When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. (Matt.8:1-4)

I know many people who read through the entire Bible every year. That is a great way to grasp the amazing scope of God’s story but when we read huge sections of scripture we often miss the depth of truths that the Holy Spirit can pack into just a few verses when we take time to read and reflect. A few years ago, John Ortberg wrote a book and recorded a DVD series entitled Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People. In the section on the discipline of reading the word he made a very strong argument that real transformation comes not so much from reading huge sections of scripture each day but from reading only a few verses and meditating thoroughly on the truths embedded in those verses throughout the day.

The little section above is a prime example of the many levels of God’s truth that can be mined from just a little sample from God’s storehouse. In the context of Matthew’s story, Jesus has just completed his “Sermon on the Mount.” In that sermon he spoke of many things including humility, caring for the needy, laying up treasures in heaven, and refraining from judging others.

As he descended the mountain, he encountered a leper. Leprosy could include any number of skin disorders bur each one rendered the person “unclean” and contact with any leper was forbidden and would make the person who touched the leper “unclean.” Those with the leprosy we think of were forbidden to enter any city and were usually confined to a hermit’s life or a life with other lepers. Jews believed that leprosy was a judgment by God against the sinner and lepers were to be avoided by a distance of no less than twelve feet and, if the wind were blowing and a person was down wind from the leper, they were to maintain a distance of at least one hundred feet. Lepers who came too close were often driven away by stones. Lepers were considered to be “dead” and were treated as such – first of all because of the possibility of contagion but also because they were seen as gross sinners bearing the judgment of God. They were “cut off” from the people.

Lepers lived with the possibility of being healed but only directly by God for no physician or priest could touch them. Their plight was to “repent” of whatever sin had brought on the “judgment of God” and then to desperately pray to God for healing. If they were healed, they were to find their way to a priest who would verify the healing and then apply cleansing rituals before they could return to the community. It seems that this healing was a theological possibility but rarely, if ever, seen in the worse cases.

In this scene in the gospel of Matthew both the leper and Jesus violate the Law of Moses in the sight of the crowds. In the mind of Christ, the needs of men were always greater than the demands of ritual law. Like healing on the Sabbath, the needs of this desperate man superseded even the Law of Moses. In the Kingdom of God, love and mercy always trump the rules of religion. The man himself risked the panicked response of a crowd and, perhaps, stiff rejection from the Teacher who might have reminded him that he was afflicted because of the depth of his sin and who might has sent him away.

As in many other settings, we are reminded that Jesus never turns away the desperate. Not only that, but the leper came to a man for healing when everyone knew that God was his only alternative. Perhaps, he sensed somehow that he was coming to God for healing. In the first seconds of this brief and hurried encounter he expressed his faith by declaring, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus then expressed the heart of God toward even lepers when he said, “I am willing.” No judgment. No rehearsal of the past. Only grace and love for a desperate man asking for that grace. When Jesus responded with “Be clean,” he was not only announcing the healing of the man’s skin but also the forgiveness of sin and the cleansing of his soul. Once again we are reminded that healing is available to all whose sins have been forgiven. “Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases” (Ps.103:3).

Then the moment that shocked the faithful occurred. The young rabbi Jesus not only spoke to the leper but actually touched him. By every measure of Jewish Law, Jesus had just become unclean and should have been cut off from the people himself. But something else happened that no one in the crowd had ever seen. The leper was spontaneously healed by the touch of another man. Bill Johnson says that the Old Testament reveals the power of sin while the New Testament reveals the power of righteousness. Under the Law, any man touching a leper would become unclean. Under the mantle of God’s grace, the man touching the leper made the leper clean. The cross changed everything. Here is the equation. A helpless and hopeless man risks coming to Jesus to plead for grace on the basis of a little faith. Jesus responds with a huge “Yes” and the man becomes a new creation cleansed of every vestige of his past. In essence, the crowd witnesses the gospel in all of its fullness.

Interestingly, Jesus then instructed the healed leper to tell no one. On several other occasions he said the same thing to those he had just healed. If the miracles of Jesus testified that he was the Messiah, the Son of God, then it would seem he would want them to tell everyone what he had done for them. Why the silence? One interesting thought suggests that he was keeping them from facing the doubts and questions of others that might undermine their faith in the healing they had just received. After a few days of walking in healing, they might be confident that what Jesus had done was not just a fleeting taste of healing or a 24-hour miracle that faded away.

There is wisdom in that for us. Sometimes when individuals have just received healing or deliverance from the Lord they should surround themselves with people of faith until their faith in what God has just done for them is established. Surrounding ourselves with doubters and cynics right after a work of God in our lives is a circumstance Satan uses to steal our faith so that we lose what we have been given. The doubt of others can erode our faith.

After healing the man and telling him not to disclose the source of his healing, Jesus sent him to the priests so that his healing would be confirmed. That confirmation would solidify the faith of man that he had indeed been healed but also opened the door for the man to return to his family and his community. The only thing worse than leprosy was the complete isolation it imposed on the carrier. How many people in our society still feel isolated because something in their past has convinced them that they are unacceptable and unlovable (unclean)?   Forgiveness of their past and the open arms of Christ’s community is also where these will find healing and life again. In many places the church fears contamination by sinners. Instead of sending them off to live in colonies, we isolate ourselves and live in colonies. Remember, under this new covenant, we are not made unclean by our contact with unbelievers but they are healed by the touch of Jesus through his people. May we be open to the “lepers” around us be willing to touch them as Jesus did.

Deliverance is a powerful tool for setting people free from the grip of the enemy. Not only is it powerful but it is essential. However, at times we may tend to overemphasize deliverance in the process of spiritual transformation. That is understandable because many of us have seen radical and dramatic transformation in believers in a very short time as a result of deliverance. It becomes problematic, however, when we begin to see deliverance as the cure-all for every issue. In some ways we begin to think of it as the quick-fix for people who are stuck or loosing ground in their spiritual progress, but demonization is only one barrier in an array of barriers that can stall out the process of discipleship and transformation.

