprings.com/passionprayerbook.pdf). People who read the book and put the principles in practice have sent in over 3000 testimonies of miraculous healings, divine provisions, and even restoration of marriages.
Praise the LORD. HE still saves, heals and delivers. And there’s PROOF.
I now write a weekly prayer blog where believers from 117 countries actually post their praise reports (including their frustrations too!) daily. I call it Confessions of the Prayer Eagles. You can see it here: http://www.elishagoodman.org.
Thank you for coming out boldly to discuss this. God bless ya.
elisha
Well, I followed the link to Elisha’s website thinking I would find something real. Instead, it pops up a form that you can’t get around to see the site unless you input contact information. So, I reloaded the URL and got past that (Elisha, you might want to fix this because potential SPAM victims are getting away…)
After reading the fake testimonials, I clicked on the “miracles” link, which led me to one of those ad-speak pages that rambles on forever about how I just have to order the thingy you have for sale that will tell me how to cure everything and everyone and become rich – all for the unbelievably low price of $79.00 US.
Shameful.
If you take a look at my Blog, you will see that I regularly see God work healings and miracles.
It’s just become normal Christianity for me. I am more surprised now if NOTHING happens when I minister to someone.
I can’t help think if all these miracles are happening why for some and not others.
Does God pick and choose who to heal and who not to?
Does God cause the disease as well as cure it?
Does he choose to cure some 10 year olds with cancer and not another?
Are some of us more worthy and some not?
Is everything Gods will, I hear some say that God is in control of everything.
If God is in control of everything then why does he choose to cure some and not others.
If God is in control of everything then why does he allow such evil to exist?
Thanks
Dennis
Thank you Perry,
This was more uplifting and motivational than my daily devotional. Again, thanks for fanning my flame into a fire for the Lord. I had a mini revival this great Monday morning!
In Christ,
Kimberly
Perry,
A number of items.
Creation. OK, if creation took BILLIONS of years rather than the 6 days noted in Genesis, then please give me an answer to the only science that never changes – MATHEMATICS.
the number of chemical iterations that can be produced when TRYING to create one molecule of hemoglobin divided by 5 billion years MEANS that NATURE had to do millions of experiments PER SECOND over the past 5 billion years in order to produce one molecule of hemoglobin that works.
And why did nature decide to stop there and create hemoglobin over and over again when it hit on the right chemical formula. It is VERY apparent that those who embrace evolution have MORE religious faith in pantheism than reason allows me to have.
Miracles have not ceased. Christ did not heal certain people due to their LACK OF FAITH. Aborting 50 million children over the past 35 or 40 years shows how little faith we put into God working a bad situation out for the best.
Regards!
After researching the subject of evolution intensely for 7 years, what I find documented in the PhD level journals is considerably different from the neo-Darwinist, Dawkins style version where nature blindly makes mistakes and natural selection picks the winners. Yes, natural selection is the final arbiter but the generation process is vastly more beautiful than the atheists will ever accept. See my blog post about this at http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/new-theory-of-evolution/
Perry,
Great article, I too have experienced such things, but more closer to home (Australia). I do believe that the Lord still heals today and he is no respecter of person. Some of the thing I have experienced first hand are:
– People suffering from lower back pain – the first thing we do is check the length of their legs to see if there is one leg shorter than the other, this is mostly the case, then we sit them back in a chair hold their legs out in front of them and ask all praying to just give thanks to the Lord, and in about 10-20 seconds we see the short leg grow out, then when they stand up 100% of the time their back pain is gone.
– Upper back pain – we do the same thing and check the length of their arms, and if one is shorter or out of whack we simply hold them out in front of the person and give thanks once again. And the same thing happens, the short arm grows out.
Now, this was also my personal testimony too, I had twisted my back as a kid and had back pain on and off for years, then once my spiritual father prayed for me, I watched excited as my own leg grew out in front of me, then he checked my arms, and the same thing thing there, my short arm grew out and they have been even ever since. ;)
So now, seeing that I now pray for others who have the same issues as I had. Then, to help their faith grow I ask them once they have been healed to then go pray for someone else who has the same issue, and then they start to give thanks and start to see the Lord work in these people’s lives as well.
One of my fav bible teachers is Derek Prince who helped pioneer some of the things that a lot of churches did not want to go into; things like healing and deliverance (2 of the same areas I now see a lot of miracles every time we pray). But through his teaching countless people have now been changed as a result. He often talked about when you receive a measure of your healing that you “keep the plug in” (meaning keep giving thanks until you receive your full healing). This is what I find most people don’t do, “give thanks”.
In regards to words of knowledge and word of wisdom a number of friends and myself included have received a number of these in the years gone by. Not ever meeting someone before and when we pray for them the Lord gives us specifics about that person and afterwards they say “have you been reading my mail”? and we reply with No, but the Lord knows you intimately (so, yes God does get their attention, cause there is no way we could have ever known such a thing about that person).
Now, in some small measure I am helping with the distribution of Derek Prince’s materials reach the unreached and teach the untaught, and loving the unloved (which was his mission for over 60+ years). I believe he is one of the most respected bible teaches of this century :)
Blessings to all.
Carl
Perry,
You put your finger on half of it. Indeed, since I was seven and first counted Christ’s 37 documented miracles in the New Testament and looked at what I was being taught, I knew instinctively that what I was being fed was watered down.
I’d challenge you now to read The Autobiography of Yogi, and learn about what was really not passed on to Christians. This book details a meditation process that the Christ birth story tells in symbolic language. The Star of Bethlehem exists inside you and can be reached through a kriya yoga mediation process. This book also documents countless miracles.
There are, of course, many paths to miracles, as your videos would suggest. The crazy biker got there who knows how? The woman who prayed all the time as was “as a little child unto god”.
This is the knowledge that humanity awaits – what are the paths to miracles and how can they be sought and taught. Part of Christ’s salvation was in planting the seeds to help evolve the human species to Christ consciousness.
Great article though. This is a topic that has been near and dear to my heart since I was seven years old. The pap that is taught in churches and passed onto humanity is a shadow of what Jesus taught and who he was.
One other comment I have is that I have been the source of a miracle healing and have a friend who’s gangrenous arm was saved by a miraculous Buddhist monk.
Miracle is just a term that we use to describe the logical workings of the universe of which we know not.