Damaged Healed By Claiming A Word From the Lord

I was asked by a friend whether God could use certain passages so as to speak to one's life. The answer is "yes". Sometimes, God would drop a personal word for us so as to encourage us. 

For example, one of my friends, Rev William Caldwell, was healed of his heart condition because God told him to claim Ezekiel 36:26 - "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."

As we know this verse is not about a new physical heart but a spiritual heart for Israel. 

But for Rev Caldwell, it was to mean that God was to heal his damaged physical heart. 

At that time, he was in his early 50s. His family doctor was so shocked because when he examined Rev Caldwell again and again, he just could believe the reading on his equipment.

 Then finally, the doctor who had been treating him for so many years, said out loud that how could his heart perform that way.  

Why? Because Rev Caldwell's heart was beating like that of a healthy 30-year-old man. 

So, that would be known in the Charismatic circle as the "Rhema Word."

New Pastor Walks On Water

The congregation was not certain that the new pastor could do all that the previous, older pastor had done. The Pastor Search Committee decided to put him to the test. 

After the service, everyone went out to the local lake for a picnic. 

After loading all of the picnic supplies into a large boat, the congregation climbed aboard and began to cross the lake to an island. 

Halfway across the lake a member stood up and said, "Oh no, we have forgotten the hot dogs. Someone will have to swim back and get them." 

Realizing he was being put to the test, the new pastor got out of the boat, walked across the water, and retrieved the hot dogs. 

Most of the congregation was stunned but one critic said, "See, I told you, they didn't even send us one who could swim." 

Uncluttered Faith

One of my favorite stories concerns a bishop who was traveling by ship to visit a church across the ocean. While en route, the ship stopped at an island for a day. He went for a walk on a beach. He came upon three fishermen mending their nets.

Curious about their trade he asked them some questions. Curious about his ecclesiastical robes, they asked him some questions. When they found out he was a Christian leader, they got excited. “We Christians!” they said, proudly pointing to one another.

The bishop was impressed but cautious. Did they know the Lord’s Prayer? They had never heard of it.

“What do you say, then, when you pray?”

“We pray, ‘We are three, you are three, have mercy on us.’ ”

The bishop was appalled at the primitive nature of the prayer. “That will not do.” So he spent the day teaching them the Lord’s Prayer. The fishermen were poor but willing learners. And before the bishop sailed away the next day, they could recite the prayer with no mistakes.

The bishop was proud.

On the return trip the bishop’s ship drew near the island again. When the island came into view the bishop came to the deck and recalled with pleasure the men he had taught and resolved to go see them again. As he was thinking a light appeared on the horizon near the island. It seemed to be getting nearer. As the bishop gazed in wonder he realized the three fishermen were walking toward him on the water. Soon all the passengers and crew were on the deck to see the sight.

When they were within speaking distance, the fisherman cried out, “Bishop, we come hurry to meet you.”

“What is it you want?” asked the stunned bishop.

“We are so sorry. We forget lovely prayer. We say, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name …’ and then we forget. Please tell us prayer again.”

The bishop was humbled. “Go back to your homes, my friends, and when you pray say, ‘We are three, you are three, have mercy on us.’ ”

From And the Angels Were Silent
Copyright 1992, Max Lucado

C. S. Lewis on Turning Water into Wine

God creates the vine and teaches it to draw up water by its roots and, with the aid of the sun, to turn that water into a juice which will ferment and take on certain qualities.

 Thus every year, from Noah’s time till ours, God turns water into wine. That, men fail to see. Either like the Pagans they refer the process to some finite spirit, Bacchus or Dionysus: or else, like the moderns, they attribute real and ultimate causality to the chemical and other material phenomena which are all that our senses can discover in it. But when Christ at Cana makes water into wine, the mask is off’ (John 5:19). 

The miracle has only half its effect if it only convinces us that Christ is God: it will have its full effect if whenever we see a vineyard or drink a glass of wine we remember that here works He who sat at the wedding party in Cana.”


