Tag Archives: Signs and Wonders

General

A Few Short Testimonies

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Old medicine boxes found deep in the Hells Canyon Wilderness

One of the difficulties of the internet is that you have to be careful about what you put out there… as such, I don’t typically post items referring to specific people or detailing personal information. The downside to this wise policy is that I don’t always get the opportunity to share with you all the awesome things that Jesus is doing.

To help offset this imbalance, today I would like to share a few real but purposefully vague stories about normal Christian living:

  • The CT Scan results of a friend of mine recently came back negative on an ailment that a few days before showed up on the X-rays and other tests. Glory to the King for healing this person and confusing the doctors who can’t seem to make sense of things. 😀
  • Another friend recently stood in front of a group of people and gave a short testimony, which is not a huge thing in and off itself…except for the fact that not too long ago that friend wasn’t even able to be around group of people due to uncontrollable panic attacks. After a ton of prayer and walking with them through the ups and downs, their entire demeanor and life has changed and is changing. The life giving power of Jesus!
  • Yet another friend asked for prayer not too long ago for a physical aliment that was bothering them. Before I had the chance to say a word in prayer the Lord dropped a word of knowledge into my heart and I knew that ‘real’ issue at hand wasn’t physical but emotional. See how we were in a small group, I took the opportunity to host a prayer training time and so I asked folks around me what the Lord was telling them. After a moment of silence they all responded with similar words from God about the issue, at which point I informed them what the Lord had told me – all of which was confirmed by the person being prayed for as they had been asking God for direction of that particular topic. Oh, and yes, the physical pain went away as the person acknowledged and dealt with the real issue.

And these are just the stories that I can vaguely share… there are others that are too personal for this blog. I write all this to say that God is at work right now and it is a pleasure to be invited by Him to work with Him on His mission in this place at this time.

Vineyard Movement, World Missions

Stories of the Coming Age Breaking into This Age (Part 2 of 2)

Same conference; different day than the story...

Yesterday and today I have been sharing some stories from last week’s Asia Summit about the Coming Age breaking into this Present Evil Age. They are stories of God’s physical, emotional, and spiritual provisions to which we give thanks and praise to the Lord Most High.

These are not the only stories out of that week – nor are they ‘special’ in the sense that they are rare or unique. They are stories God loving His kids.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. –Hebrew 12:28-13:1

Story Two: God at Work

We were supposed to hear from a panel on culturally relevant mission last Thursday evening as part the Summit’s focus on the Vineyard’s Five Values. God, though, had other plans – leading to a night of worship and prayer.

At one point during this impromptu worship session, the session emcee asked if anyone had a word to share from the Lord. Some folks came forward with different pray topics and what not…ok…truth be told, I don’t know what they said as I was too busy thinking about kidneys.

Continue reading Stories of the Coming Age Breaking into This Age (Part 2 of 2) →

Vineyard Movement, World Missions

Stories of the Coming Age Breaking into This Age (Part 1 of 2)

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Today is Thanksgiving – a time in which we stop our busy lives and give thanks to the Lord for His provisions in all areas of our lives.

Along those lines I want to share with you a couple of stories from last week’s Asia Summit about the Coming Age breaking into this Present Evil Age. As will see over the next two days,  these are stories of God’s physical, emotional, and spiritual provisions.

Story One: Gray Feathers

There were four of us standing in a circle praying for unity and tribal reconciliation among the Filipino followers of Jesus. As my companions prayed, my eyes slowly closed and there out of the darkness stood a grey feather off to the right side of my vision.  Looking closer I saw that the feather was sticking out of a red headband…

Still not sure what was happening, I asked the Lord what I was seeing. As did I did so, the red color of the headband moved up towards the feather – turning it red before becoming a dense red cloud blocking all sight.

Continue reading Stories of the Coming Age Breaking into This Age (Part 1 of 2) →

Book Reviews

Signs, Wonders and the Kingdom of God by Don Williams

I was first introduced to Don Williams through a Vineyard Leadership Institute (VLI) course in 2005/2006. As I listened to him teach that day, I knew that he was one of those (unfortunately) rare individuals with a theologian scholar mind and a practitioner heart of compassion.

