Monthly Archives: March 2010

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6.

(1) Knowing God.

Before Jesus and His ministry arrived on the scene, how were Jewish believers healed?

Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever than first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.] (John 5: 2-4)

Approximately 450 years separated the prophet, Malachi, and the ministry of Jesus.  These are known as the silent years when no inspired prophet arose among the Jews. And without the Old Testament prophets, there were no healing ministries.

Yet, Jehovah Rapha kept his healing candle flickering in Jerusalem at the Pool of Bethesda. There, an angel of the Lord would periodically stir up the water, and whoever stepped into the pool first was supernaturally healed.

The odds of an individual sick person being healed at the pool were slim because hundreds of people were laying on the five porticoes, waiting for a chance to be healed.

So, think about this:  For every supernaturally healed person who shouted for joy at the Pool of Bethesda, there were tears, anguish, disappointment and cries from the many hundreds who were not healed.

Jesus walked into one of these porticoes during a feast.  Now, wouldn’t you think that this would have been a perfect time to hold a healing meeting? After all, the porticoes were filled with hundreds of desperate, hurting people.

But Jesus walked past and stepped over countless numbers of people to find one man. And just that one man, out of the hundreds laying there, received his healing from Jesus.

How could Jesus focus on one person and not be overwhelmed by all the suffering people at the Pool of Bethesda?

Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. (John 5: 19)

Jesus intimately knew the Father, and the Father showed Jesus that just one person was to be healed by Him. And  Jesus was at peace with the Father’s decision.

This is an important revelation for everyone who has or will have a healing ministry.

We need to intimately know God, walk with him and only do what He wants us to do. Otherwise, we will end up like William Branham, overworked,  exhausted and sitting on the sidelines. Our hearts will be weighed down and tugged on by all the suffering people in the world.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11: 29 -30)

When William Branham returned to ministry in 1950, he prayed for sick people in a different manner than he did in 1946 and 1947. No longer did he push himself past his physical limits. Yet, he was just as successful.

If you have a calling to a healing ministry, spend time with the Lord and get to know Him now. So, you can run the race and finish the course the Lord has set before you.

(Continued in Part 8)

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Almost all of the preachers in the Healing Revival (late 1940’s – 50’s) depended on their gifts of healing, gifts of faith, gifts of effecting of miracles,  plus their laying on of hands to produce healings for sick people. This was true for Kathryn Kuhlman, Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin, A. A. Allen and Jack Coe.

But this was not true for William Branham. He was a man of signs and wonders.

From his birth through his childhood until his salvation at twenty-one years of age, Branham had wild experiences. A whirling light at his birth. A voice speaking out of a rushing wind when he was a youth. A miraculous healing on his deathbed. A cross lit up on a shed’s wall at his salvation.

But none of those experiences matched the experience he had with an angel in 1946. The angel told Branham that he would have two gifts as signs for his healing ministry.

First, Branham would be able to detect diseases by a vibration in his left hand. The angel then instructed Branham that when he felt the vibrations, he was to pray for the person until the vibration went away. If the vibrations stopped, the person was healed. If not, he was to bless the person and walk away.

The second gift was a prophetic one. The angel said, “You will know the very secrets of their hearts. This they will hear.”

In the half hour visit, the angel told Branham about his healing ministry and that he would soon stand before thousands of people.

Without any money, preparation or proper clothing, Branham received a telegram the following Sunday evening from a pastor in St. Louis asking him to come and pray for the pastor’s daughter. Branham’s congregation gave an offering to him and a brother loaned a suit. He left later that same night on a train to St. Louis.

In St. Louis,  he saw the little girl at the pastor’s home, lying on a bed, her hands clawing her face and her voice hoarse from screaming. She had been tormented like this for three months.

Branham retired to a room to pray and seek the Lord. There he received his answer in a vision.

He returned to the girl’s room and waited for the conditions to match what he saw in the vision. When he prayed for the child according to the vision, the evil spirit left the child and she was healed. The young girl went on to have a normal childhood.

This was the beginning of the Healing Revival.

