Introduction
I didn’t do it.
In fact, I didn’t do any of the things that you are about to read. I was there, and I saw them happen, but I didn’t do them. The fact of the matter is, I can’t do any of these things, only God can, and the good news is, that you can’t do these things either. In fact, I’m hoping that this ministry will give you the confidence to go out and “not do” even greater things! Does that sound weird? Maybe it is because something weird is going on. What do I mean by this? Christians all over the world are praying for one another and miracles are occurring. In churches, homes, shopping malls and at bus stops. Just open up your favorite browser and search for “street healing”. As I’m writing this, I did and found over 450 MILLION (million – with an “M”) hits. That’s more than the population of the United States!
Something weird is definitely going on!
But this isn’t exactly new either. Read the Acts of the Apostles and you will see the parallels. Just as it was then, what is going on now is that God is on the move. Let’s face it, humanity is hurting. The Book of Revelation says that in the end there will be wars, pestilence, killing of the innocents and the abandonment of truth. The Prophet Isaiah even warns us that right will be called wrong and wrong will be called right.
Do you think we’re there yet? I do!
Instead of giving alms, we spend our hard-earned money to rent storage space for things we don’t need in the first place. Our church attendance is pathetic, we can’t discuss issues without getting into arguments and we worry about everything under the sun except that which matters most – each other. With the abortion doctor at one end of life and the euthanasia doctor at the other, it’s easy to see why society is complacent about life between those two points. Well call me crazy, but this sounds like a society that is in trouble. Here’s the good news. Every time humanity has found itself in this predicament, God has showed up and saved us and today, the Holy Spirit is on the move and working hard to help us out of this mess.
What? You haven’t heard of this? I’ll bet I know why you haven’t – because no one told you. That’s the problem with society today. Before literacy was widespread, we used to tell stories. We would gather in groups and the best story tellers would tell stories about amazing things. Whole families would be involved, and everyone took a turn telling their stories. The best ones would be told and retold over and over again. Then when we learned to read, we stopped telling stories as much, but at least we started reading them to each other. In fact, many of the greatest stores lived on in print. The Iliad, the Odyssey, the works of Shakespeare and, of course, the Bible with its collection of the marvelous stories of God and us. But even then, we didn’t stop telling stories. We kept right on and we even shared the occasional good story book with other people. In fact, we built whole buildings in almost every city with the sole purpose of housing these stories. There aren’t too many of these places left anymore but we used to call them “libraries”.
Then along came the Internet.
Now, instead of reading, we watch stories in our homes all by ourselves and we tell no one about them. Instead, we say, “did you see that video…you know…the one with the cat?” or we just tell people to “look it up on the Internet” for themselves. As a result, we’ve lost the ability to tell stories and in doing so, we’ve lost that person-to-person contact. You see, telling a story involves engaging your heart, mind and soul. You share a story because it moves you and you want to share that feeling with those around you. I know, because I’m a storyteller and I have lots of stories. Stories that move me and have impacted me greatly. Most are my own stories, but not all. In fact, I love to collect other people’s stories too! But whether my stories or those re-told from other people, all of the stories here are God’s stories; not mine. I just happened to be passing by when these things happened and, like the donkey lucky enough to be picked for Jesus to ride on into Jerusalem, there go I. What kind of stories? Stories of God breaking into people’s lives with healing (yes, real miraculous physical healings) and deliverance (yes, really and truly casting out the devil). While all of the stories are different, involving different people, places, circumstances and outcomes, they all are about one thing – the modern-day miraculous works of God.
So why are there so many miraculous works going on today? Gee, could it be…because we need them? I know… it sounds incredible, but then so is our God. Jesus truly wants to use us to do miraculous works in His name and He is fulfilling this wish right now. How do I know this? Because I’ve taught numerous people how to pray for healing and them watched them do it. But more importantly, it’s because the Bible said so. In fact, it was Jesus himself who told us to do these things “in His name”. But why? you may ask. Ahh! Great question. You see, with God it’s all about the timing – and the time is now.
A few paragraphs ago I said that society was in trouble – and it is. Why? Because we lost God. All around the world, churches are being burned, Christians are being killed and God is being mocked. It has come to the point that humanity cannot save the itself until it saves the church. When I think of humanity trying to save the Church, I envision a committee of scholars getting together from multiple faith traditions who pour over the Bible, examine current events and then analyze how to best fix the world. They would then write it all up and prayerfully present it to Jesus asking for Him to bless their efforts.
What would be Jesus’ response? It would probably be the same thing He said in Matthew 16:23: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Ouch.
The thing is this; I don’t think we need to “come up” with a new plan to save the church. God already has one! I think that God already told us how He will save His Church. He will do it in the same way He built it. In fact, I believe He is doing it now; with signs and wonders worked through ordinary Christians like you and me. The prophet Joel told us to be on the lookout for this when he prophesied: “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” And make no mistake, this is happening right now.
So, find a quiet place, sit back and read the stories contained herein. I hope that, like me, they touch your heart and soul and stir you to pursue God more closely and if they do, drop me an e-mail because like I said, I like to collect stories. Remember; the plan to save society is already laid out. All we need to do is follow it.