Deliverance will not make a person spiritually mature but will remove the resistance so that individuals can then begin to grow spiritually as they should. At the end of Free Indeed, our ministry for healing and freedom, we always remind our participants that completing the eight weeks of study and the weekend of activation is not the end but rather the beginning of their growth and maturity.

Discipleship is the process of becoming like Jesus. It is a lifelong endeavor that can be punctuated by significant events where huge growth spurts occur but then we must always settle back into the process. In transformation, there is always a price to be paid by the individual who wants to be changed. That price is a consistent lifestyle of coming into the presence of God through multiple expressions of ancient spiritual disciplines: daily time in the word, prayer, meditation, confession, repentance, thanksgiving, worship, service, listening to God, solitude, memorization, journaling, authenticity, and so forth. We often say that getting free is the first battle. Staying free is the second. The implementation of these spiritual disciplines is what keeps us free.

We are such an instant society that we have come to expect instant spiritual maturity through a weekend conference, an impartation, deliverance, a prophetic word, and so forth. I think all of those things are amazing and I will be the first in line for an impartation, but they can’t replace the work of partnering with God on a daily basis in the change we desire.

Too often we pray for inner healing or cast out a demon without making sure the person we have ministered to is pursuing the Lord on a daily basis and filling themselves with the things of the Spirit. Sometimes we don’t even make sure that the person has repented of the very sin the demon was attached to or has forgiven hurtful people in his/her past. In our hurry to help, we may be setting them up for a worse condition because we haven’t helped them lay the foundation that they will need to maintain their freedom and grow in the Lord.

Paul commands us, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:17-18). The verb tense of the word translated as “filled” is progressive which means to be continually filled with the Spirit. When you are filled with the Spirit there is not much room for the devil. A great deal of being Spirit-filled is about being filled with the things of the Spirit which are to be found in spiritual disciplines. It is by “doing the work” that we get in spiritual shape. The work brings us into the presence of God and the transforming power of the Spirit. The work lays new neural pathways that are in agreement with God and diminish the old pathways that agreed with Satan so that our brains are renewed while our minds are being renewed spiritually.

So, as you minister healing and deliverance or give impartations and prophetic words, remember that the person you are ministering to will need to pay a price for continued freedom and spiritual growth. If they are not willing to pay the price of drawing close to God daily, they will most likely lose the ground they have gained and maybe end up worse than they were before their freedom. As those who minister in this arena it is essential that we too pay the cost of freedom in our lives each day.

Philip Yancey once said that the real temptation presented to Jesus in the wilderness by Satan, was the temptation of gaining a crown without the cross. Satan offered Jesus shortcuts without suffering to establish his kingdom on the earth once more. Ultimately, there are no shortcuts. It was true for Jesus and it is true for his people. Crucifying the flesh is a daily demand if we are to be consistent with our spiritual disciplines. Neither the flesh nor the enemy want us spending time with God. But for those who reject the “shortcuts” there is certainly a crown after the cross.

I’m continuing to review some of the ideas that were presented at a recent conference I attended in Raleigh-Durham, N.C, on the subject of healing the human soul. Much of the conference related to the science behind the directives that God has given his people for thousands of years. One of the big ideas that is coming out of recent brain research is neuroplasticity. The research now suggests that our brain can grow and be reconfigured throughout life. Up until a few decades ago, the “science” was that our brains and, thus, we ourselves, were fairly fixed by the time we reached elementary school and that we would essentially be that person for the rest of our lives. That notion has now been discarded.

This is a reality that believers always have always known. Scripture has made the possibility of personal transformation a hallmark of our relationship with God. The New Testament tells us that anyone in Christ is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Paul calls on every believer to no longer conform to the patterns of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of his or her mind (Rom.12:2). Even the Old Testament records God’s declarations that he would replace our hardened hearts of stone and replace them with new hearts containing the capacity to grow toward God’s will. “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them. I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezek. 11:19).

The basis of all sin is a mind or heart that stands in opposition to the will of God and that has over time conformed to the thinking patterns and attitudes of the world. Let me quote Jim Laffoon on this issue. “The power of sin cannot be broken without the flow of God’s resurrection power and life. If we are to experience the change God desires for us in the face of such opposition we must activate both our conscience and the release of God’s power through our new nature. In Ephesians 4:17-19, Paul describes the internal darkness, ignorance, hardness, and lack of spiritual sensitivity that make the process of transformation so challenging. ‘So I tell you, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer lives as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding are separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity they have given themselves over to sensuality….’

As I mentioned in my last blog, thoughts or experienced that are repeated begin to form neural pathways that become stronger and more resistant to change as they are repeated. We have a phrase that we repeat often in our Free Indeed ministry: Whatever we agree with, we empower. Whatever belief we repeat, act on, speak, imagine, etc. deepens the rut of these neural pathways. At some point, these pathways will be so strong that we will become inflexible in our beliefs and attitudes which scripture calls hardness of heart. These deeply embedded belief systems are called strongholds in 2 Corinthians 10 and they may be such a part of us that we cannot even entertain other perspectives or values. At that point we may cease to be truth seekers because we believe we already have all the truth. That can be true for the religious as well. Our best arguments will not sway that person. At that point, it will take a supernatural intervention by God to blast them out of their mindset. Saul of Tarsus had that kind of mindset as he arrested and organized the stoning of Christ- followers. It took a powerful encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus to generate some plasticity in his thinking that eventually generated a transformed mind and a new identity as the apostle Paul.

As we come to Christ, unless we have been raised and spiritually nurtured in the home of believers, we must weaken, prune, or erase our worldly ways of thinking and develop new neural pathways that will contain the truths of God and the perspectives, values, and even emotions of Christ. The Holy Spirit will empower what we do but will hold us responsible for doing the things through which his power can be applied to our minds as we work to bring every thought captive to Jesus Christ.

Here are some helpful principles.

1. In order for a neural pathway to be pruned or erased, it is not enough to simply stop doing, thinking, or speaking something. We must do and speak something else consistently that establishes a new pathway. The more we reinforce that pathway, the more it becomes our default setting for life. That is where repentance, confession, and becoming doers of the Word come in. We must begin to speak the word of God over our circumstances. Our confession of God’s truth on a regular basis begins to develop the new neural pathway and diminish the old ones.