A few weeks later, Branham returned to St. Louis and held a twelve-day meeting. The tent was packed each night with thousands of people. A dead woman was raised up. A blind minister was healed; then the healings multiplied and grew beyond count.

For nine years, William Branham walked in a signs and wonder ministry. People were saved and healed by the thousands at his meetings.

…After it [the gospel] was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. (Hebrews 2: 3-4)

William Branham’s strength was that he walked in the spirit realm unlike any person since the Apostle Paul. So what was his weakness?

(Continued in Part 5)

Click on following link for: Part 1 and Part 2.

By modern preaching standards, William Branham (1909 – 1965) would be considered a backwoods hick. His poor command of the English language and cheap, ill-fitting suits would not endear him to today’s glamor-seeking YouTube audiences.

But yet, this humble son of poverty stricken parents  recorded 35,000 miracles for his ministry in 1947.

And if you are wondering whether Branham’s miracles were real or not, read Gordan Lindsay‘s book, A Man Sent From God. This same Gordan Lindsay eventually went on to found one of the finest Bible schools in America, Christ for the Nations.

Another man who was profoundly changed by Branham’s ministry was T.L Osborn. He and his wife, Daisy, had returned from a missionary trip to India in 1947. They were defeated and ready to quit when the two attended a Branham meeting in Portland, OR.

As Osborn sat in the audience, he saw William Branham turn a severely cross-eyed girl around to face the audience. Next, Branham prayed for the little girl. Her eyes were miraculously straightened out as everyone watched on.

Then, Osborn heard heavenly voices say to him, “You can do that! You can do that!”

T. L. Osborn and his wife returned to the mission fields renewed and refreshed, and then preached to millions of unreached people in over 90 countries. They preached daily to crowds of 20,000 to 300,000 people and had astounding miracles, even more than Branham ever had.

Before continuing, there are those who look at William Branham’s ministry and only see his latter years when his doctrines slipped into deep  error. They label him a false prophet and a heretic and ignore the nine years when his ministry was at the forefront of the Healing Revival.

I do not endorse Branham’s teachings on Oneness (“Jesus Only”), Seed of the Serpent, No Eternal Hell and countless other off-the-wall doctrines. But I think what Frank Viola wrote in his book, From Eternity to Here,  is apropos to Branham’s healing ministry:

I would like to ask you to pause and think of the most horrible day you ever lived. The day when you did something you deeply regret. You can take great comfort in this one fact: Your heavenly Father saw that day when He chose you in His Son before time….And it did not keep Him from choosing us in Christ to be His own. (From Eternity to Here, Frank Viola, pp. 71)

We Christians can all throw rocks at Branham’s teaching errors, but there is one thing no one has been able to do since him. And that is, match his miraculous works of healing. He was the real deal!

Even today, William Branham is still considered the father of the Healing Revival.

So, what was it about William Branham and his ministry that made it so unique as compared to Smith Wigglesworth, John Lake or Kathryn Kuhlman?

(Continued in Part 4)

A Updated Rerun Series

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8.

What is the price for rising above entry level prophesying?

5. Humility

“The world has yet to see what God can do with a man who doesn’t care who gets the credit.” (Dwight L. Moody)

If I had to pick just one character trait which Jesus is longing to see in us prophetic people, it would be humility. And yet, this seems to be the hardest one for us to attain.

Let’s say, you are on a platform with a microphone in your hand. You look into the audience and see a woman.  There’s nothing remarkable about her, but you instantly know something.

You point at her. “Your prayers are about to be answered,” you say, “that man you have been praying about for years and years is coming back into your life. Buy a wedding dress.”

The woman breaks down and cries. She raises her hands and shouts, “Thank you Jesus!”

Afterward, you find out the woman has been praying for her ex-husband. She believes they will be remarried, but everyone, including her pastor,  has told her she’s nuts. They say that her ex-husband will never, ever change his ways.

Six months later, you are invited to the wedding of the woman and her ex-husband. The man had an experience with the Lord and was instantly changed.

