There are still numerous denominations that hold the position that the Holy Spirit no longer does miraculous or supernatural acts through God’s people and that God no longer intervenes in the affairs of men in miraculous ways.  In other words, these churches teach that since the end of the first century, the Holy Spirit no longer activates the gifts of prophecy, tongues, words of knowledge, miracles, healing, and so forth given to the church.  Since those days, we should no longer expect angels to visit men with messages from God, or bodies of water parting for God’s people, or angels being sent out to defeat the enemies of God without a battle.  According to these denominations, for the last 1900 years or so, God has answered prayers through natural means rather than supernatural.  There have even been books written in the past ten years railing against the deception of supernatural spiritual gifts and the supernatural intervention of God in our circumstances.

I was part of one of those denominations for two decades.  Our people loved God and they loved the Word of God.  They prayed.  They worshipped.  They served.  I have no reason to doubt they were saved.  There was a common denominator among many of the people I fellowshipped with, however.  They all felt as if there was something “more” they should be experiencing, but were not sure what it was.  It just felt like something was missing.

I believe the missing piece was the opportunity to experience God, not just know about God.  If you think about it, the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation is a record of men and women encountering God in supernatural moments. Something happened to them outside the natural order of things.  God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden.  God directed to Noah to build an ark.  God visited Abraham with angels and promises of a son to be born long after it was physically possible for Sarah.  Then we have Moses and the burning bush, the ten plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea.  These kinds of moments are recorded throughout the Old Testament. Visions and dreams, angelic visits, supernatural victories in war, deliverance from fire and lions, supernatural provision, and so on.  

In the New Testament that theme continues.  E very encounter with Jesus was supernatural…God in the flesh.  Healings, raising the dead, supernatural catches of fish, demons being dispatched, and storms being quieted with a word.  After Jesus returned to the Father, we see tongues of fire on Pentecost, jail breaks facilitated by angels, more healings, deliverance and people raised from the dead.  The church is given the spiritual gifts of healings, tongues, miracles, words of knowledge, prophecy, etc. and was instructed to use them for building up the body of Christ. 

The notion that God revealed himself to his people through miracles, visions, and angelic visits from the beginning of scripture to the end and then suddenly stopped the flow of power and supernatural encounters to his church seems unreasonable and out of character for God. In scripture, the very thing that propelled Gods’ people through each crisis was the expectation that God would move in some miraculous way to deliver them.  That attitude is what the Bible calls faith and without faith it is impossible to please God.

nterestingly, we see the Apostle Paul in Athens in Acts 17.  He is invited to speak to the intellectual elites of the day by sharing the gospel on Mars Hill.  Paul gave his best explanation of the gospel, perhaps using the learning and training he had received at the feat of his mentor, Rabbi Gamaliel, when he was growing up.  A few responded, but not many.  Paul was disappointed.  

His next stop was Corinth, and when he wrote his first letter to them, he recalled their initial encounters.  He said, “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).

It seems after his experience on Mars Hill, he put away intellectually persuasive arguments and rhetoric and began preaching a simple gospel…but with a demonstration of power.  In other words, he still preached but then enabled those who heard the word to actually experience God through the exercise of spiritual gifts…a supernatural moment.  The pattern of Jesus had been to preach the coming of the kingdom of God and then to demonstrate it through healing, deliverance, miracles (loaves and fish), and sometimes calling people back from the dead.  We can safely assume Paul did the same. After all, a gospel without power is no gospel at all.  

The “more” that most believers are looking for is an experience with God, not just more knowledge about him.  That is the biblical pattern from Genesis to Revelation and should still be our pattern in the church.  Can spiritual gifts and claims of miracles be abused?  Of course. They were abused in Corinth, but rather than telling the people to stop using the gifts or that the gifts were fraudulent, he simply instructed them about how to use the gifts as God intended.   Many believers suffer from a faith that is devoid of power.   Rather than confronting the attacks of Satan they are instructed to simply endure the attacks.  Without the use of the divine (supernatural) weapons that Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 10, we cannot confront spiritual forces.  Therefore, those who believe that God no longer intervenes or that the Holy Spirit no longer imparts power, simply have to take what Satan is handing out.  That is not the character of God nor should it be the character of his people. 