Meditation, memorization, reading the Word, writing the Word, hearing the Word, and speaking            out loud all accelerate the process and strengthen our new ways of thinking. Unless we do the work of storing up God’s Word in our    hearts, the old pathways will retain their strength and will still be our default  settings under stress. God told Joshua, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do   everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Josh. 1:8).  To mediate means to chew on it, process it, discuss it, memorize it, etc. We must do the work to write God’s word on our hearts and to diminish the power of the old man or the old mind in our lives. Continuing to dabble in our old ways will  keep those worldly pathways alive and we will be live as double-minded  believers. Following Jesus has always been all or nothing.

2. We must monitor our environment to see what things in the environment reinforce our old pathways or reinforce our new neural pathways. One of the really interesting new concepts in brain research is the idea of epigenetics. This concept states that our environment affects our genetic makeup and switches on or switches off genetic predispositions that have come down to us through our family line. Again let me quote from the conference. “Through an understanding of epigenetics, we have discovered that the genetic template we inherit from our parents is radically affected in its expression by our life experiences.” That means that genetic predispositions toward addictions, homosexuality, obesity, etc. can be turned off by elements in our physical, social and spiritual environments including our internal environment where the Holy Spirit lives. Positive predispositions toward righteousness, spiritual gifts, mercy, compassion, music, etc. can also be turned on or suppressed by our environments. That is one reason that God warns us about the people we hang out with and where we hang out.Righteousness or unrighteousness can be genetically encoded and passed on to children which explains much about generational sin, curses, and even  generations of righteousness.

3. Another interesting confirmation that has arisen from new research is that our brain has more plasticity in the presence of God. Every act of worship activates the flow of the Spirit within us which apparently has an extraordinary effect on our physical minds. Practicing spiritual disciplines opens us up to the flow of God in our lives which powerfully facilitates even physical changes in our brains. Being in the presence of God also releases the neurochemicals that create a sense of peace, pleasure and well-being which serve to draw us back to God. Research confirms that even raising our hands above our heads (worship) releases these positive chemicals. I believe that speaking in tongues has the same positive effects.

In summary, the God who created us body, soul and spirit has accurately instructed us in the process of spiritual, emotional, and physical transformation by the power of his Spirit. Science is simply confirming the power that God has invested in our choices and in his Word and Spirit. We cannot take shortcuts. Consistent worship, mediation, confession, fasting, and the other spiritual disciplines over time are essential to our growth and change. We must also understand that once a week is not enough. God empowers the process but we must participate. Those who neglect these transformative disciplines will not experience all that God has for them.

Certainly there are moments when God changes us in a second – like the apostle Paul. I know people who have been sovereignly delivered by God from addictions and emotional brokenness but the continuing transformation of their souls and character has been a process. If we partner with God, he will change us even in the deepest recesses of our heart and mind. Science once again is finally catching up with the Bible.

In the past 20 years or so, brain research has made remarkable strides and has debunked what was once accepted science. In a conference I just attended on healing the human soul, Jim Laffoon stated, “Until the end of the 20^th century, neurologists believed no new neurons (specialized cells that communicate and store memories in the brain) were created after the first 3-5 years of life. With the discovery of neurogenesis, we know that humans retain the ability to create new neurons and neural patterns throughout their lives. Surprisingly, the only area in the brain that creates new neurons is the same area that controls and stores our memories. We also have discovered neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to change throughout life). This new neural growth is also stimulated through environmental neurogenesis; neuroplasticity has revolutionized modern psychology and psychiatry” (Healing the Human Soul, Jim Laffoon, p.6).

I’m still trying to get my head around all the scientific terminology but let me try to summarize what has just been said. First of all, lets agree with the Psalmist that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Science knows that we think but has yet to fully understand the processes. Let me share a quote from a blog called Quantum’s Blog regarding the mind. The writer says, “Our brain is made up of billions of nerve cells known as neurons. Neurons connect together through their branch-like tentacles called dendrites, (signal receivers) and axon terminals. (transmitters) These neurons transmit and receive electrically charged nerve signals to and from the brain at speeds of over 300 km ph! This is why our thoughts and body reflexes are lightning quick and so well coordinated.

When neurons come together to form thought patterns, they look like an intricate net called a neuronet. The ends of each tentacle of one dendrite and axon terminal connect to other tentacle endings of other dendrites and axon terminals, but do not really touch. The gap is called a synapse and this is where the thunderstorms of electrical signals occur. Electrical impulses are sent from one neuron to the next through the synapses of their dendrites and axon terminals.

Some studies say a neuron has as many as 1,000 to 10,000 synapses, (some argue much more) meaning it can communicate with as many as 10,000 other neurons, muscle cells, glands etc. We can see why the brain’s potential for biochemical pattern forming is massive. Considering the presence of billions of neurons with this degree of association connectivity, the brain has an infinite capacity for storing information, associating concepts and triggering instructions to the body because it can create endless new neuron pathways.”

As thoughts or experiences are repeated, neurons link together in identifiable chains called neural pathways. These become like ruts in a road so that the thoughts or perspectives wired into these pathways become our automatic or default settings for how we think, feel, or view life. In addition to thoughts, these neurons can release chemicals in our body. The strength of these neural pathways is reinforced by the brain’s reward circuits. One of the most important of these circuits is the mesolimbic dopamine system. When certain thoughts and behaviors are activated, these neurochemicals are released which rewards the individual with feelings of comfort and well-being.

When the individual is in distress or emotional pain, the brain will prompt the individual to repeat behaviors that release the chemicals that comfort the individual or, in the case of drug and alcohol abuse, introduce chemicals into the body that create positive feelings. This process is the basis of addictions and can be very powerful even when the behaviors have long term destructive consequences. That is why when we are stressed, lonely, depressed, etc. we are often drawn to food, sex, pornography, shopping, drugs, or alcohol to “medicate” our pain. We “remember” the activities that released the neurochemicals that made us feel better – at least for a while. These sin patterns can be very strong because they become our automatic or default thoughts and actions that carry short-term rewards and the release of powerful neurochemicals. In short, we can become addicted to sin.

