TAKE IT TO THE LORD IN PRAYER (FAM/FRIENDS DAY 2008)

Beautiful gospel music – beautiful lyrics. What more do you need. Enjoy!

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God Wants You Well (Tom Brown)

You do not have to be sick because God wants to heal you, and if you’ll have faith, He will heal you!

Sounds like an incredible statement to make, but it’s true. And if you’ll read this article, you will be on your way to living in divine health.

The key to receive your healing from God is to have FAITH!

Jesus often said to those he healed, “Your faith has healed you.”

I remember discussing divine healing with, Ophelia, a fellow employee who was taught in her church that Jesus does not heal today, and that people who lay hands on the sick are fakes.

She said to me, “The trouble with you faith healers is that you claim that people have to have faith if God is going to heal them, but Jesus healed anyone He wanted at anytime, with or without faith.”

I knew that she had not really read the Bible much, and was just quoting her pastor. I answered, “That’s not true. Don’t you know what Matthew 13:58 says, “And Jesus did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”?

Her eyes opened. “It doesn’t say that, does it?” she asked. I nodded. She promised to go home and read that scripture herself.

The next day, she walked quietly to me and said, “Tom, I read that scripture you quoted, and it does say that Jesus did not heal because the people lacked faith. I’ve changed my mind.”

I hope you are teachable like Ophelia. She learned that lack of faith can stop God’s healing power. Well, if doubt could stop God’s healing power, then faith releases God’s healing power. So what we need is FAITH.

And since faith comes from hearing God’s Word (Romans 10:17) it is important that you understand what the Bible says about divine healing.

If we reject His Word, then we reject His healing power. Unfortunately, there are many supposedly Bible-believing Christians that reject what God says about His healing power.

They reject it basically on two grounds: Either because some people do not get healed when they pray or because of tradition. The point is, no one has ever rejected God’s healing power based solely on the Word of God, the Bible. Because anyone one with an open mind and an open Bible will become a believer in God’s healing power.

JESUS STILL HEALS

It is clear from the Bible that Jesus healed–and healed often. Jesus main ministry consisted of three things:

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23) Healing was not a side issue with Christ; it was one of the main issues with Him.

What about today? Does Jesus still heal? Listen to Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Jesus still heals. He has not stopped healing.

Some people are surprised that Jesus still heals.

A few years ago I conducted a Miracle Rally at the El Paso Civic Center. During my message, I felt a tingling sensation come into my right hand. As in times past, I knew this was the power of God coming into me for someone’s healing. So I asked people on my right side if they had felt any power coming into them. A young woman named Cynthia Stewart raised her hand and affirmed that she was feeling the power of God.

Weeks before, Cynthia had been in a car accident and was injured so badly that she could not walk without crutches, and even with the crutches it was difficult. When I saw her raise her hand the terrible thought came to me, “Oh, no! What if she does not get healed?” Then a wonderful thought came to me, “Jesus can do anything–even make this cripple girl to walk!”

So I boldly called her to come forward. And to everyone’s amazement and joy, she arose completely healed. She began to walk in full view of all the people. She walked without a limp.

Our church was so excited with this miracle that we featured it on television. And when we did, I received a threat from an anonymous

caller: “I am a lawyer representing a church, and I wanted to let you know that we are going to expose you as a fraud!”

I asked who he was and which church he was representing. He refused to tell me. So I said, “Sir, I am not the healer, Jesus is. So I guess you do not believe in Jesus or the Bible.”

He said, “I sure do.”

“Then why are you so upset when Jesus does such a great miracle? The Bible tells us He did many miracles. It also shows that He continued to do miracles through the apostles and through other disciples.”

“Yes, I believe He did that back then. But He CAN’T do that anymore!”

I simply laughed. “Sir, if you want to try to expose me, then you are very welcomed to try. The first thing you’ll need to do is meet the woman who was healed.” Do you know what? That man refused to meet her or me. I think he was afraid to find out the truth–that Jesus STILL HEALS! And He he can heal you! if you’ll let Him.

Someone might say, “Yea, I believe Jesus still heals, but He doesn’t want to heal everyone,”

Well then listen to the Word of God.

“…Many followed [Jesus], and he healed ALL their sick.” (Matthew 12:15)

How many sick people did Jesus heal? ALL! Not some or most, but all! It is God’s will to heal every believer. No where do we find in the scriptures that Jesus refused to heal anyone who came to Him in faith. He healed everyone who believed–without exception!

