I don’t think any high functioning person would deny there is definitely a difference between the miracles of biblical times and today. Water turning to wine, water parting, blind receiving sight, the lame walking, the dead raised? I haven’t heard much of these sort of miracles happening in our day. I have heard of “smaller,” less visible miracles happening. Many people address this problem by saying they are happening but only in other parts of the world…yeah yeah…put them on Youtube then.
A couple of years back I personally attended a “healing service” and was very open to seeing a legitimate healing take place. I was so open to the idea that I even went up to be prayed for myself. I wasn’t healed and as person after person went up to “get healed,” I was frustrated that no one seemed to be “receiving” that night. In the end the biggest claim of a genuine healing was someone’s leg growing 1/2inch. Now I’m not here to dispel what someone says is a miracle for them, but that just doesn’t seem like the miracle-working God that I hear or read about. Like a lot of things in our world, I think we have lowered the bar of expectation so that our experience can match up with our beliefs. I always have wondered, if someone has the “gift of healing,” why not visit Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and share your gift by healing many kids of their diseases? It has always been odd to me that “healings” today have to take place in highly controlled environments like a church or stadium. Jesus and his disciples weren’t limited by location when they performed healings so why are healers today?
Bigger still for me is the fact that I served for 13 years in local church ministry and not once would I say that saw or heard of a genuine miracle in the congregation. Now I’m not sure what you do with that, but for me it definitely gives me pause to consider that God might not be performing miracles like He once did. In the end I think God is alright with me desiring to keep the bar high and seeking genuine, verifiable miracles. My desire is not like that of the atheist who seeks to disprove God from the apparent lack of miracles, rather my hope is really the opposite, that by experiencing miracles myself or at least constructing a theology that includes them would encourage my faith and give God the most Glory.
Now I’ve shared “The Problem” from my perspective, but in my next blog I will be sharing how I am currently processing these experiences with my understanding of the Bible and experiences others are having. If you missed my first post on Miracles, you can check it out HERE.
Melinda
March 3, 2011 at 10:27 am
Forgive me for sounding argumentative. I feel I must set the record straight. Without a doubt, there have been miracles right under your nose and on a regular basis. I don’t know what to attribute your not knowing of them. (This is not meant as a rebuke) May I gently urge you to ask God to open your eyes and ears to see them?
Like you, I also have health issues that have not been granted reprieve. I have family members in need of healing from on-going health issues.
I have been healed. Numerous times. Most recently, after fervent prayers by others, I was released from the bondage of gloom, for lack of a better word. My attitude about the weight of so many responsibilities had been dragging me down for years. It impacted my health, severely. The Holy Spirit answered my (and others) prayer for better health, by showing me changes that I needed to make in my own life that were impacting my relationship with my heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit did not stop there. He directed the prayers of others to purge this despair and gloom from me, so that I could address these responsibilities with joy. Get this: those who prayed to lift the gloom, for the most part, had not met me or spoken with me. The prayed with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and I felt the relief instantaneously. I was unaware there were prayers being offered on my behalf. I knew immediately that there had been, though. The Holy Spirit allowed me to recognize this. It was confirmed by my family member, who had been a part of that intercession session. My responsibilities are still enormous and daunting. However, I feel buoyed and enabled. They prayed against a return of that strong-hold and I am several months past, still feeling the burden lifted.
From way back: one of our sons was a toddler and pulled a heavy antique wall mirror away from the wall. I was in a different room and heard the thunderous crash. “Father God, protect my son!” shot from my lips like a siren. I believe that God knew I was going to say that and had already done so. When I entered the room, this 5.5′ heavy, wooden framed mirror was on top of my 3′ son. All around him were long shards of glass, making a cage around his body and holding up the weight of the heavy frame. I instructed him to squeeze his eyes shut and told him I was going to lift off the mirror frame. As I did so, with my heart pumping like crazy, the knife-like glass cage pieces all fell AWAY from his little body. Not only was he not stabbed/gouged by any of the shards, on impact, he did not have a scratch on him. I asked him if he was OK. He responded, “Of course! The angel protected me.” I knew what he was referring to. He had, on several occasions, already spoken of ‘the angel’.