Pornography is a powerful example of how this works. This summary was taken from an internet article produced by Covenant Eyes.

• “When having sex or watching porn, dopamineis released into a region of the brain responsible for emotion and learning, giving the viewer a sense of sharp focus and a sense of craving: “I have got to have this thing; this is what I need right now.” It supplies a great sense of pleasure. The next time the viewer gets the “itch” for more sexual pleasure, small packets of dopamine are released in the brain telling the user: “Remember where you got your fix last time. Go there to get it.”

• Norepinephrine is also released, creating alertness and focus. It is the brain’s version of adrenaline. It tells the brain, “Something is about to happen, and we need to get ready for it.”

• Sex or porn also trigger the release of oxytocin and vasopressin. These hormones help to lay down the long-term memories for the cells. They “bind” a person’s memories to the object that gave him or her the sexual pleasure.

• The body releases endorphins, natural opiates that create a “high,” a wave of pleasure over the whole body.

• After sexual release serotonin levels also change, bringing a sense of calm and relaxation.

This system works the way it is supposed to work when you’re having sex with your spouse and only your spouse. Together you can experience a high, an alertness of sexual pleasure, and the deep calm afterwards (norepinephrine, endorphins, and serotonin). With each sexual embrace you are emotionally bonding to this person (oxytocin and vasopressin). Over time a craving for sex is transformed into a desire for one another (dopamine).”

When used as God intended, this is a powerful tool for pleasure, intimacy, and even faithfulness. When misused, it becomes destructive. Paul put it this way in the book of Galatians – a man reaps what he sows. If he sows to the flesh, he reaps destruction. If he sows to the Spirit, he reaps life. When we pursue righteousness, God’s design works with us to reinforce righteousness. When we pursue sin or the flesh, those same processes can empower sin.

These chemical rewards can also be released as you encounter the presence of God in worship, prayer, meditation and so forth so that you emotionally bond with God, experience peace and comfort and long to be in his presence again. David wrote, ‘As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you.” David was a man who often needed comfort because of the immense stresses in his life. He often sought the presence of God for that comfort. The one time he sought that comfort from another source, Bathsheba, the consequences were disastrous.

As science begins to understand these processes, we can begin to understand the power of sin in a person’s life and why it takes the supernatural work of God in conjunction with our choices to set us free and bond us to God. In my next blog, I will talk about the processes that prune or diminish existing pathways and establish new ones. These processes are part of “renewing the mind” as Paul commanded in Romans 12. The good news is that by our own choices and the power of the Spirit we can hunger and thirst after righteousness even more than the chocolate cake you may have been imagining earlier.

This week I’m attending a four-day conference at the King’s Park International Church in Durham, North Carolina entitled Healing the Human Soul. Most healing conferences offered by churches today are all about praying for physical healing. I love those conferences as well, but I would say that healing the soul is of greater importance and if the soul is healed, many times physical healing will follow. For a number of decades now, leaders in the field of medicine have estimated that 60 to 80 percent of all illnesses are emotionally rooted. When they say “emotionally rooted” they mean that chronic stress, worry, fear, bitterness, anger, etc. tend to compromise the immune system, increase blood pressure, rob people of sleep, create chemical imbalances, etc. and those conditions then give way to illness. Because of that, physical healing is often impossible or, at least, impossible to maintain without first healing the soul.

The prophet Isaiah recognized the great need of healing the soul when he spoke of the coming Messiah. He spoke for Messiah prophetically when he said, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Isa.61;1). Because of sin, man is enslaved to a number of things: sin, addictions, demonization, self-centeredness, and illness. All of these create their own form of bondage for people – even God’s people. In Isaiah 61, the prophet suggests a chronology needed before each person can be fully released to become all that his/her Father in Heaven has decreed for them. First the gospel must be preached so that sins are forgiven in Christ. That releases us from the legal demands of sin on our lives. But secondly, Jesus came to bind up, heal, or minister to the brokenhearted. That is healing the soul. After that, captives and prisoners can be set free from whatever form bondage has taken in their lives.

Too often we try to heal the physical body or cast out a demon without addressing the brokenness in which a disease is rooted or to which a demon is attached. If the wound isn’t cleaned and healed properly, even if there is some temporary relief, the infection will return. Addictions are ways in which we attempt to medicate our broken souls. If the soul is not healed, a person may be set free from one addiction but will simply find another with which to medicate the wounds hidden deep in his or her soul. Believers often get stuck in their spiritual growth because they can’t get past their brokenness. The church over the last 200 years has been excellent at bringing people to forgiveness but is just now beginning to discover or rediscover how to heal the soul so that the sanctifying work of the Spirit can truly make us like Jesus.

As we minister to broken people, we too often think that problems are one-dimensional and need a one-dimensional solution. If a person is sick, command healing. If person is emotionally distressed or in bondage, cast out a demon. If a person is hopeless, preach Jesus. All of these are valid expressions of the kingdom of God and are extremely important. However, broken and enslaved people typically need all three of these elements to find healing and freedom.

God is interested in redeeming every part of us. Paul echoes that truth when he says, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess.5:3). In one sense, the idea of sanctification is for us to align ourselves perfectly with God’s will, his ways, and his purposes. He wants the body, soul, and spirit of every believer to be aligned with him. When that occurs healing is manifested, freedom is experienced, and the fruit of the Spirit can finally begin to flourish within the believer.

Most often this is a process, not just an event and discipleship is the ultimate solution so that these afflicting conditions don’t return. As Americans we are prone to look for the quick fix and often leave many things undone that manifest later. Taking our time to minister to body, soul, and spirit is a much more effective approach in the long run. The cost on the front end is time and effort – both on the part of the one who needs the healing and on the part of those administering the healing. Slowing down is a spiritual discipline that many, if not most, of us need to master. I’m at the front of that line.

Pastor Jim Laffoon from Nashville, Tennessee is leading this conference and is providing really interesting insights and thoughts about healing the soul. Much of his presentation is connecting what the Bible has told us for millennia about the impact of sin and righteousness in our lives and the lives of our children with current brain and genetic research. This research is revealing some of the “whys” for God’s commands and may suggest even more effective approaches to our use of the divine weapons that God has given us.   I will be sharing some of those insights in my next few blogs.