HEALING PAID FOR

Not only did Jesus heal everyone while He was on earth, but to ensure our healing for today, He paid for it:

“Surely [Jesus] took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…” (Isaiah 53:4)

There you have it: Jesus took up your infirmities, sicknesses and diseases. Since He took them, you don’t have to have them. This scripture should once-and-for-all settle the issue of divine healing. But some people are simply stubborn; they want to argue with God and fight for the right to keep their sicknesses.

Some people try to find reasons why this scripture does not mean what it says. People seem to fight for the right to be sick. One person told me, “This scripture is speaking about spiritual healing not physical healing.”

I answered, “I don’t see the word ‘spiritual’ in this verse. You are adding to the Bible.”

“But it is understood to mean that because of the context,” he continued to argue.

I suggested, “Let Matthew tell you what God meant in Isaiah.” He agreed to read Matthew.

“When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to [Jesus], and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.'” (Matthew 8:16-17)

I explained, “It is clear from Matthew that he interpreted the words from Isaiah to mean physical healing, since he quoted it in reference to the healing ministry of Christ.”

He paused for a moment, then conceded the point.

SICKNESS IS OF THE DEVIL

Another good reason that we should have faith for healing is this: Sickness is of the devil. And whatever is of the devil, we don’t want anything to do with it.

“how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” (Acts 10:38)

And after healing a woman who was crippled by a spirit, Jesus said, “Should not his woman, a daughter of Abraham, who SATAN HAS KEPT BOUND for eighteen long years, be set free” (Luke 13:16).

From these Scriptures and many others, we see that sickness is not caused by God but by Satan. And God tells us, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). We do not have to put up with anything that comes from the devil, and that includes sickness.

I remember sitting down with a lady who was in a wheelchair. I was asked by Brother John to speak to her about God’s healing power, and maybe, pray for her. So I agreed.

Before I could get started, she said, “Don’t bother to tell me that God can heal me, because God was the one who crippled me.”

Surprised at such a remark, I asked her, “Do you believe in the Bible?”

She nodded, “Of course I do!”

Then I told her, “Mam, I’m not going to tell you anything, but I do ask that read this scripture, and then tell me what it means to you.”

A let her read the scripture in Acts 10:38 about Jesus healing all who were oppressed of the devil. When she read that part, she threw the Bible across the table at me and yelled, “So you think I’m demon possessed, don’t you!?”

I never made a single comment on this verse, but she understood what it meant. She understood that this scripture clearly shows that the devil is the cause of the physical misery in this world. The only thing she misunderstood was that this scripture was NOT saying that anyone who is sick is demon-possessed. It is saying that Satan is like a thief trying to steal health and healing from us.

I don’t blame people for being sick, just like I don’t blame people for getting robbed. I never thought that this lady was demon-possessed. But I knew who was the thief, and I was trying to show her that God was not the thief, but that the devil was. Unfortunately, because of her firm-held tradition, I was not able to help her. But maybe I could help you to see who is making you or your loved ones sick–THE DEVIL!

ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH

So the issue with you is this: What will you believe?

“…the blind men came to Jesus and asked Him to heal them. Jesus asked them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH will it be done to you…'” (Matthew 9:28-29)

God will do for you “according to your belief.” If you believe Jesus still heals and that He wills to heal everyone including you…If you believe that He paid the price for your healing…If you believe that sickness is of the devil, and that you have authority over him…

Then you have begun your faith journey to walk in health.

Bibles put out of reach in Libraries

Government-backed guidance has told librarians to store Bibles and other religious texts on the top shelf in order to avoid offending Muslims.

The guidance suggests moving all religious texts to the top shelf because of the Muslim belief that the Koran should not be kept among ‘common things’.

But critics argue that Christians do not apply such beliefs to the Bible, which they say should be easily accessible for everyone.

The news emerged as Poet Laureate Andrew Motion said during an interview that children should be taught more about the Bible because it is an “essential piece of cultural luggage”.

Mr Motion, an atheist, said too many students now arrive at university to study English Literature with scant knowledge of its deeply biblical foundations.

Commenting on his experience of teaching students, he said: “When I ask them anything about the Bible, they frankly, by and large, don’t know. I don’t particularly blame them for it.

“But I do think there is a real problem with the education system that has allowed these great stories to disappear, to fade out of the diet everyone gets at school.”

The guidance for libraries was published by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, a quango answering to culture secretary Andy Burnham.

The guidance says Muslim groups advised that all religious texts should be kept on the top shelf, so that “no offence is caused, as the scriptures of all the major faiths are given respect in this way, but none is higher than any other”.

Robert Whelan of the Civitas think-tank said: “One of the central planks of the Protestant Reformation was that everybody should have access to the Bible.”