C.S. Lewis, “Miracles,” God in the Dock (Eerdmans: 1970)

Sales Department and Not Management

A pastor who was an avid golfer was taking part in a local golf tournament. As he prepared to tee off, storm clouds rolled in. 

The organizer of the tournament pointed them out to the pastor and said with a smile, "Preacher, I trust you’ll see to it that the weather won't turn bad on us." 

The pastor shook his head and said, "Sorry. I'm in sales, not management!"

When we pray, minister, share our faith, and follow God's guidance, it's important—and liberating—to remember that the results aren't up to us. 

Uncluttered Faith

One of my favorite stories concerns a bishop who was traveling by ship to visit a church across the ocean. While en route, the ship stopped at an island for a day. He went for a walk on a beach. He came upon three fishermen mending their nets.

Curious about their trade he asked them some questions. Curious about his ecclesiastical robes, they asked him some questions. When they found out he was a Christian leader, they got excited. “We Christians!” they said, proudly pointing to one another.

The bishop was impressed but cautious. Did they know the Lord’s Prayer? They had never heard of it.

“What do you say, then, when you pray?”

“We pray, ‘We are three, you are three, have mercy on us.’ ”

The bishop was appalled at the primitive nature of the prayer. “That will not do.” So he spent the day teaching them the Lord’s Prayer. The fishermen were poor but willing learners. And before the bishop sailed away the next day, they could recite the prayer with no mistakes.

The bishop was proud.

On the return trip, the bishop’s ship drew near the island again. When the island came into view the bishop came to the deck and recalled with pleasure the men he had taught and resolved to go see them again. 

As he was thinking a light appeared on the horizon near the island. It seemed to be getting nearer. As the bishop gazed in wonder he realized the three fishermen were walking toward him on the water. Soon all the passengers and crew were on the deck to see the sight.

When they were within speaking distance, the fisherman cried out, “Bishop, we come in a hurry to meet you.”

“What is it you want?” asked the stunned bishop.

“We are so sorry. We forget lovely prayer. We say, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name ...’ and then we forget. Please tell us prayer again.”

The bishop was humbled. “Go back to your homes, my friends, and when you pray say, ‘We are three, you are three, have mercy on us.’ ”

From And the Angels Were Silent
Copyright 1992, Max Lucado

When You Pray, You Believe In Miracles

If you believe in prayer, you believe in miracles. 

When you pray, you are requesting the supernatural intervention of God to come into a situation that would deteriorate without it. 

Nothing is natural any more... everything has become supra-natural. 

The power of God is now over that situation. Therefore, when you pray, you are asking for a miracle.

Rev Albert Kang

The God Who Hung on the Cross

A painting, by a survivor, Vann Nath, on how Cambodians were killed at the pit.

In her book The God Who Hung on the Cross, journalist Ellen Vaughn retells a gripping story of how the Gospel came to a small village in Cambodia. In September 1999 Pastor Tuy Seng (not his real name) traveled to Kampong Thom Province in northern Cambodia. Throughout that isolated area, most villagers had cast their lot with Buddhism or spiritism. Christianity was virtually unheard of.

But much to Seng's surprise, when he arrived in one small, rural village the people warmly embraced him and his message about Jesus. When he asked the villagers about their openness to the gospel, an old woman shuffled forward, bowed, and grasped Seng's hands as she said, "We have been waiting for you for twenty years." And then she told him the story of the mysterious God who had hung on the cross.

In the 1970s the Khmer Rouge, the brutal, Communist-led regime, took over Cambodia, destroying everything in its path. When the soldiers finally descended on this rural, northern village in 1979, they immediately rounded up the villagers and forced them to start digging their own graves. After the villagers had finished digging, they prepared themselves to die. Some screamed to Buddha, others screamed to demon spirits or to their ancestors.

One of the women started to cry for help based on a childhood memory—a story her mother told her about a God who had hung on a cross. The woman prayed to that unknown God on a cross. Surely, if this God had known suffering, he would have compassion on their plight.