From time to time, having faith for healing is still a challenge to me. Sometimes my prayers for healing have the flavor of   “I hope this works” rather than “I fully expect God to heal this person.” My issue is continuing to believe for healing when I have not seen my prayers for healing answered on a regular basis. Much of the contemporary church has interpreted scripture through their own experiences rather than maintaining a commitment to bring our experiences up to the biblical standard. So…if a certain fellowship has not personally witnessed miraculous healing for a few decades, it is easier to declare that God no longer heals in such ways rather than asking what is wrong with us that we are not witnessing what we clearly see in scripture.

For those who believe in God’s healing today, there are also two general camps. One camp says that God is still willing to heal through supernatural means occasionally. For that segment, sporadic healings are simply windows into heaven that let us know what life will eventually be like after Jesus returns. For them, illness can and does come from God as a means to build faith, purify a person spiritually, or to bring glory to himself through the person who, though suffering terribly, still praises God. If healing doesn’t occur it is either because there was not sufficient faith or that it is God’s continuing will for the person to be ill or disabled and that his ways are simply beyond understanding.

The second group of those who believe in God’s healing today will state that sickness never comes from God and that it is always God’s will to heal. If he doesn’t heal, it is simply because there is something in the spiritual realm that we don’t yet perceive or understand that is blocking the healing. The problem is on our end rather than His. This group points to Jesus who healed all who came to him as the standard form the church. Not only did he heal but he never visited sickness or disability on anyone to make that person more holy. Jesus said that if we have seen him then we have seen the Father. Therefore, what we see in Jesus is what we can expect from the Father as well.

For this group, the fact that Jesus taught us to pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven clearly implies that illness is never God’s primary will for man because there is no illness in heaven. This group will also point out that those who believe it is always God’s will to heal experience many more healings than the group that is never sure about whether or not God wants to heal the person they are praying. I know that observation is accurate.

The question, however, is not what we believe but what the Bible teaches. One of the things that helps my faith in God’s healing for today is to see what God’s will has always been in this area. Let me point out a few texts on this that are helpful to me. The more convinced I am that the Bible promises healing, the more faith I can bring to a prayer for healing.

First of all, I doubt if any of us believe that Adam and Eve had to deal with sickness and disability in the Garden of Eden. Part of God’s primary will for his children then was health. Sin and the curse it brought on the earth changed the environment but did not change God’s will for his children. I believe we can say that God always wants to bless his children. Our sin and rebellion may get in the way of that blessing but it is still what he wants to do. That was true even under the Old Testament and the Law of Moses. Notice the following verses:

If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you. Ex. 15:26

Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. Exodus 23:23-26.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases. Ps. 103:2-3

He brought them forth also with silver and gold: And there was not one feeble person

among their tribes. Psm. 105:37

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. Isa. 53:4-5. KJV

These verses and many more make it clear that healing and health are blessings that come from the Lord. God often calls for Israel to repent so that he can heal their wounds and bless them. Illness came into the world as a result of sin. It is always an expression of a world cursed by the actions of men. It is an expression of a curse not an expression of the blessing of God. It comes as a consequence of unrepented sin and rebellion but as soon as repentance comes, God wants to heal. Illness, under the Old Covenant, was a curse that came on the heels of persistent disobedience. A state of blessing always brought with it healing, health, and prosperity. This reality is consistent with the nature of God who reveals himself and “the God who heals you.”

Since God is the life-giver and illness wars against life, then it is the very nature of God to heal and to oppose illness. That will always be his first choice. From the scriptures above you can see his desire to heal if his people will let him. More than that, healing and health was a covenant promise under the Old Covenant. How much more should it be so under the New Covenant which is a better covenant?

The Isaiah 53 passage above highlights God’s intent for his people under the New Covenant. This is a Messianic Prophecy. Notice what the Messiah will do for those who have faith in him. This is the prophecy that declares what the suffering Messiah would bear on our behalf so that we would not have to. Of course we are aware that he died and took on our sins – our transgressions and iniquities. That is a familiar part of the gospel. But he also took on our infirmities and diseases. The same gospel that declares that Jesus took our sins away also affirms that he bore the curse of illness so that we would not have too. It is summarized in Psalm 103 where we are told he forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases.

So why do faithful Christians experience illness? To some degree we experience illness for the same reasons that we experience sin. We live in a fallen world with a fallen nature which also means our physical bodies come with defects. Sometimes we just get sick. In the New Testament we are not promised that we will never get sick but that if we do, healing is part of our covenant. “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven” (Ja.5:14-15).

Notice that James does not say that Christians only get sick when they sin but rather if one has sinned and opened himself up to illness, that person will be forgiven so that healing can occur. Persistent, unrepented sin can still open the door to illness coming in as a natural consequence of sin even for believers. It can also block healing if there is no repentance. Remember Psalm 103. He forgives our sins and heals our diseases. There is an order to the process. Sin opens the door to illness. Repentance opens the door to forgiveness. Forgiveness opens the door to healing. Sometimes the sin lies not in what we are doing but in what we are failing to do…like failing to forgive.

Sometimes we get sick because we ignore God’s directives for healthy living. We eat junk, fail to exercise, abuse our bodies with sugar and alcohol, etc. We can’t ignore God’s wisdom without consequence. God has given us bodies over which we are to exercise good stewardship. Poor stewardship invites disease.

Sometimes, illness comes as a result of demonic attack. Spirits of infirmity show up often in the gospels and deliverance was needed before healing could occur. If you are part of a fellowship that doesn’t believe in the demonic or in deliverance, you may go for years with symptoms that are never quite healed or diagnosed because the source is spiritual not physical.

Healing does not come for many because they have been taught that God no longer heals in supernatural ways. They receive the best the medical field has to offer and if that is not enough they simply resign themselves to death. James said that we have not because we ask not. I have been amazed at the number of believers I have known who have not asked because they were taught that there was no point in doing so. I have been more amazed at the number of elders I have seen come to pray for a quick and peaceful passing rather than the healing they are commanded to pray for. Unbelief never gets it done.