Since that day, I have had the pleasure to meet Don in person as well as to discover that he was the primary architect of the Vineyard Statement of Faith. I also fell in love with his book “Start Here” as it is one of the best (if not THE best) overview of this Christian walk that I have read.

Unfortunately throughout all this time there was one book of his that continued to evade me all the while tempting me through references and quotes. This long sought after book was one of Don’s first books published after he joined the Vineyard Movement in the mid-1980s.

Then one day this Summer the unthinkable happened…. Vineyard Resources decided to reprint the Moby Dick of Don Williams’ books – namely the classic book “Signs, Wonders and the Kingdom of God: A Biblical Guide for the Reluctant Skeptic.”

And, after reading said book (thanks by the way to CJ who blessed me with a copy!!), I have to say that I fully understand why this book is considered a classic in the Vineyard.

Using his life as a background, Don pulls the reader into the journey he took as God broken into his life and expanded his worldview. As such in some ways, this book is more of an autobiography then an ‘true’ theology book.

Granted, this is one of the true strengths of the book as theology should never be divorced from life. Instead we must walk out what we believe and allow the Lord to shape our lives through the Bible and theology (which, BTW, simply means the ‘study of God’). Don does this beautifully – interweaving his life story with the biblical concepts that helped shape his live and ministry.

“For the Bible, God is King and we are called into his kingdom where he wants to reign directly and dynamically in our lives and extend his reign through us to this hostile, fallen world. Only when we have been established in this biblical worldview both intellectually and experimentally, will be rid of our bias against miracles. In this way we will be prepared for God’s direct actions to break in upon us, even if, at times, we wish they wouldn’t.”

Current Events, Theology Thoughts

The Reformation Era in Pentecostalism

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On October 13, 2010 Pentecostal pastor Samuel Lee posted 15 Theses from his home in Amsterdam that have the potential to transform the global Pentecostal movement.  That may sound like a bold statement – but it is a true one as these 15 Theses lay open the Pentecostal movement as Martin Luther’s 95 Theses did to the Roman Catholic Church all those years ago.

I pray with my whole heart that the Pentecostal movement will humbly accept these Theses and work towards reforming their movement as the greater Church NEEDS their input and passion. I pray this as one who, while currently not within Pentecostal movement per say, grew up within Pentecostalism (my family tree is covered with Pentecostal pastors and leaders) and has a love for the greater body of Jesus regardless of doctrines, styles or labels.

[Below is a brief summary of Samuel Lee’s full paper – which I would HIGHLY recommend reading as he gives a lot more detail on each of these 15 Theses]

Reforming Pentecostalism

1. Emotionalism versus Balance

Pentecostalism should direct her followers into a deeper understanding of the Word that involves experiencing the Christian faith and church in a broader framework of knowledge. The Pentecostal movement lacks essential knowledge on how to practice faith in a more balanced way and in understanding the Word in a wider context relating to the global society. The Pentecostal movement indeed does offer her own theology on exegesis (interpreting the Bible) and practical matters on individual levels, but we give less attention to essential global and societal matters. We have thousands of books written about prosperity and how to get blessed, or how to become rich in order to have villa’s and private jets for the ministry, yet far more than half of the Christians in these ministries are red in their bank accounts, suffering in poverty not only in the developing world but also in the so called “First World”.

2. Demand to perform versus being yourself

Secondly, there is an over emphasis on performance, numbers and prestige. Let me explain: it is no more about souls, but about numbers….In this Reformation of Pentecostalism, however, we should not focus on numbers but on the fellowship of the human spirit with God, the breaking of the bread and drinking the wine which is the sign of the new covenant!

Lately, I have the impression, as a professing and preaching Christian, there is a demand for me to perform! To perform miracles, to perform in order for people fall on the floor, to perform a prophesy etc. I am tired of this “demanding me to perform”. The Post Modern man needs a new kind of Pentecostal leadership, the kind of ministers who are honest and just. We do not have to perform but be honest in pouring out our hearts, and in speaking about our weakness and confessing them to one another!

Continue reading The Reformation Era in Pentecostalism →

General

The Charismatic church has enough superstars…

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“The Charismatic church has enough superstars, far too many miracle makers with jets and bodyguards, but I am looking for a day when the Charismatic church will produce Mother Theresas, Martin Luther Kings and even Mahatma Gandhis….