Earlier this month an education expert hit out at a new GCSE syllabus for Religious Studies, saying it focused on fashionable political ideas like the environment and binge drinking at the expense of religion.

Alan Smithers, Professor of Education at Buckingham University, said: “I think it comes from the desire of politicians to stamp their influence on everything. It looks as if they are turning RE in to a pat qualification for political correctness.

“How is it to benefit the students? It is not going to be a basis for the further study of RE or spirituality to a higher level.”

Last year Oxford University Press, the publisher of a children’s dictionary, was criticized over the decision to remove a number of words with Christian connotations like ‘sin’ and ‘vicar’ and replace them with terms like ‘biodegradable’ and ‘citizenship’.

http://www.christian.org.uk/news/20090218/bibles-put-out-of-reach-in-libraries/

Thanks to the New Atheists (Sean McDowell)

Thanks to the New Atheists

Sean McDowell

 

 

I would like to take this opportunity to officially thank the New Atheists. By “New Atheists,” I am referring to Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion), Christopher Hitchens (God Is Not Great) Sam Harris (Letter to a Christian Nation), and all the other recent atheists and agnostics who have been so viciously criticizing the Christian faith. Given that I am an evangelical Christian, you may be thinking, “Why on Earth would you want to thank them?” Let me explain.

 

Many of you are familiar with William Dembski, one of the leading architects for the intelligent design movement (my co-author for Understanding Intelligent Design). In 1988, he finished what he thought was his last graduate degree in mathematics from MIT. What struck him so significantly was how readily his colleagues regarded Christianity as passé. They completely dismissed it as lacking intellectual vitality and did not even consider it worth engaging. They certainly didn’t think it was dangerous and in need of eradication (as the New Atheists do).

 

As a Christian committed to the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus, the easy dismissal of Christianity troubled him. How could they simply dismiss Christianity with hardly a second thought? Dembski decided to pursue further studies in philosophy and theology, which, of course, helped prepare him for his contribution to the ID movement. Although unheard of just a few decades ago, ID has now grown internationally and pressed Western intellectuals to seriously entertain the idea that the universe is the product of design, not chance.

 

To be sure, many intellectuals vehemently reject Christianity. But here is the good part: they can no longer ignore it. This suggests that the naturalistic worldview that has for so long dominated Western culture is crumbling and Christianity is again on the table for discussion. The discussion is certainly not always friendly. In fact, Dawkins has become famous partly for his venomous attacks on Christianity. In The God Delusion he says the Christian God:

 

…is arguably the most unpleasant character in all of fiction. Jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic-cleanser; a misogynistic homophobic racist, infanticidal, genodical, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully” (p. 31).

 

Like Dawkins, many Western intellectuals now treat Christianity with open contempt. But (ironically) this is progress. The dead are no longer remembered. The living are ridiculed and despised. While the arguments of the New Atheists certainly need to be rebutted (by the way, there is nothing actually new about them except their attitude), we should be gratified by their need to refute Christianity. If Christianity was not making progress, these books would be unnecessary. Christianity is making powerful intellectual inroads, even at the highest levels of academia. We have a way to go, but things are moving in the right direction. My thanks to the New Atheists for pointing this out.

The Evolution of the Egg: A Fairy-Tale for Grown Ups (Ray Comfort)

My wife and I have a chicken coop at home. I like chickens, and even gave the ladies their own names. There’s Fingerlinkin’, Roast, and Crispy, just to name a few. I put their names on the wall of the coop to remind them that they are to lay eggs for our family. It seems to be working.

So which came first, the chicken or the egg? For those who believe the Bible, it was the chicken, and the first egg came some time later. However, it’s not so simple among the Genesis-less generation. Did the first chicken come from the first egg, or was it the chicken that first laid the first egg? Long ago, even Aristotle (384-322 BC) spoke of the egg dilemma. He philosophized: “For there could not have been a first egg to give a beginning to birds, or there should have been a first bird which gave a beginning to eggs; for a bird comes from an egg.”

Let’s get into a little philosophical talk ourselves. Let’s say evolution was responsible for the beginning, and let’s say the egg was the first to evolve (before the chicken). Why did it do that? Why would there be nothing, and over millions of years, nothing became simple organisms, then these organisms became an egg? I can understand that a fish evolved legs and lungs over millions of years–because he (and his necessary female help mate) wanted to breathe, and to walk on dry land. But why would a thoughtless egg appear first and then want to become a chicken? How and why did it evolve with a yolk, a white, and a shell shaped like . . . like and egg?