Regardless of the source of illness, God has provided for our healing because it is his desire for all of his children to walk in strength and health. Through Christ he has given us forgiveness, promises of healing, healing gifts in the church, deliverance and wisdom. All those things work toward our health and healing because Jesus has purchased our healing with his blood as well as our forgiveness.

Does that explain every incidence of illness and premature death for Christians? No. I must admit that there are still situations that puzzle me because it seems we did everything needed to open the door to God’s healing and still did not see it come. I then fall in with those who believe God heals and desires to heal but that there are some things in the spirit realm that still get in the way. Those things have not yet been revealed to us. It is certainly better to look at Jesus and his standard of healing (all those who came to him) and ask for a greater revelation of keys to healing than to assign unhealed illnesses to God’s will and resigning ourselves to whatever medicine can do.

Whatever is promised in scripture is God’s heart and will for his people. Healing is definitely promised. So as I sometimes struggle to have faith for healing, I go back to Word and see it all over again. When I know it is God’s desire for his people, part of my covenant with him, and my inheritance in Jesus … I can begin to pray with faith again.

I was previewing a DVD on parenting by Kara Powell a few days ago and I was struck by something she said. The DVD series is entitled Sticky Faith. It is a series about helping children maintain their faith after they leave home and go to school, the military, or the workplace.

She had interviewed a number of college students who had actively been part of their church’s youth group while growing up. Statistically, nearly half of all young adults who are active in their church will leave their faith after leaving home. Powell and her team were looking for answers to the “why?” of such an exodus. One thing really stood out to her from the interviews. When asked what Christianity meant to them, a very large percentage of those college students gave an answer that never once mentioned the name of Jesus. What the interviewers discovered was that many of the students defined their faith as a set of behaviors rather than as a relationship with God.

When they were thrust into a new setting where their Christian behaviors were not valued and in which their behaviors did not win them acceptance with the “in crowd,” they jettisoned those behaviors like taking off a vest and tossing it into the corner. More importantly, when they had pursued the behaviors of the world long enough to be broken and ashamed by what they had done, they did not know how to come back to Jesus.

They didn’t know how to come back to Jesus because they didn’t know who Jesus was or what his heart was toward them. They had been immersed in rules growing up but not in relationship. They thought the behaviors were there to buy them acceptance and to please their parents. When acceptance didn’t come and when parents weren’t around, then the reason for the behaviors was gone. They didn’t know about the love of Jesus and did not have an overriding desire in their hearts to please their heavenly Father above men.

I’m afraid that many adult believers suffer from the same perception of their faith – that it is a set of behaviors that makes them acceptable to those around them rather than a life long relationship that takes priority over every other relationship they will ever have. When those behaviors don’t win them acceptance and approval at work, they compartmentalize and live out one set of values and behaviors at work and another set at church. They have the feeling that “Jesus doesn’t work for them” in the market place, at school, or in politics. When our prayers aren’t answered as we outlined them, we assume it is about behaviors or not doing enough to get God to give us our reward for good behavior. When we feel like we have been “doing all the right things” and God doesn’t “pay off” with our hearts desire, we feel betrayed. When we focus primarily on a set of behaviors rather than on a living, breathing relationship with Jesus, we will never know him because we only see him as the scorekeeper or an employer rather than a friend or father who always wants what is best for us.

It’s easy and very human to fall into the trap of viewing our faith as a set of behaviors, a list of do’s and don’ts, or rituals that we carry out to earn the approval and favor of God. When we slip into that mode we begin to slip into the school of the Pharisees who had a “form of godliness but missed the power” of a relationship with the creator of the universe. If we have a love relationship with the God who is love, then nothing is out of our reach – not because of our performance, but because of His desire to bless those he cares for. Our confidence in his love rather than our performance is the foundation of faith for all things.

So… if we ever start feeling distant from our God or catch ourselves feeling resentment because we think God hasn’t given us what we have earned by all our prayer, sacrifice, or moral living, then we have probably slipped into the “behavior’s mindset” rather than a relationship. If our children leave home thinking that their faith is a set of behaviors, they will probably wander away. If we teach them nothing else, we must teach them that Christianity is an eternal relationship with the Father through his Son Jesus Christ with both of them residing in our hearts through the Spirit.

Are there behavioral standards in that relationship? Of course there are, just as in any family or marriage. The standards exist to bless the relationship but are not the relationships in themselves. The relationship began in love and endures through love. We live up the Father’s standards because of love not to earn the love. We desperately need to teach our children that truth and we may need to remember it as well from time to time.

Our spiritual life is governed by our view of God. It is important that we have an accurate view of his heart and his character. Isaiah is a fascinating book filled with prophetic declarations and insights into the heart of God. As you read through it you find a rhythm of withering judgments coming against wickedness alternating with prophecies full of hope and God’s kindness for the future.

In Isaiah 30, we find a prophetic warning issued to a rebellious Israel. You find phrases such as “’Woe to the obstinate children,’ declares the Lord, ‘to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; … these are rebellious people, deceitful children,, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction’” (Isa.30:1, 9). Isaiah paints a picture of a nation that was redeemed by God, brought out of slavery into a rich land and into a singular covenant with the God of Creation. This nation that was loved and redeemed had totally broken faith with their God, had ignored his prophets, and had made alliances with nations that served demons. Severe judgments were in the pipeline and headed their way – judgments by sword, plague, and famine. Isaiah and other prophets had warned them and yet they were ignored. This had gone on for decades. The holy wrath of God had been aroused and the God of Israel had made his case as to why his wrath was not only just but necessary.

Yet, in the middle of all that, we find the heart of God. Isaiah says, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. (Isa. 30:18). The idea that God longs to be gracious, yearns to forgive, and deeply desires to restore his relationship with his people is the opposite view of God that many hold.

Even many believers see God as angry, vengeful and just waiting to pull the rug out from under them. They see him as the angry, abusive Father that is quick to hand out punishment and who must be begged in order to receive a blessing. When we hold that view of God, we cannot pray with faith that always anticipates good gifts. We cannot draw near because we believe that being near to God is an unsafe place. We cannot believe his promises because we think he will search to find something against us so that he can withhold his blessings.