Suddenly, her solitary cry became one great wail as the entire village started praying to the God who had suffered and hung on a cross. As they continued facing their own graves, the wailing slowly turned to a quiet crying. There was an eerie silence in the muggy jungle air. Slowly, as they dared to turn around and face their captors, they discovered that the soldiers were gone. 

As the old woman finished telling this story, she told Pastor Seng that ever since that humid day from 20 years ago the villagers had been waiting, waiting for someone to come and share the rest of the story about the God who had hung on a cross.

Doris I. Rosser & Ellen Vaughn, The God Who Hung on the Cross (Zondervan, 2003), pp. 35-37

The Old Woman And The Baby

Patricia Saint John wrote about Mary, an English nurse who at the time was working in a mission clinic in an Arab country. "One morning she and her assistant, Fatima, needed to travel eight miles to another village. They caught a bus that was going in their direction. But after a few miles, the bus driver passed their stop and kept on driving. The bus driver ignored the women's pleas to return to the road that led to their village. Mary became upset, but Fatima remained calm, recalling their morning prayers asking for God's guidance.

"Finally, the bus stopped at the foot of a hill, many miles from Mary's and Fatima's homes. At this stop, there was an old woman with a baby in her arms. She walked up to Mary and presented the baby to her. The poor child had a severe eye infection and needed immediate medical attention to save her eyes.

"Mary asked the old woman how she knew to find help here so far from the main village. The old woman replied that a man had come to her in a dream and told her that the English nurse would be waiting at the end of this road the next day. Mary and Fatima had made no plans to come anywhere near this village. They couldn't have anticipated that a rude bus driver would leave them many miles from their designated stop. Yet God had told this desperate woman where to find them. Mary treated the baby's eyes; within days the infection was gone. Later, Mary and Fatima had the opportunity to give their Christian testimony to many people in that village because of their meeting with the old woman and the baby."

Patricia Saint John in Finding God Between a Rock and a Hard Place, compiled by Lil Copan and Elisa Fryling (Wheaton, IL.: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1999), pp. 106-110. Cited on www.sermons.com. 

The Giant Squids Hunting Club

It’s an old story used by many preachers. However, it illustrates an important principle that is applicable to our churches today.

Many thousands years ago, the islanders of Lepsog islands were champion squid hunters. They harpooned giant squids that roamed their oceans and brought prosperity to their islands. Every young man who reached 18 years of age was required to join the older men in the great sea hunt.

There were many accounts of exceptional courageous and successful hunts recorded in the ancient book known as the ‘Chronicle of Sea Warriors’. Recorded in one of its illustrious chapters was a story of a Master Squid Hunter known as Nomis who with his long-time navigator, Nhoj hauled in giant squids that fed the islanders for years.

In another account, Luap, another Master Squid Huner singlehandedly speared his game with his very own handmade harpoon. There were of course stories of cowards and quitters. There was a report about Kram, a young man, who jumped out of Luap’s boat even before the team reached deep ocean because he was really afraid of giant squids. However, the legend did record that that Kram overcame his fear and became a Master Squid Hunter himself. Another man whose name was Samed was one of the top squid hunters but left the islands forever because he wanted nothing to do with hunting giant squids any more. He was attracted by the lights of the mainland. No one knew whether he and his canoe ever reached the land of his dream.

The Master Squid Hunters left behind manuscripts on how to make the right types of harpoons, appropriate baits and also techniques in catching these sea monsters. They wrote good advice on how to avoid the tentacles and if attacked, what squid hunters should do to free themselves. For thousands of years, the manuscripts were compiled and became a treasured manual. This was a book of success as far as the squid hunters were concerned. Many copies were reproduced by hands and even translated into different languages and dialects.

After the first generation of Squid Hunters passed away, new hunters rose to fill their places. With the manual and the direct instructions from squid hunting veterans guiding them, they were just as effective as the old-timers. Many of these younger hunters pursued larger giant squids in far deeper oceans than their predecessors had even been. Years passed, as more and more people from other islands sailed to the Lepsog island to learn how to hunt giant squids, the people of these other islands were enjoying a very good healthy diet of giant squids.