Let me encourage you to seek more experiences with God…biblically balanced and tested.  Those experiences will always have some supernatural component because God is supernatural. And remember that God is interactive not simply observational.  He always has been.  He has always extended the invitation to experience him whether at a burning bush, the Tent of Meeting, or through his Holy Spirit living in us,. So let’s accept the invitation and find the “more” we are looking for.
  

Once upon a time, when I was many years younger and many pounds lighter, I had some talent for track and loved the sport.  One of my minor heroes in life has been an Englishman named Roger Bannister. When Roger was young, he was severely burned in a fire. Doctors told his parents that he would probably never walk again. Not only did he walk but he also began to run. Not only did he run, but also he became a world-class runner in college. Bannister competed  during an era when running a mile in under four-minutes was a dream that seemed impossible. In fact, doctors and scientists believed that the human body was not capable of such speed over that distance and believed that anyone who actually broke the mark would suffer irreparable damage to his body. Fortunately, Bannister did not “follow the science” in the matter.

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister did what most believed was impossible. He ran the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.   Within three years, sixteen other individuals had broken the four-minute barrier. So what happened? Did mankind suddenly make a spontaneous, evolutionary jump? No, a change in perception made the difference. When one man broke the barrier, others suddenly believed that they could do so as well. Through the centuries, psychological barriers have proven to be more formidable that physical barriers.

Jesus said, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours^” (Mk. 11:2-24).

Often, we believe that great changes are made when large numbers of people begin to act or think in certain ways. But every movement has been given impetus by one person who did what others  believed they could not do. God is looking for those individuals, men and women, who will step out and do what others have believed to be impossible. When they do, other believers will follow.

There have been seasons in the church when miracles were the norm.  Certainly in the first century church, the gifts of the Spirit propelled the church into great seasons of revival.  Some of the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12-14 were, of course, prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, words of knowledge, etc.  On top  of that, dreams and visions seem to have been standard fare in the church.  

There have been others seasons when God healed in amazing sways through revivalists in the 1800’s and 1900’s in England and America.  Each time a season of the miraculous sprang up, atheists and agnostics along with “educated and dignified” believers were quick to write off such happenings as foolishness, superstition, and emotionalism.  The Pharisees in the first century did the same and even went as far as to credit the devil with the miracles, instead of God.

Over the last 300 years, the American and European church has, for the most part, denied the miraculous intervention of God and called those who claimed to heal and prophecy frauds and con men.  

However, In the past 50 years, a new generation of believers has embraced the supernatural once again and claims healings, prophecies, tongues, miracles, dreams, visions, and even the raising of the dead.  Of course, orthodox believers and intellectuals in the church still deny the reality of such things other than as a deception from the enemy.

But, I am convinced that  in the heart of every believer is a secret longing to see God do now what he did throughout the scriptures.  We long to see the glory of God demonstrated in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Many believers long to see it, but are afraid to believe because the paragons of their faith  have told them that God no longer works in those ways.

I believe God wants an army of spiritual Roger Bannisters who will believe that God is the same today as he has always been and, as he was always willing to display his power on behalf of his people, he still is.  I know that in many churches, if just one they knew were too break the miracle barrier, others would believe it possible and soon would break the barrier with him or her

Of course, there is risk in standing up for the supernatural move of God.  You might be distrusted.  You might be ridiculed.  You might be strongly encouraged not to “mislead the faithful” with such ideas.  On the other hand, you might just break the four minute barrier and open the door to an amazing move of God in your own circle  of influence.  

For those of us who want to believe God for miracles, the challenge is typically not whether we believe he can do such things, but that he will.  I met a man a couple of years ago that had moved away to become part of a church where a great number of miracles were reported on a regular basis.  After being there a year or two, he moved back to our area.  I asked him how the experience had changed him.  He said the real change for him was that he now expected God to move in miraculous ways, rather than just hoping he would.  

If we need that transformation in our own lives, we don’t have to move away but we may need to take some trips to actually see men and women “breaking the four minute mile” so that our own barriers of unbelief can be shattered.  