Yet, that is not God’s heart even toward the wicked. ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel” (Jer.33:11)? Those verses and many more like them were written under the Old Covenant. How much more is this true under a covenant established by the blood of Christ?

This seems so simple but apparently it isn’t. I continue to see men and women who have been Christians for decades still doubt the love of God and the goodness of God for them. They still assign the most hurtful moments of their lives to some act that God perpetrated against them as if child abuse, rape, the death of an infant, or a car wreck that took five family members were all moments that God orchestrated without any thought to the devastation that loss or trauma would visit on them for a lifetime.   We often shroud such sentiments in the cover of mystery. We say that we will only understand why God did such a thing when we get to heaven.

Many of us still have an inaccurate understanding of the sovereignty of God. We believe that because he is sovereign everything that happens in this world was his will and was caused by him. It is clear from scripture, that in his sovereignty he determined to limit the control he would exercise over this planet. He gave us free will and in doing so he took his hands off the steering wheel and put us in the drivers seat. His desire is for us to stay on the road and to drive safely and sensibly. But we can choose to ignore his urgings and drive recklessly. We can, by our own choices, end up in the ditch or injure others by our reckless driving. We can all be guilty of driving under the influence of sin. Not only that but once God handed the planet over to Adam and Eve to rule, their sin and rebellion released a curse on the world they ruled. That curse introduced death, disease, birth defects, war, addictions, etc. that create the pain we so often must endure. God is there to walk us through the pain but to eliminate the pain is this world would require the removal of our free will.

One of Christ’s primary purposes for his visitation of planet earth was to show us an accurate picture of the Father. John recorded a conversation between Jesus and Philip who had just asked Jesus to give him and the other apostles a revelation of the Father. “Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me’” (Jn.14:9-11).

When we look at Jesus, the Good Shepherd, we cannot imagine him taking a child from a single mother by killing the child. What we do see is him giving a child back to a single mother by raising that child from the dead. We can’t imagine him laying hands on someone and imparting advanced leprosy to a mother or a father of three small children. What we do see is him healing lepers and giving them back to their families. We can’t imagine him calling down fire from heaven to obliterate a rebellious village. What we do see is Jesus rebuking James and John for volunteering to call down fire on a Samaritan village for their unbelief.

In essence, Jesus told Philip that whatever he had seen Jesus doing for poor, hurting, broken, rejected, and demon-possessed people was exactly what the Father himself willed to do for them. However Jesus responded to prostitutes, crooked tax collectors, grieving widows, or thieves was exactly how the Father responded to them as well. Jesus simply put flesh and blood on the desires of the Father. Many of us need to receive that revelation as well as Philip. When we see Jesus as being one way and the Father being another, we have a schizophrenic view of the Godhead that we are trying to serve. How confusing can that be?

As you read through the Old Testament and see the judgments of God being released, you need to remember that those judgments were never God’s first choice. His heart was always for men to repent and live. His heart always longed to be gracious even to those who had been walking in wickedness and rebellion. Now that the holy wrath of God has been satisfied by the cross, we can certainly rest assured that the Father’s heart for each of us is always to redeem, to forgive, to bless, and to be gracious….even if we have been on a prodigal’s journey.

When we pray we need to have our minds fixed on the goodness of God and his desire to bless his children. That accurate view of God gives us faith for the answers to our prayers. The Godhead is not debating over whether to love us or be angry with us but is in total agreement that we are loved and that blessing and eternal redemption is the motive behind every response to our prayers. I freely admit that there are mysteries as to why some of our prayers seem to go unanswered. But it helps me to live with the mystery if I know God’s heart for me is the heart of a loving father who always wants the best for his son or daughter. If you still see God as the angry Father keeping score and eager to punish your every mistake, live in Christ will have no joy and little faith. Reconsider God. Ask the Spirit to give you a full revelation of the Father knowing that you can see him perfectly in Jesus. It will make all the difference.

I was brought to the Lord through a “cessationsist church” that did not believe in the miraculous ministry of the Holy Spirit in our time. What was interesting is that the fellowship that brought me to Christ and in which I ministered for 20 years was a church that valued and promoted the restoration of the practices and structure of the early church. They found a pattern of weekly communion in the first century church and so insisted on corporate communion each week. They found a primary emphasis on evangelism in the early church and so evangelism was promoted from the pulpits at every opportunity. They found a strong emphasis on baptism in the early church and so baptism was emphasized to the extent that those who were unbaptized were in jeopardy of missing heaven.

One of the cornerstone texts for baptism in this fellowship has always been, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned” (Mk.16:16). The emphasis was on baptism and, of course, if you disbelieved, then you would not be baptized and condemnation was waiting in the wings. This text was quoted more often than just about any other scripture in the Bible with the insistence that if the early church put such a premium on baptism then we should not and could not waiver from that emphasis.

I certainly think communion, evangelism and baptism are hallmarks of the church and should all carry a great deal of weight in our practices. However, the rest of the verse so often quoted from Mark 16 was typically ignored altogether. “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover” (Mk. 16:17-18). The early church had a strong and undeniable pattern of those practices also along with communion, evangelism, and baptism. It is inconsistent to adopt some primary patterns of the first century church and ignore or explain away others.

I like what Kris Vallotton has to say about this omission of New Testament practices. “Jesus never meant for miracles to be an end in themselves, but rather an invitation into a superior Kingdom – a catalyst to cultural transformation fueled by revival…When people experience the supernatural manifestations of the kingdom of God – when, for instance, the dead are raised, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and people are delivered from demons – they witness two kingdoms in contrast. This juxtaposition provides them with an opportunity to repent. A church that does not demonstrate the miraculous works of Christ has failed to give the world this opportunity and, thus, has no right to judge people for their lack of response. Without miracles the kingdom of God is reduced to words, concepts, and good works. Perceived through this paradigm, the Lions, the Rotary and Moose clubs would be the ones contending for first place” (Kris Vallotton, How Heaven Invades Earth, p.18-19).

