A gracEmail subscriber writes that his father suffers from cancer. Their local church is praying for healing, but "an outside source" has presented a list of Scriptures, to be read repeatedly each day, substituting the sick father's name in place of the person named in the Scriptures. The son asks whether this prescription is valid. * * * First, I am sorry that your father is ill, and I commend you for taking the matter to God our Healer and for trusting his sovereign love. As for the outside advice, I would need to know which Scriptures the advisor is prescribing. It certainly is … [Read more...]
GOD AND HUMAN SUFFERING (2)
At some point in life, we all encounter and experience suffering -- physical pain, emotional loss, the death of someone we love. During such times we inevitably ask, "Where is God? Does he cause this? Does he allow it? Why does he do either, if he loves me and could prevent this?" My friend and gracEmail subscriber John Mark Hicks has passed through these fires more than once, and has shared his story and some comforting truths about the subject in a profound book titled Yet Will I Trust Him: Understanding God in a Suffering World (Joplin, Mo.: College Press Publishing Co., paper, 338 pp. … [Read more...]
GOD AND HUMAN SUFFERING (1)
At some point in life, we all encounter and experience suffering -- physical pain, emotional loss, the death of someone we love. During such times we inevitably ask, "Where is God? Does he cause this? Does he allow it? Why does he do either, if he loves me and could prevent this?" My friend and gracEmail subscriber John Mark Hicks has passed through these fires more than once, and has shared his story and some comforting truths about the subject in a profound book titled Yet Will I Trust Him: Understanding God in a Suffering World (Joplin, Mo.: College Press Publishing Co., paper, 338 pp. … [Read more...]
WHY NOT ME?
We just received word that our dear friend Vicki Curtis has been diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. Vicki's husband Joe and I have been best buddies since we were in fourth grade nearly 50 years ago. I performed Joe and Vicki's wedding and we were near neighbors for 10 years when our children were born and into elementary school. Joe is a pastor of Seven Mile Post Road Church in Limestone County, Ala., my place of origin, where he and Vicki are known and loved for their Christian witness, godly enthusiasm and good works. Vicki and I visited by phone this weekend and discussed life, … [Read more...]
A SIMPLE ACT OF FAITH
I felt the warmth of their presence last Sunday morning [Feb. 1998] as they gathered round me and placed their hands on my body. I love and trust these elders of my local church, with whom I served for 13 years before rotating out this last term. "Edward, we anoint you with oil and claim God's promise of healing," the presider said, dipping his finger in oil and making a sign of the cross on my forehead. Each man then prayed aloud -- an attorney, a physician, a telecommunications engineer and others. Not presumptuously, but in faith. Simply asking, leaving the answer to God. This little … [Read more...]
AGENTS OF GOD’S HEALING
A gracEmail subscriber writes that during a private Bible study with a young couple, the young lady suddenly broke down in tears, stating she had been sexually molested by her stepfather from age four to 11. "Why would a loving, all-powerful God allow this to happen?" she asked. The questioner asks how I would answer her. * * * This young lady's situation highlights a fundamental moral problem for which there is no glib answer. Her story proves that we live in a fallen world in which God temporarily allows humans to exercise their sinful natures to do evil, often at the expense of other … [Read more...]
THE HEALING VISION
A gracEmail reader asks why God heals some people but not others, some instantly while others gradually, and some directly but others through the ministry of physicians, psychologists, naturalists, praying believers or a variety of other caregivers. * * * There are many questions for which we do not have clear answers. We do know that God is sovereign in these matters, that all healing is a gift of grace, and that we do not want to go lacking simply because we do not ask. We may therefore request God's healing with a powerful sense of expectancy, based on the atonement of Jesus Christ as … [Read more...]
RESTORING HEALING PRAYER
This is an appeal to Christians across the board to restore the ancient and biblical practice of healing prayer in the name of the Risen Savior Jesus Christ. Such prayer ought always to be conducted with the stated knowledge that God is sovereign, that no one merits or deserves healing, that we do not know why God heals some people but not all people, but that we do not want to go lacking simply because we do not ask. Special healing services may be times of quiet blessing with no fanfare, but marked by a powerful sense of expectancy and the presence of the Lord Jesus by his Spirit. Jesus … [Read more...]
HEALING: BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVES (2)
Today we complete the seven biblical perspectives on divine healing, taking into account the great biblical doctrines of Creation, the Fall, Redemption, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the End. * * * 5. We affirm that, because of Christ's atonement and resurrection and the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost, we may begin even now to share in God's victory over sin and its consequences. This victory at times includes the healing of the body, mind and relationships, in ways that exceed human prediction, understanding or ability to produce. We deny that God has stopped working in the world and … [Read more...]
HEALING: BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVES (1)
Error is often nothing but truth out of proportion. Balanced truth takes into account the great biblical doctrines of Creation, the Fall, Redemption, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the End. Seen in proper perspective, each element of divine revelation sparkles like a polished diamond when viewed from any angle. After half a century of reflecting on the topic and praying for the sick, I offer seven biblical perspectives on divine healing, which I believe are balanced, proportionate, and edifying. * * * 1. We affirm that God's will for his creation is health and wholeness. We deny that God … [Read more...]