 

If the egg was shaped with a rounded point at each end for ease-of-laying (a square egg would be painful), how did evolution know to make it that shape if there were never any chickens in the first place to know that an egg is made to be laid? Another small dilemma. How did the first egg get fertilized to become the first chicken? What or who fertilized it, and why did he fertilize it and sit on it until it hatched? How did the fertilizing creature evolve and have the ability to fertilize an egg that he found. How did he get the seed into the egg to fertilize it? And why did the (rooster) evolve as a bird? Unless he was an egg first, and if so, we have the above questions to deal with, because his egg would also need to be fertilized. Who did the fertilizing?

Evolution certainly is a fairytale for grown-ups.

Staying Pure in a Fornication Nation

You don’t have to compromise with our sex-saturated culture. By God’s grace you can stay in the sexual safety zone.

There were some raised eyebrows last week on the campus of Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla., when I hosted a special meeting—the day before Valentine’s Day—on the subject of fornication. That’s not a word you normally associate with a lecture topic, but hey, I had to get attention. And since the hormones on most college campuses are as dense as Florida humidity, I figured the kids would be all ears when I attacked the subject.

I was right. At times you could hear a pin drop in the auditorium, especially when I talked about how most American young people aren’t even sure how to define sexual activity anymore. (Today’s college seniors were nine years old when President Clinton tried to redefine sex during the Lewinsky scandal.) At other times the students burst into nervous laughter, especially when I told how I gave my son-in-law a lecture about sexual boundaries in front of 700 of his classmates when he was dating my oldest daughter.

“Losing one’s virginity used to be a serious issue, but today fornication is just a standard sitcom plot device.”

I thought it might be helpful to share these key points with a wider audience, since many of the readers of this column are single. And even if you are married, it would be good to take a quick refresher course in self-control—since we live in a nation that is losing all moral restraint. Here’s what I told the group at Southeastern:

1. Don’t redefine your morality. I’ve seen Christian young people roll their eyes when I say the word “fornication” because it sounds so much like King James English—sort of like “sodomy,” another word we avoid in our PC culture. But we need to be careful how we bend the meaning of words. Terms that are in the Bible should not vanish from our modern vocabulary just because they offend some of the hosts of The View.

When “fornication” is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (“For this is the will of God … that ye should abstain from fornication” KJV), the Greek word is porneia. It’s the root word for pornography, but it means a lot more than sexually explicit material. It includes sex between unmarried people, homosexuality, bestiality, prostitution, incest and adultery.

According to the apostle Paul, sex as God intended is limited to marriage between one man and one woman. Period. The Episcopal Church has no right to broaden the definition. Neither do Bill Clinton, Newsweek, Oprah or HBO. Don’t let moral relativism infect your brain.

2. Don’t sell your birthright. Losing one’s virginity used to be a serious issue, but today fornication is just a standard sitcom plot device. It’s considered normal. People are considered weird if they didn’t have sex by age 14; and if anybody dares to teach abstinence in a public school he is labeled a Neanderthal.

In TV shows like Desperate Housewives, Nip/Tuck or Grey’s Anatomy, life revolves around who’s in bed with whom. There’s even a TV series on Showtime called Californication that follows the life of a sex addict. What TV producers don’t usually explore are the consequences of immorality. Audiences probably wouldn’t laugh if the couples hooking up on these shows had to deal with genital warts, gonorrhea, AIDS, abortions, post-abortion trauma or clinical depression—all real fallout from illicit sexual behavior.

If you are a single person today—whether you have lost your virginity or not—it’s time to reclaim your purity and save sex for marriage. We’ve forgotten the story of Esau, who forfeited his birthright through one stupid act. He traded his inheritance for a bowl of stew. You really can throw your life away through one act of fornication.

3. Get ruthless with your weaknesses. Jesus sounded stricter than a Catholic school principal when He talked to His disciples about self-discipline. He told them: “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matt. 5:29, NASB).

Jesus was not advocating self-mutilation. He was using sarcasm to emphasize how serious sin is—and He urged His followers to take radical steps to avoid the snares of temptation. In our sex-soaked society, it is more imperative than ever that we draw boundaries.

Got a problem with pornography? If you can’t discipline yourself to avoid offending Web sites, get rid of your computer. Do you end up engaging in heavy petting or intercourse with your girlfriend or boyfriend after a few minutes of kissing? Draw lines and stick to them. And if you can’t stick to the rules, ask for intervention. If you don’t you are headed for spiritual shipwreck.