This actually happened to me, and countless other ones like it.

Pretty heady stuff, right?

Today, as I look back at the guy who held that microphone and spoke those words, I cringe and shudder. I hate him. I hate his pride, his arrogance, his thinking that he was the man who prayed, fasted and heard God for other people. I don’t even like to remember the time period because I am so ashamed of that man.

But let’s be honest, okay? I still give prophetic words. So, what’s changed in me?

“I remember the day and the place where I died.” (Katherine Kuhlman)

Maybe, Kuhlman was fortunate enough to completely die to all of her pride on just one day, but I wasn’t.  I can take you to street corners where parts of me died. Or to dumpsters where I crawled into searching for cans so I could collect the nickel deposits on them. Or to jobs I failed at. Or to countless other experiences where my heart was crushed.

Am I a perfect example of humility now? No! No! No! No!

But I am no longer the same guy who held the microphone and spoke the words to that lady…and I pray that I never will be like him again.

Humility takes time, lots of it. It is an ongoing work in my life, one which I continually struggle with; and yet, I embrace it.

(This series will be continued in the future.)

*I have used the word prophesy in a general sense to denote prophecy, words of knowledge and words of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12: 8-10).

Click on following link for: Part 1.

Smith Wiggglesworth died in 1947 and did not live to see the healing revival which hit America in the late 1940’s and 50’s. Names like Oral Roberts, Jack Coe, A. A. Allen, Kathryn Kuhlman, Paul Cain, Kennith Hagin and others became synonymous with healing and miracles.

Tents and auditoriums across America were filled with people seeking healing for their bodies and a desire to hear the gospel preached by this new breed of of preachers.

At a meeting in Washington, D.C., during the 1950’s, Jack Coe ran past 20 people sitting in wheelchairs. As he ran by, he grabbed the invalids by their arms and flung them out of their chairs, saying, “Be healed in Jesus’ name.”

Seventeen people were healed before they hit the floor. Sadly, three were not healed. The newspapers, of course, reported only on the three people who were not healed and how shameful it was for them.

Oral Roberts visited the Philippines and prayed for a line of sick people, seven miles long. Miracles happened up and down the line. When he finished, his aides carried him off, cross-eyed, exhausted and not able to lift his arms above his shoulders.

R. W. Schambach described the greatest miracle he ever witnessed which happened in the late 1950’s at an A. A. Allen meeting:

“A mother brought her four year-old son who was born with twenty-six diseases to some meetings A. A. Allen was conducting in Birmingham, Alabama. Blind. Deaf and dumb. His tongue hanging on his chin. Both arms and legs deformed and twisted. Elbows touching the knees in a fetal position. No male organs. No feet.

“As A. A. Allen began his preaching, Allen was carried away in the spirit and saw the birth of a baby boy who had twenty-six major diseases. He then saw the mother and another woman bring the child to his meeting in Birmingham. Allen asked the mother to bring the boy to the stage.

“I along with a crowd of three-thousand people watched Allen pray for that child. The first thing which happened was the tongue snapped back into the child’s mouth. The child’s eyes cleared up. Legs and arms stretched out in a normal position. And then I saw the greatest miracle ever.

“God created feet on the bottom of the boy’s stubs. Allen then placed the child down on the stage. He had never walked. Never talked. Never heard. Never saw with his eyes before. The boy then took off running across the stage and leaped into his mother’s arms and spoke his first words ever, ‘Momma.’

(Hear audio of R. W. Schambach telling this story here and here.)

Most people if asked to name the person considered to be the father of the Healing Revival would answer Oral Roberts. Their reasoning would be his legacy of healing and the university he founded: Oral Roberts University.

But they would be wrong.

(Continued in Part 3)

A Updated Rerun Series

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7.

What is the price for rising above entry level prophesying?

4. Love

Fourteen or so years ago, I was invited to fellowship with some men at a breakfast meeting.  I sat next to a youth leader and across from another youth leader.