“I am a Pentecostal pastor. I am very well aware of my background. I like signs and wonders, but I love justice more. I like to see the dead are being raised, but love righteousness more. I like to see people feeling “high” in the spirit, but I love sacrifice more.  I may like some tele-evangelists, but I love Jesus more. I like to be touch by the spirit and laugh continually, but I love to cry for justice more. A Christianity that is not standing for the rights of the fragile, for the undocumented migrants, for the poor and the suffering, for the widows and orphans is a worthless Christianity. It is simply a dead religion, even though it has a sign of liveliness.”

–Samuel Lee, a pastor among the immigrant and refugees community in Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Payette River Vineyard

When God Takes Over…

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I attend an awesome church!

The presence of the Lord was so strong yesterday morning after worship we just sat there – basking in His presence.

Being up front, I had the pleasure of watching the dancing hand of the Spirit as He touched His people: a tear in one place, a smile in another, a tense face relaxing as a wave of peace washing over it, heads bowed in a calm reverence….

Bring up front also made me very, very nervous as I wasn’t sure what to do…God was breaking into our routine and changing all of our plans.

“Oh Lord, what are you doing?  How can I join with You?”

Slowly as time ticked by, He told me to open up the microphone and allow people to share with the community what He was or had been doing in their lives that week. So I did it – and it was powerful!

We were blessed by hearing the stories about the King of Kings working in the lives of His people. We were encouraged by the Scriptures as the Author of Life guided our eyes and fingers through the Bible.

Continue reading When God Takes Over… →

Book Reviews, Vineyard Movement

“GodSpeak” by Rick Evans and Jessica Fischer

Over the past year God has been doing His best to teach me to trust His hand in guiding my heart and emotions. First in October at the Vineyard Missions Leaders Meeting, then in February at the Society of Vineyard Scholars conference – and finally this month at the Vineyard National Conference (I may have to stop going to these meetings as God keeps tweaking me at them…).  😛

It was no surprise then that I snatched up Rick Evans and Jessica Fischer’s book GodSpeak: How to Hear God’s Voice Without Getting Weird as soon as I saw it.

And I’m glad I did!

Rick (the primary author) is the pastor of a Vineyard Church in Cleveland, Ohio, while Jessica is the church worship leader and a freelance editor for Moody Publishing. Together they crafted an easy to read, power packed book on hearing God’s voice within the community of believers.

As you can probably tell from the book title, there are a lot of followers of Jesus who are afraid to hear directly from God because they think they will make them weird. And by weird, I mean destructive weird – the kind of weird you DON”T want to be!

This is unfortunate as one of the main motifs of the Bible is the call for the people of God to hear His voice:

“But Moses replied, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!’” – Numbers 11:29

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” – Jesus, John 10:27

“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.” – Paul, 1 Corinthians 14:1

Continue reading “GodSpeak” by Rick Evans and Jessica Fischer →

Book Reviews

“Kathryn Kuhlman: A Spiritual Biography” by Roberts Liardon

In the history of Pentecostalism, there have only been a few long-haul healing revivalists that died in good standing, having “endured” faithfully to the end. Kathryn Kuhlman was one of these.

Starting in the mid-1930’s Kathryn began preaching in Boise, Idaho, before kicking off a national healing ministry that eventually took her around the world. She was also one of the first preachers/revivalists to use TV and radio to reach the masses (her “I Believe In Miracles” show aired for decades).

Moving beyond the simple facts of her life, one of the things that I learned from Robert Liardon’s book was that Kuhlman never considered herself a “faith healer.”

In fact, she (as recorded by Liardon) did not like the style or methods used by the faith healers of the 1940 and ‘50’s. For example, a lot of faith healers at the time called up those who were sick to the front where they prayed for them. Kuhlman, on the other hand, preferred to call up those who had already been healed to tell their story.

This shift, however slight it may seem, appeals to me as the focus of the service is shifted away from the person on the stage and more upward towards God who heals folks anywhere and at anytime. Shoot, even more to my liking is when the people in the audience pray for each other!!!

But, as the other day shows, God sometimes has a tendency to stretch His people and to tell us to do things that we don’t really ‘like’ or feel comfortable doing… 😕

Sigh…adventures in follow God – never a dull movement. 😀