In the track world, a four minute mile is no longer considered impossible, but is simply a measure of any “decent runner.”  Wouldn’t it be amazing, if the church no longer considered the miraculous move of God to be impossible, but simply considered it to the the measure of any “decent church?”

The story of David illustrates the principle. As y of course, ou recall, Israel and Philistia had gone to war. Each army encamped along the hillsides on either side of a valley. Each day, a nine foot “giant” named Goliath would come out to challenge the army of Israel calling for someone to step out and face him man to man. Every day for forty days, Goliath issued the challenge. Not one man would take him up on his dare. Clearly, the entire army of Israel believed that defeating Goliath was impossible.

Then one afternoon, David was sent by his father Jessie to check on his brothers and to see how the battle was going. David witnessed Goliath’s taunts and offered to face the giant himself. He offered because he believed that God makes all things possible. Although the experienced soldiers in the army of Israel tried to convince David that he could not win against such an imposing figure, David ignored them and the rest is history. David charged Goliath was a sling and dropped the giant with one stone. He then proceeded to take Goliath’s own sword and cut off his head for good measure. Suddenly, the entire Israeli army that had shown no taste for battle for forty days charged the Philistine army and won a great victory. When one man, by faith, broke a spiritual barrier others had considered impossible, they suddenly had faith for their own victory.

Later, David gathered a number of men around him that were referred to as David’s mighty men. These thirty or so men accomplished great, almost impossible deeds on their own including one of them killing a large Egyptian about the size of Goliath (See 2 Sam. 23, 1 Chron.11-12). I suspect that David’s faith and his willingness to do what others would not do inspired those who followed him.

I believe, God is looking for “Davids” and “spiritual Roger Bannisters” in every generation who, by faith, will do what Jesus did and even greater things. When one does, others will suddenly have the faith and a whole generation will follow. We should ask God to make us that person for our family, our church, our fellowship and the kingdom of God. Faith is about breaking psychological barriers that reason against what God says is true and possible. Jesus walked on water by faith. He stilled storms by faith. He healed the sick raised the dead in the same way. He asks us to believe that through him we can shatter barriers. When by faith and tenacity one believer breaks the barrier, others will quickly follow. So what is your four-minute mile? What spiritual barrier will you overcome so that others will follow? Ask God to show you.

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Once upon a time, when I was many years younger and many pounds lighter, I had some talent for track and loved the sport.  One of my minor heroes in life has been an Englishman named Roger Bannister. When Roger was young, he was severely burned in a fire. Doctors told his parents that he would probably never walk again. Not only did he walk but he also began to run. Not only did he run, but also he became a world-class runner in college. Bannister competed  during an era when running a mile in under four-minutes was a dream that seemed impossible. In fact, doctors and scientists believed that the human body was not capable of such speed over that distance and believed that anyone who actually broke the mark would suffer irreparable damage to his body. Fortunately, Bannister did not “follow the science” in the matter.

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister did what most believed was impossible. He ran the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.   Within three years, sixteen other individuals had broken the four-minute barrier. So what happened? Did mankind suddenly make a spontaneous, evolutionary jump? No, a change in perception made the difference. When one man broke the barrier, others suddenly believed that they could do so as well. Through the centuries, psychological barriers have proven to be more formidable that physical barriers.

Jesus said, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours^” (Mk. 11:2-24).

Often, we believe that great changes are made when large numbers of people begin to act or think in certain ways. But every movement has been given impetus by one person who did what others  believed they could not do. God is looking for those individuals, men and women, who will step out and do what others have believed to be impossible. When they do, other believers will follow.

There have been seasons in the church when miracles were the norm.  Certainly in the first century church, the gifts of the Spirit propelled the church into great seasons of revival.  Some of the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12-14 were, of course, prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, words of knowledge, etc.  On top  of that, dreams and visions seem to have been standard fare in the church.

There have been others seasons when God healed in amazing sways through revivalists in the 1800’s and 1900’s in England and America.  Each time a season of the miraculous sprang up, atheists and agnostics along with “educated and dignified” believers were quick to write off such happenings as foolishness, superstition, and emotionalism.  The Pharisees in the first century did the same and even went as far as to credit the devil with the miracles, instead of God.