Fast forward to today. The Islands of Lepsog are filled with Giant Squid Hunting schools and colleges. The students of the original schools set up similar institutions on other islands outside of Lepsog too. Squid hunting professors are very impressive. They are fantastic lecturers. To help the students, they have beautiful PowerPoint presentations and even some black-and-white film footages on how those brave squid hunters of antiquity brought in thousands of giant squids.

The libraries of these institutions are filled with countless volumes that tell and retell these old stories. Many graduates of these institutions have gone on to become the Grandmasters of the Giant Squid Hunting League. They in turn write many books about how those ancient mariners caught their amazing giants.

There is just a slight hitch.  None of these grandmasters has ever caught a giant squid before. Don’t get me wrong – they are believers of the previous existence of giant squids. However, they do not believe that there are any more giant squids in the oceans. How did they know that? They had gone to the oceans to hunt for giant squids but without any results. They have the most modern boats and ships. They have the latest hunting equipments. They have lots of money to buy anything they need for deep-sea hunting. The only problem is that they have not encountered any living giant squids in the deep oceans.

To pacify their disappointments and justify their lack of success, they assume that the giant squids have become extinct. Most likely, these squids existed in the past for the purpose of testing the courage of their ancestors. More books are produced year after year about the extinction of the giant squids in spite of sightings made by many outside their immediate circle.

The social activities of the Giant Squids Hunting Clubs in all the Lepsog islands are alive. They organize weekly events to celebrate the past existence of the giant squids. They also celebrate the bravery of their ancestors who risked their lives to harpoon these amazing creatures. Some islanders convert their clubs into museums and draw large crowds of tourists.

Then some members of the Giant Squids Hunting Club, claim that they have sighted a few giant squids during some of their fishing trips. The Grandmaster and his committee quickly dismiss these as unsubstantiated reports and thus should be considered as mere rumors. Even though, they were brought to view a decomposing carcass, they concluded that “it looks like a giant squid, smells like a giant squid and feels like a giant squid but it is not a giant squid”. Those fishermen were given warnings not to spread the rumors or face severe punishment such as being expelled from the Giant Squids Hunting Association. Without any further interruption from these ignorant fishermen, the Giant Squids Hunting Clubs continue to have exciting activities without having to actually hunt giant squids. The clubs prosper and develop franchises all over the world.

This is what happened to our churches today. Many churches have not experienced signs and wonders for such a long time that our preachers only preach about miracles of yester years. One of the popular sermons is about how Peter and John healed the lame beggar at the gate known as ‘Beautiful’ (Acts 3). We love to repeat what Peter said to the lame man, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” What an irony! Today, we have much silver and gold but in the name of Jesus, no lame person can rise up and walk. 

By Reverend Albert Kang

"Power Evangelism"

Bigger Miracle Than The Resurrection

"I went to a psychologist friend and said if 500 people claimed to see Jesus after he died, it was just a hallucination. He said hallucinations are an individual event. If 500 people have the same hallucination, that's a bigger miracle than the resurrection."

Lee Strobel

Amazing Catch! Toddler Falls 7-floors, is Saved by Passerby

"It's a real miracle."

"For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone." -Psalm 91:11-12

An 18-month-old boy survived after falling seven floors and bouncing off a Paris cafe awning into the arms of a passer-by, witnesses said Tuesday.

"My son saw a little boy on a balcony. He had gone right outside the railing... I said to myself I mustn't miss him," the toddler's saviour, local doctor Philippe Bensignor, told AFP, recounting Monday's drama.

"I had time to move from side to side to get in the right position," he added. "The little boy was fine. He cried a little bit but calmed down straightaway."

An official involved in investigating the incident said the boy had been left alone in the family apartment in northern Paris with his sister by their parents, who were taken into custody afterward.

"It's a real miracle," said the cafe's barman, who gave his name as Gaby, pointing to a small tear in the awning where the toddler bounced off.

"We were closed yesterday but the mechanical device for closing the awning wasn't working."

PARIS (AFP)

God sent His Son to catch us so that we do not fall into eternal damnation. Praise the Lord.