A great question for every church is, “If the Holy Spirit left your church today, what could you no longer do that you have been doing?” What are you doing that is clearly beyond the scope of what man can do in his own strength and in his own intellect? Are you stirring the hearts of people with amazing worship? There are any number of performers and stage shows in Vegas that stir the hearts of people and even inspire. Are you providing riveting preaching. There are any number of motivational speakers in the world that hold the audience in the palm of their hands. Are you doing great works in the community? As Vollotton pointed out, so are any number of social service organizations. Some hold marathons that raise millions every year for cancer research or children’s hospitals while the name of Jesus is never mentioned.

I’m not saying that worship and preaching and even good works don’t have an anointing from the Spirit. They can and they should but from an outsider’s view, it would seem no different than what the Masonic Lodge and Shriners do or the Rotary Club. However, raise the dead, read someone’s mail with a prophetic word, heal stage four cancer in a moment, grow an eye where there was no eye, and drive out fear, depression, and self-loathing with a command and suddenly the Name of Jesus stands apart.

I would go as far as to say that miracles are more necessary now, in a culture of science and technology, than they were even in the first century. In our culture we are taught that everything has a rational explanation and that eventually science, medicine, and technology will give us what backwards people thought God could give them. Miracles challenge that paradigm and demonstrate a present reality that is superior to science and medicine. Let’s face it, most Christians in America seek physical and emotional healing from the world before they ever go to Jesus. When their marriages or kids are in trouble they run first to secular psychologists for answers. They start to pray for miracles as a last resort because they have little or no belief that God will deliver one. They have little or no belief because the church has taught them that God is no longer in the business. And yet, the only times throughout scripture in which we see God withhold miracles from his people were the times in which they were in utter rebellion and unbelief. Otherwise, miracles are what dot the landscape of the Old Testament stories and absolutely flood the pages of the New Testament.

Jesus said that his miracles testified of him. The miracles of the church also testified of Jesus by pointing to him as all things supernatural were done in his name. Why would we not need that testimony today as much as ever? When the church as a whole begins to pursue and embrace the supernatural power of God again, then his supernatural power will be released in a way that changes the world. Isaiah speaks numerous times of a season when the kings of the earth will come to God’s people for blessing, for wisdom, and to be taught God’s ways. That will not happen as long as we are simply trying to match the Shriners in good will and good works. Instead of building children’s hospitals we should be emptying them out with the healing power of Jesus Christ. Then the world will have a clear choice between kings and kingdoms. Then Jesus will be lifted up again that all men might come to him. Miracles – they’re a good thing.

Just before his departure to sit at the right hand of the Father in heaven, Jesus gave his followers what has been called the Great Commission. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt.28:18-20). No church would say that command was only for the early church but would declare that command to be the church’s prime directive until his return.

Sadly, the contemporary church often only hears that command as the command to teach the world correct doctrine, live moral lives, love one another, and be kind to your neighbor. That is certainly part of the picture but Jesus taught and commanded his disciples to do much more than that. They were commanded to represent or re-present him to the world not only by preaching the gospel but also by presenting the Kingdom of Heaven with power. They were to do so by healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and casting out demons. That was the pattern of evangelism Jesus used and the pattern he commanded his disciples to use. It was also the pattern of evangelism in the early church as well.

Jesus commanded his apostles to teach every believer in every nation to obey everything that Jesus had commanded them to do. He didn’t tell them to teach some of what he had commanded or only the intellectually acceptable parts of the gospel or everything except the miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit that clearly demonstrate the victory over Satan that Jesus established by his resurrection. Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s will in heaven is health, joy, freedom, life, etc. for his children. If we cannot deliver his will on earth in concrete ways, then that prayer is only a sentiment not a reality.

The Holy Spirit gave spiritual gifts to the church so that the demonstration of the Kingdom of God on earth could continue after the ascension of Jesus and the death of the apostles. Miracles were never dependent on the presence of Jesus or the apostles but on the presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus performed miracles only after he had been baptized by John at which time the Spirit descended from heaven and remained on him. Jesus commanded his disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they received power from the Holy Spirit because they could not be effective witnesses until they could operate in the power and authority of Jesus. The same is true for us. Jesus has left the earth and resides in heaven. The apostles have died and joined Jesus. The Holy Spirit, however, is still with us. If we cannot demonstrate authority over the dominion of darkness by the power of the Spirit, our testimony is lacking for all that the Spirit does points to Jesus.

The point of all this is that we cannot fulfill the great commission without demonstrating a gospel of power which was what Jesus commanded his disciples to deliver. Paul attempted an intellectual and somewhat “acceptable” approach to the gospel in Athens in Acts 17. He brought out his best rhetoric and his best classical arguments for one God and Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. The results were more than disappointing. His next stop was Corinth. By the time he reached the great metropolitan city and center of pagan worship he had totally revised his approach to evangelism. Paul confessed to the believers there, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Cor. 2:1-5).

As you read his letter to the church in Corinth, it is clear that he not only demonstrated power from the Holy Spirit personally as an apostle, but imparted those same spiritual gifts of power to the church. Many in the church today point to abuses of spiritual gifts to discredit their existence or their authenticity.   To be sure, the church in Corinth abused the gifts, but Paul did not discredit the gifts or tell them to stop operating in the gifts. Rather he instructed them in the proper use and motivations for the gifts.

In the days of the early church, the effective preaching of the gospel required a demonstration of Kingdom power and authority. It still does. The Great Commission envisioned the full reproduction of the ministry of Christ not just a tame or partial version of that ministry. Until the church again embraces the power and full ministry of the Holy Spirit, we will not have been obedient to the Great Commission nor will we reap the full harvest of those Jesus died for. For those of us who embrace all that the Holy Spirit has to offer, our part is to exercise the gifts in love and according to Biblical principles. Our part is to offer thoughtful responses to the questions and concerns others have with no aroma of spiritual pride or we fall into the trap that the Corinthians had fallen into – exercising the gifts without the love or humility that also marks the presence of the Spirit. Pray that the church will come to embrace the gifts and leading of the Spirit so that we can be all that Jesus paid for. Blessings.