I have volumes of examples. I am available to tell you more of them, if you wish. You know how to reach me. However, I must say that reading about them or hearing of them is not the same as seeing them. I understand that.
godsidekurt
March 3, 2011 at 11:22 am
Melinda,
I appreciate you sharing miracles that you experienced and again I’m not here to argue with your opinion of those being “genuine miracles.” Personally I can say (and do so in my blog) that I didn’t see things at the level that I would use the term miracle for. I know our experience can be different regarding this issue and I intend to say more on that in the next post. Regardless, I still feel there wasnt anything of the miracle sort that happened and was shared at Sunset during my 7 years there. This seems odd to me given the size of the church and the amount situations in need of a miracle that I saw (not the least of which being the situations regarding the senior leadership of the church)
Stay tuned,
Kurt
Scott
March 7, 2011 at 8:03 pm
First off, I totally understand where you’re coming from. Miracles and healings are heavily debated and it’s easy to think they aren’t for us today.
I think there are a few things we should talk about, specifically in the area of healing, but I think they apply to most of the things people might consider miracles or the “supernatural.”
Most importantly, I’d like to point to something Jesus said… He told His disciples that they would do even greater things than He had done. What had He been doing? Healing, delivering, raising people from the dead and speaking truth to the very heart of people (prophecy). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said we’d be doing even greater things than He had! that should get you excited…
So why don’t we walk out these things, doing even greater things than our Savior, Jesus Christ? There are a few very important things that I think we need to look at:
Faith. Yes, this is the one a lot of people throw around and use when someone isn’t healed or delivered from what ails them. Jesus saw very little happen in His hometown because of their lack of faith. That faith can also be stumbling block for those of us trying to live out the supernatural gifts that Jesus said we’d walk in. It only takes a little less than a mustard seed, but that sure seems like a lot when we need it most!
Another really important thing to all this supernatural stuff is listening. Yes, Jesus said He didn’t do anything that He didn’t hear from or see the Father doing. We must learn to hear and see what God is doing. Thank God we are filled with the Holy Spirit to help us. God is doing miracles all over the world, but we must be listening and ready to follow when He calls on us.
The other thing I think is overlooked by many Christians hoping to see the supernatural is the evangelistic side. I’ve seen and heard amazing things God has done when we take it to the streets. Tons of people are seeing healing, deliverance and more when they pray with people out in their daily lives that don’t know Jesus. Jesus wants to have an encounter with everyone, especially those who don’t know Him yet… just like He did with so many people He healed, delivered and set free 2,000 years ago.
Maybe if the Church got outside the four walls of our cozy mega-sanctuaries and took the Good News to the people that need to hear it, we’d see miracles everyday. Like Jesus said, He came for the sick because they’re in need of a doctor. The Great Physician, Rapha Lord (the God who Heals) loves to get “sick” people well and He lets us be a part of it!
I’ll leave you with this… John Wimber, a man God used mightily in healing, used to say, “If you haven’t seen someone healed, pray for a thousand people and then come talk to me.” We’ve got to walk out our faith, listen to our Father and actually pray for people, I mean pray and pray some more, kind of like the persistent widow. God is just waiting to show us even greater things!
godsidekurt
March 8, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Scott,
Thanks for finally getting around to reading this…I know that iPad has got your attention alot these days…but did ya know you can actually read blogs on it too?
I appreciated your thoughts but didn’t feel like you interacted with what I said at all. Your statement; “Jesus said… He told His disciples that they would do even greater things than He had done…” only makes my point STRONGER. I would say very few would argue that Christians today are doing greater miracles than JC did. Once again I submit that we have lowered our expectation of miracles to match reality…few people experience miracles and those few experience what I would call a small or lesser miracle… definitely not the type of stuff that I think would warrant JC overcrowding a home when He visited. Jesus healing peoples foot fungus doesnt draw a crowd nor do I think it would bring many people into the Kingdom. You cant doubt a big gap exists between the kind of miracles you and others are suggesting are happening and the experience of most Christians today.
Anyways good discussion, stay tuned for my next post…got to finish my take-home Theology exam first
Might be a couple days.
Kurt
Scott
March 8, 2011 at 12:56 pm
I don’t disagree with your point about what the “Western World” Christian has “dumbed down” miracles to… I’m calling us to more. We must live out the faith Jesus has given us access to. I’m still figuring out, but I’m praying that He gives me more faith to walk out and use what He has given me through the Holy Spirit.
We have indeed ” lowered the bar” now that we’ve identified it, it’s time to live differently. We serve an Almighty God who loves to change lives… that truly is Good News. Time to live that way.