Over the last 300 years, the American and European church has, for the most part, denied the miraculous intervention of God and called those who claimed to heal and prophecy frauds and con men.

However, In the past 50 years, a new generation of believers has embraced the supernatural once again and claims healings, prophecies, tongues, miracles, dreams, visions, and even the raising of the dead.  Of course, orthodox believers and intellectuals in the church still deny the reality of such things other than as a deception from the enemy.

But, I am convinced that  in the heart of every believer is a secret longing to see God do now what he did throughout the scriptures.  We long to see the glory of God demonstrated in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Many believers long to see it, but are afraid to believe because the paragons of their faith  have told them that God no longer works in those ways.

I believe God wants an army of spiritual Roger Bannisters who will believe that God is the same today as he has always been and, as he was always willing to display his power on behalf of his people, he still is.  I know that in many churches, if just one they knew were too break the miracle barrier, others would believe it possible and soon would break the barrier with him or her

Of course, there is risk in standing up for the supernatural move of God.  You might be distrusted.  You might be ridiculed.  You might be strongly encouraged not to “mislead the faithful” with such ideas.  On the other hand, you might just break the four minute barrier and open the door to an amazing move of God in your own circle  of influence.

For those of us who want to believe God for miracles, the challenge is typically not whether we believe he can do such things, but that he will.  I met a man a couple of years ago that had moved away to become part of a church where a great number of miracles were reported on a regular basis.  After being there a year or two, he moved back to our area.  I asked him how the experience had changed him.  He said the real change for him was that he now expected God to move in miraculous ways, rather than just hoping he would.

If we need that transformation in our own lives, we don’t have to move away but we may need to take some trips to actually see men and women “breaking the four minute mile” so that our own barriers of unbelief can be shattered.

In the track world, a four minute mile is no longer considered impossible, but is simply a measure of any “decent runner.”  Wouldn’t it be amazing, if the church no longer considered the miraculous move of God to be impossible, but simply considered it to the the measure of any “decent church?”

The story of David illustrates the principle. As y of course, ou recall, Israel and Philistia had gone to war. Each army encamped along the hillsides on either side of a valley. Each day, a nine foot “giant” named Goliath would come out to challenge the army of Israel calling for someone to step out and face him man to man. Every day for forty days, Goliath issued the challenge. Not one man would take him up on his dare. Clearly, the entire army of Israel believed that defeating Goliath was impossible.

Then one afternoon, David was sent by his father Jessie to check on his brothers and to see how the battle was going. David witnessed Goliath’s taunts and offered to face the giant himself. He offered because he believed that God makes all things possible. Although the experienced soldiers in the army of Israel tried to convince David that he could not win against such an imposing figure, David ignored them and the rest is history. David charged Goliath was a sling and dropped the giant with one stone. He then proceeded to take Goliath’s own sword and cut off his head for good measure. Suddenly, the entire Israeli army that had shown no taste for battle for forty days charged the Philistine army and won a great victory. When one man, by faith, broke a spiritual barrier others had considered impossible, they suddenly had faith for their own victory.

Later, David gathered a number of men around him that were referred to as David’s mighty men. These thirty or so men accomplished great, almost impossible deeds on their own including one of them killing a large Egyptian about the size of Goliath (See 2 Sam. 23, 1 Chron.11-12). I suspect that David’s faith and his willingness to do what others would not do inspired those who followed him.

I believe, God is looking for “Davids” and “spiritual Roger Bannisters” in every generation who, by faith, will do what Jesus did and even greater things. When one does, others will suddenly have the faith and a whole generation will follow. We should ask God to make us that person for our family, our church, our fellowship and the kingdom of God. Faith is about breaking psychological barriers that reason against what God says is true and possible. Jesus walked on water by faith. He stilled storms by faith. He healed the sick raised the dead in the same way. He asks us to believe that through him we can shatter barriers. When by faith and tenacity one believer breaks the barrier, others will quickly follow. So what is your four-minute mile? What spiritual barrier will you overcome so that others will follow? Ask God to show you.