4. Live a transparent life. The Bible never advocates that we battle sin alone. We need each other. James 5:16 says: “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” In some cases you will never get victory over temptation until you share your struggle with another Christian and seek counsel and prayer.

So many believers today are living with secrets. Many women (and men too) were molested as children by a relative or friend—yet they have never shared their pain. Many young guys are trapped in a dark world of pornography and masturbation but are too ashamed to admit it. Many Christians struggle with same-sex attraction yet they fear that if they confess their thoughts they will be rejected.

You will never discover the abundant life Christ promised until you clean out your spiritual closets and deal with all your dirty laundry. Total forgiveness and cleansing is available, but confession and repentance must come first.

5. Develop the fear of God. Paul had sober words for the Thessalonians who ignored his admonitions about sexual sin. He told them: “He who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you” (1 Thess. 4:8). It couldn’t be clearer: If you disregard sexual boundaries, you are on thin ice.

What we desperately need in the church today is a conscience awakening. Too many Christians have warped judgment—and they don’t even feel godly remorse when they break God’s law. If you have any form of sexual sin in your life, flee it immediately and make a 180-degree turn. He will grant you the grace to live a life of purity.

 

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.

Beautiful One – By the Tree

Wonderful hymn of praise and celebration of Jesus Christ.

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Christian carer struck off after Muslim girl converts

A Christian foster carer has been struck off because she allowed a Muslim child in her care to convert to Christianity.

The girl, in her late teens, was interested in exploring Christianity before she was placed with the foster carer.

But when the girl decided she wanted to be baptised, council officials said her carer had failed in her duty to preserve the girl’s religion and should have used her influence to prevent the baptism from going ahead.

They said the girl should stay away from church for six months, and later struck the carer off the fostering register.

The carer, who has over ten years experience looking after more than 80 children, is now challenging the local authority’s decision.

Her case is being backed by The Christian Institute’s legal defence fund. Neither the carer nor the girl can be named for legal reasons.

The carer is a practising Christian, and made it clear to the girl when she arrived that she could continue to practice her Muslim faith if she wanted to.

In assessments before the baptism, the authorities said the girl’s emotional needs were being met, and noted that the carer was showing understanding and respect for the girl’s culture.

The carer’s lawyers say there was no evidence that the change in the girl’s religion would harm her, and argue that the authorities failed to listen to the girl’s views.

The carer, an Anglican who attends a local evangelical church, said: “I did initially try to discourage her.

“I offered her alternatives. I offered to find places for her to practise her own religion. I offered to take her to friends or family. But she said to me from the word go, ‘I am interested and I want to come.’ She sort of burst in.”

The carer said that the girl’s social workers were fully aware that she was going to church and had not raised any objections.

The girl had told her auxiliary social worker of her plans to convert before she was baptised in January last year, and the social worker had appeared to give her consent.

The Christian Institute’s Mike Judge said: “All people should be free to change or modify their religious beliefs. That surely must be a core human right in any free society.

“I cannot imagine that an atheist foster carer would be struck off if a Christian child in her care stopped believing in God. This is the sort of double standard which Christians are facing in modern Britain.

“In recent months we have seen grandparents, a nurse, adoption agencies, firemen, registrars, elderly care homes – and now a foster carer – being punished because of the Christian beliefs they hold. It has to stop.”

The carer’s solicitor Nigel Priestley said: “There is no doubt that the event that provoked the council was the decision by the girl to be baptised.

“This girl was 16 and has the right to make this choice, so for the council to react in this way is totally disproportionate. Even at this late hour, we hope that the council will resolve the issue.”

A council spokesman said: ‘From the details provided, we believe that this information relates to a child who is the subject of a final care order in favour of the council. In those circumstances, we are unable to pass any comment.”

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Creative Success (Prophetic Word by Barbara Wentroble)

Fight Fear With Creative Success

“There is one word that defines the emotions of huge numbers of people today – fear! An associate recently told me the story of a man who came into his office. The man’s knuckles were white as he held a few dollar bills in his hand. He was filled with fear of losing the last of his finances. Many people today may not be holding onto dollar bills in their physical hands but do have clenched fists in their emotions.

When our security is based on feelings that find security in the current provision then we are living in fear. Truly successful people do not live from the security of earning enough to make themselves comfortable. Successful people prefer to earn income based on the results they produce. They are willing to settle for a less secure income and are willing to work on commission or other means of income that reward the results of their efforts.

During these unstable times, let go of any fear or insecurity in your emotions. Look for new ways that you can be rewarded for your efforts. Believe in yourself and your ability to create new streams of income. Rather than continuing in a season of fear, let this be a time to transition into a season of creative success!”