Faith To Pray For Rain

The poor farming community depended on the rain so that their crops could survive. The rain had been late for weeks and so the people decided that it was time to invoke divine assistance.They visited the ailing preacher of the community at his home for advice.

The old preacher decided that on that very day, after the farming chores were done, every family should congregate at the old country church and pray to the good Lord for rain.

Everybody indeed turned up for the prayer meeting. The crippled also turned up to join in the effort of calling God to send the rain. The choir was there ready with their rain-invoking, God-worshiping songs. The sanctuary was so crowded that it looked like a Christmas service or a funeral gathering.

The elderly preacher finally arrived with help of his two sons. He had not been feeling well and had to be supported to the pulpit. He had also used a humongous umbrella as a walking stick. The choir members rose up to sing but the pastor signaled to the choir director for them to sit down. The noisy congregation quieted down and looked a bit confused because of the change of the order of service.

Behind the pulpit was the preacher in his preaching robe. He opened his mouth to speak but only a whisper came out. His elder son, who was nearby, quickly moved close to listen to what his father wanted to say. The attentive congregation was watching every move. They saw the middle-aged man nodding as the elderly preacher repeated his message to him.

The preacher's son stretched to his fullest height, looked at the congregation and said, "My dad says that he is happy that all of you are here in church tonight to pray for the rain." The members of the church smiled in relief and some even clapped.

Then the preacher's son added, "However, my dad - your pastor asked, 'If you are praying for rain, then where are your umbrellas?"

By Rev Albert Kang

Changed Whiskey Into Furniture

An alcoholic became a believer. He was asked how he could possibly believe all the nonsense in the Bible about miracles.

"You don't believe that Jesus changed the water into wine do you?"

"I sure do, because in our house Jesus changed the whiskey into furniture."

Ray Stedman, Authentic Christianity, p. 36

Purpose of Miracles

One clear purpose of miracles was to authenticate the character of Jesus and his relationship with his heavenly Father. In this regard, miracles demonstrate the following: 

God is with Jesus (John 3:2); Jesus is from God (John 3:2; 9:342-33); God has sent Jesus (John 5:36); Jesus has authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10-11; Matt. 9:6-7; Luke 5:24-25); Jesus is approved by God (Acts 2:22); the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father (John 10:37-38; 14:11); in Jesus the kingdom of God has come (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20); and Jesus is the Messiah (Matt. 11:1-6; Luke 7:18-23) and the Son of God (Matt. 14:25-33).

A second purpose of miracles was to authenticate the message about Jesus. This was the major function of the miracles as far as the ministry of the apostles was concerned. Mark says that the Lord "confirmed his word [that the apostles preached] by the signs that accompanied it? (Mark 16:20). When Luke was describing the ministry of Paul and Barnabas at Iconium, he said that the Lord "confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders? (Acts 14:3). 

Notice that in both of these texts the Lord does not confirm the apostles themselves but rather "his word? or 'the message? that the apostles were preaching. Signs and wonders do not testify to the apostles but to the message of salvation preached by the apostles. So the two principal things that are authenticated by miracles are the Lord Jesus and the message about the Lord Jesus.

Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, by Jack Deere, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), pp. 103-104.

The King and Four Acorns

A story is told of an Eastern king which illustrates at once our delusion respecting natural processes, and also God's work and presence in them. 

The king was seated in a garden, and one of his counselors was speaking of the wonderful works of God. 

"Show me a sign," said the king, "and I will believe." 

"Here are four acorns," said the counselor, "will you, Majesty, plant them in the ground, and then stoop down for a moment and look into this clear pool of water?" 

The king did so, "Now," said the other, "look up." 

The king looked up and saw four oak-trees where he had planted the acorns. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed, "this is indeed the work of God."

 "How long were you looking into the water?" asked the counselor. 

"Only a second," said the king. "Eighty years have passed as a second," said the other. 

The king looked at his garments; they were threadbare. He looked at his reflection in the water; he had become an old man. "There is no miracle here, then," he said angrily. 

"Yes," said the other, "it is God's work, whether he did it in one second or in eighty years."

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