September 2012
Those who attended this training were mostly very committed disciples of Jesus Christ, including missionaries and “tentmakers” who served the gospel under the cover of an official profession like teaching English. Present were disciples from the Dallas area of Texas, from Minnesota, from Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and even Africa.
The Lord was gracious to open the hearts of his servants to this “new” revelation which is actually clearly presented in the Scriptures. In the words of our host, it was a paradigm shift. What she understood from her background was that one had to wait for a “rhema” or word or stirring from the Spirit before stepping out of the boat to take some action in the realm of the miraculous. But from the written Scriptures we presented to them, they now understand that disciples have a measure of authority to minister in the miraculous even without a rhema or spoken word from the Lord.
They learned that believers don’t necessarily have to wait for the Lord to tell them specifically to do something which the written word in the Scriptures already commands us to do. “Heal the sick and tell them, ‘the kingdom of God is near you.'” (Luke 10″9) This was indeed a paradigm shift for them. Because of an imbalance which is quite prevalent throughout the Church, believers are paralyzed by a spirit of helplessness—either waiting for God to do something, or waiting for God to command us to do it.
No, the Lord has already given us a measure of power and authority over disease and demons, and has commanded us to use it in the preaching of the gospel. Why should we wait for the Lord to tell us to do something which He has already commanded us to do in the Scriptures?
The Lord was gracious to confirm this word—this paradigm shift—by performing various miracles on some of the believers in this small group. One sister had been completely deaf in her left ear since the age of four years when an infection destroyed her auditory nerve. Two sisters came forward to minister to her, inserting their fingers into her ears and commanding her hearing to be restored. By the time they were done, the sister could hear and understand whispers in her left hear. She actually felt physical sensations in her ear as the Lord was restoring her hearing.
Another sister wearing glasses was losing sight in her left eye, and doctors were proposing surgery. She was already unable to read print with her left eye, even with eyeglasses. Two sisters ministered to her, and by the time they were done she was able to read small print with the eye.
Another sister could only hear indistinct noises in one ear when people spoke to her. After she was ministered to, she could understand what people were saying to her.
We thank the Lord for performing such miracles before highly-educated and committed disciples to confirm the teaching from the Scriptures. May they now preach the gospel with miraculous signs following as confirmation that Christ is the only way to the Father, and may they train other disciples to do the same.
Testimonies in the aftermath of the Training
The long-term missionary couple from Dallas, Texas wrote us the following month:
“We are now in the Philippines, and had the opportunity to share about what we learned with our GTN team at our annual meeting last week, and also at our Filipino church this Sunday. A number were healed.
Thank you for re-energizing us and training us on using Jesus’ authority. It was very life-changing for us.
Please come back! You are such a blessing to the body of Christ.”
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