Jesus said many crazy things, but this is right up there: I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12). How could we possibly do what he did, never mind even greater things? Surely, […]
Or why we sometimes don’t hear God. We blame the donkey, but in the story of Balaam and the Ass (Numbers 22), it was Balaam who wasn’t listening. The donkey knew all along. God speaks even through donkeys, which gives me great comfort. The Pride Earplug Nineteen times the Lord calls his people stiff-necked. “Today, if you hear his voice, […]
“I haven’t heard from God for years.” “God only speaks to me through scripture.” I hear these comments regularly. But the Lord recently showed me something astonishing! The Bible tells us we consist of spirit, soul, and body, and 1 Corinthians 2:11 says, “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him.” Thoughts […]
When we come together, what do we do? Sing, pray, preach, offering, notices, communion and coffee. That’s church, surely? Actually, the Scriptures suggest otherwise. The Apostle Paul has a very different picture in mind. When you come together, he writes in 1 Corinthians 14:26, Everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue of an interpretation. […]
Is anyone of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven (James 5:14-15). But when Jesus healed […]
It came as a shock to realize Jesus didn’t pray. I don’t mean he didn’t pray to the Father―of course he did. I mean he didn’t pray when healing the sick. Really? At the Last Supper, Jesus took a towel and bowl, knelt before his disciples and washed their feet, the job of the lowest slave. They were horrified. Peter […]
He healed the sick, stilled the storm, walked on water, and fed thousands with a boy’s lunch. The disciples shook their heads in wonder. How did he do it? What is supernatural to us is natural to God; he made the whole thing in the first place! God’s not hiding in heaven with his arms folded. Like a potter with […]
I stood surrounded by thirty thousand others, watching the impossible. The biggest tent in the world soared seventy feet above me. Outside, Soweto, South Africa. Inside, holy chaos. People danced. People jumped and sang and praised God, their faces alight. No one praises God like Africans. Too reserved to join in, I merely grinned. Then I heard these words. “Now […]