The two talked back and forth about the struggles they had with motivating young people to live for Jesus. Each inquired how the other’s youth meeting was handled. Both replied about having structured meetings, but still, they wondered aloud, what else could they do.

“Why don’t you teach them to love the presence of the Holy Spirit?” I said, barging into the conversation.

“Oh, I’ve tried that, but it’s a lot of work,” said the youth leader, sitting across from me.

“Did the kids enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit?” I asked.

“Oh, yes,” the man replied. “They loved it.” He paused, then added, “But it’s so iffy, you know? So, I’d rather have a more structured meeting.”

As soon as possible, I offered my apologies and left the breakfast table.

His answer caused me to become so distraught that tears flooded down my face. Passersby stared at me, wondering what my problem was. I didn’t care.  Every part of me ached.

“Jesus, the church doesn’t care about Your presence or You. They only care about their programs,” I cried. “And to be honest, Lord, I don’t like Your church much and would rather have nothing ever to do with it.”

Now, to be honest, my agony came out of wounds and hurts from bad experiences and rejections by other Christians and churches. It certainly wasn’t the fault of that particular youth leader; he was innocent. It’s just that his words lit the fuse of my inner powder keg.

From that day onward, the Lord worked on me. He used hammers and chisels welded by people and the Holy Spirit to break up the hardness in my heart. To Him, it was personal because my lack of loving His church was an affront to Him. And the process was lengthy and not pretty.

You see, Jesus absolutely loves His church. His church is His all-consuming passion. He loves the least and the greatest members in it. He sees the church as His Bride, and guess what? He is head over heels in love with her.

Today, I love the church, the Bride of Jesus. His work was painful, but effective in me.

Here’s some advice to you: if you have any problems with other Christians, such as Pentecostals or Charismatics or Fundamentalists or Evangelicals or Snake-handling sects or whatever, I suggest you ask the Lord to give you a deep, dying on the cross type of love for all of them.

This suggestion will save you time and pain.

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

(Continued in Part 9.)

A Updated Rerun Series

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6.

What is the price for rising above entry level prophesying?

3. Faith

One of our Father’s frustrations with Israel in the Old Testament was the nation’s lack of faith in Him.

“Yes,” they would proclaim, “God showed up at the Red Sea. And yes, He fed us with manna in the wilderness. But this time is different, how can we trust Him to help us now?”

Over and over again, Israel turned its back on God and sought comfort and help from idols they could see and touch. Finally, God allowed Israel to be removed from His sight and its people were scattered to the winds.

Why?

For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. (Hebrews 4:2)

Sadly, faith has taken an unfair hit in the last few years. So much so, that any person who mentions that Christians might need to increase their faith risks being labeled a “faith nut”. Someone to be ignored and castigated by other believers.

Part of this may be due to the Word of Faith Movement’s overemphasis on prosperity and healing. And part may be due to the overemphasis of love in our modern worship songs.

But mostly, I believe that, like Israel, we believers are not really sure God will show up and help us in our times of need. After all, we prayed, and yet, our car was repossessed or our home was foreclosed on or our marriage ended in divorce or a loved one died.

So how can we trust God now?

I have been there, done that, bought the t-shirt and sang the song. But yet, when the divorce happened, when the vehicles were repossessed, when the loved ones died, when the apartment’s management tossed us out, when the dumpsters became a source of food and when all the friends left, who could I trust?  Who?

A man in the midst of a horrendous trial said it best:

Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him… (Job 13:15)

Yes, when you stand up to prophesy, the Holy Spirit may not show up. You may look and feel foolish. Others may point and snicker at you. Maybe, even the whole city will ridicule you aloud.

Scripture terms this as presumption on your part. It is not a sin and God will not hold it against you. He will correct and work with you on your mistakes.

Yet, having a prophetic word in your mouth and being prompted by the Holy Spirit to speak it, but then not doing it because of fear (lack of faith) is a sin. One which will hinder your walk with the Lord.

…let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. (Romans 12:6)

(Continued in Part 8)

*I have used the word prophesy in a general sense to denote prophecy, words of knowledge and words of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12: 8-10).