Healings are for all to move in
Jonathan Brenneman writes
I went to a church service last night, hoping to have some fellowship with friends, hoping they would go out or something after the meeting. I left frustrated. It was good for a church service...good songs, a more biblical message than most...
But it was another show. No fellowship. Little supernatural manifestation of God's grace. It would have been much better to stay home and spend time with my daughters.
As my understanding grows of how rich and how generous God is, I am increasingly becoming convinced that if the church doesn't have revival, it's because that's not what the church wants. If the church doesn't have God's grace manifesting supernaturally, healing, powerful prophetic words, people being set free from demons, people laughing with the joy of the Lord and weeping because they want their lives to reflect God's holiness, and all kinds of other manifestations of God's grace, it's because that's simply not what the church values.
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. What revival has ever come without a message that offended some, requiring humility to receive? Read the instructions for Christians meetings in 1st Corinthians 11-14. The meeting included a meal, and every member flowing supernturally in God's grace with the various manifestations of the Spirit. Anything less was failing to discern the body of Christ and one member saying to the others "I don't need you." Read chapter 12 and tell me how a spectator event or one-man show is not in disobedience to these instructions. Chapter 13-the goal is love or we are like a noisy gong or clanging symbol. (Currently it usually feels like an event to hype the people up and keep them needing the people who get their tithes, keeping those people in control, growing the organizations' power and numbers....not really about the church edifying itself.)
Chapter 14, all can prophesy, if a revelation comes to someone else let the first one sit down and allow one or two other prophets to speak. And who are you to say women can't speak...did God's word originate with you? Finally, let everything be done in an order that facilitates the operation of the whole church as one body, with no member being left out.
If we dishonor any member of the body of Christ, we dishonor Christ. If Jesus wants to manifest himself in some way through anybody and our regular Christian meetings don't facilitate that, then it is as if Jesus showed up but we didn't have room in our program for him. When most members are doing nothing to build up the whole body of Christ in our meetings, it is as if the body of Christ in that place is paralyzed.
This is just one example of how it is pride that is keeping the church from revival. Scripture's commands are clear. Romans 15 says you are brimming with knowledge and able to instruct each other. Colossians says to teach and exhort each other. Hebrews says "By this time you should be teachers."
That is not to say we can "NEVER" have a big meeting with a special speaker, or that there isn't a context for it. Jesus and the early church had big meetings, but they were mostly evangelistic, not for regular fellowship or discipleship. There are times when a visiting speaker comes who is building up the church, we have a special meeting, that's totally legit.
But many church communities have NO context in which they obey the Biblical instructions for a regular meeting. Even the small groups and weekday meetings are often like miniature church services, spectator events.
Humility receives corrections and obeys. Pride says "We do it this way, it really isn't so bad." I'm finding locally that many people just want to do what they've done before, they think they are rich but they are living in spiritual poverty. They like their church services and then when people aren't edified and don't find God's grace flowing or any opportunity to obey Jesus in their meetings, they call those people "unchurched."
They think they can do church fine. There's no dependance on the Holy Spirit, saying "Holy Spirit, help! We can't do this without you! It's no good if you don't move, touch people, and do what only You can do! We yeild to You." They don't have revival because they don't want it, and they would have it if they did. Some of the very people in that service went to a restaurant with me and saw the whole staff receive prayer with everyone in need receiving healing miracles....but they don't have that happening in their church services and they are happy with the way it is. Some of them have seen us pray for people outside of church services and they fall on the concrete under God's power, no emotionalism. They have seen that, they know it's available. Why don't they have it in their church services? They Holy Spirit's work and what only He can do is not what is valuable to them. It's not what's important to them. They have their pastor and their program.
So by now it's so hard to even sit through their program, especially if they sing songs about wanting revival and I know they don't.
If we aren't having revival, then pride needs to be confronted, and it is going to offend some people. There is no revival without repentance. There is no change without first recognizing that you need change, that you are poor, blind, and naked if you're doing it on your own power, and that you are helpless without the Holy Spirit. And then there is no change if we do not change. God says "Listen to my reproof, and I will pour out my Spirit on you."
Price hack: The Mechanics of Miracles is now available as an audio book. The Audible Book is 8.99 by itself, but if you have bought the kindle version first, which is currently on the 99 cent promotional launch price, Amazon gives the option to add the audible book for $1.99. You get the kindle and audible book for 2.98 rather than just getting the audible book for 8.99!
“I probably have more than two dozen healing works on my shelf published in the last few years. Some of these works are quite good, but I don’t think any of the authors have gone where Jonathan has gone. I would consider him an expert on this topic.”
-Pastor J.D. King, Author Regeneration: A Complete History of Healing in the Christian Church
@highlight @followers
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