Sometimes theology isn't enough and we just have to take a step of faith.If you've been following this blog, or reading my posts of Facebook, then you should be quite familiar with how God has shaken things up in my life over the last two weeks. After not heeding the voice of God to pray for healing over a man's head, I was greatly troubled with my faith (or lack thereof). Soon after I began watching a YouTube channel called, "The Normal Christian Life," where believers of Jesus simply go around, preach the message, and pray for healing. The result is people get saved, and people get healed, and I mean instantly healed on camera! Of course I've never doubted God, but that doesn't mean I have had the faith to go out and pray boldly as these men and women do. But, after being so torn over my disobedience, I decided it was time to simply trust the word of God. And heal the sick there, and say to them, "the Kingdom of God has come near to you." -Luke 10:9In the bible, Jesus says such things as this (paraphrased):
No time like the present.After watching these videos and sharing them with my church, I saw a boy with crutches. I prayed in the name of Jesus, commanding healing over his knee, and commanding the pain to flee in Jesus's name...... and it did. He was completely healed. And so were 6 other people in less than a week. Back injuries, cancer, wrist pain, even a torn rotator-cuff. It was amazing. I was in a Jesus lead haze. I'm not much wiser, I don't have more answers, I haven't gained a greater theological understanding on anything in specific.... I simply believe more wholeheartedly now than I ever have. Yet some were not healed.All good stories have a point of climax. Mine came at the end of 6 solid gold miracles. One day, I went and prayed for a friend Doug who has shoulder pain. Unfortunately, he only received partial healing. I have no idea why. I was blessed to be able to pray for him, and he may be healed right now for all I know, but he may still have slight pain, I just don't know. Then, after God healed my friend's lower back, we prayed over his brother-in-law, and he received slight improvement, but not full healing. Finally, my mother, after falling and spraining her ankle, came to my house. I prayed over her ankle several times, but there was no healing. I would be lying to say I wasn't at least a bit conflicted in my feelings. I still have joy, I am blessed to have at least prayed for her, but the power isn't mine, it's God, and He did not heal her. The thing that gets Christians in trouble, and what got Job and his friends in trouble, is when we try to make excuses for God. There are times when we just don't know what God is doing or why, and that is good enough. God can defend Himself. Yet, my heart was still a bit torn, and I was starting to wonder what exactly God was doing in my life. Was this limited thing? Was I unfaithful? Am I walking in my own strength now? On and on the question came, and I began losing my joy filled demeanor. It took me longer than I am proud to admit to understand that I was being spiritually attacked. But after a few texts for prayer, the attack was over, and I was fine, and filled with joy once again. I still don't have any concrete answers other than that God is our all powerful Father and master, and we need to pleased to serve him.... regardless. So with that being said, here is what I have learned from all this. Conclusion:
Thanks for reading. Go, and blessed.
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He said, "I almost stopped you mid-prayer, because my back was already healed!"I am currently in the process of moving from my small home 7 miles out of town, right into the middle of the city. So, being a nice guy, my new friend Cody offered to help me start the process by bringing a trailer by my house. After loading everything up and heading to my new in-town home, we were talking and sharing stories of bad choices and unfortunate circumstances. About 2 miles from my house, he told me a disheartening story. "Traffic stopped suddenly and I barely managed to hit my brakes in time to avoid rear ending the person in front of me. Then a women hit me from behind while I was at a dead stop..."Apparently there was a incident years ago where he barely managed to stop his car in time to avoid rear ending someone, just to be rear-ended himself by a women who hit him doing 45 mph while he was at a dead stop. Because of the accident he has had migraines, popping noises in his ear, and nerve damage. On top of this, Cody said that he has constant back pain, and that his back was hurting even as we spoke. "When we stop, can I pray for you?"So I asked him quite plainly, "can I pray for you?" I told him that God is a healer and that He is the same God, yesterday, tomorrow, and today, and I believed that God would heal him. So, as a Christian, he allowed me to do so. Once we got out I laid my hands on his back and began to pray that in the name of Jesus, God's love would manifest and heal his back. This happened 3 times. The first time, he looked a bit perplexed. He said it felt better, but was still sore. The second time, he was grinning saying he really felt better, but I insisted that we cry out to God one more time. After the 3rd prayer, he turned and asked me, "Did you feel that in my back?" "No," I answered. He enthusiastically told me, "I almost stopped you mid-prayer because my back popped right in the spot its been hurting, and my whole back is fine now! It doesn't hurt at all!" Years of pain... restored.He moved around and bent over and did all kinds of things with his back. We were both so excited at what God had just done. We went straight inside to eat before we unloaded the truck and he called his wife and told her everything that happened and we continued to praise the Lord. God is truly amazing, to Him be all the glory!Thank you all so much! Romania is only a few weeks away...You have all been so supportive and encouraging. Your love for the Lord is evident, and I have been incredibly blessed by you. God has granted me great favor, and as of 11:56 a.m. on 11/20/15, I only need $400 more dollars to buy my plane ticket! I am leaving in 2 weeks so the time is short!
The $400 needed is only for my plane ticket and doesn't cover food or any other expenses. So please, be as generous as the Lord has enabled you. May you continue to have life, and life more abundant in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you and God bless. PLEASE! When donating. Locate the drop down tab that says, "Mission" and select "Darrin & Courtney Miller." Watch and Share! God Bless.
The Test:1. Is the Teaching Internally Consistent?
This is a big question to ask. But it may not always be easy to answer. Basically though, it boils down to this: If a teaching or doctrine can't even agree with it's self.... it's probably not trustworthy. For example, after speaking with some Mormons, I decided to read through 9 Chapters of 2 Nephi from the Book of Mormon. From those 9 chapters I have 3 pages of abbreviated notes stating how the text either contradicts itself... which it does often.... on contradicts the Bible..... which it does even more (but this falls under the second test question). 2. Does the Teaching Fully Reflect the Teaching of The Bible? Well this seems easy enough to answer, but unfortunately it is where most false teaching are easily visible and yet people are still led astray. All false teachings, no matter how tricky, teach something well..... false. If we have an accurate understanding with of the Word of God then we can quickly and easily identify when things are wrong. Look at the fall in the Garden of Eden. What did Satan do? He simply tested Eve's knowledge of God's word. When he say she wasn't proficient or didn't fully trust in God's promise, he made his move. The rest is history. Move 4000 years forward to Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus is fasting for 40 days and when he is weak and hungry, Satan tempts him in the same way. However, every time Satan twists or misquotes the scriptures, Jesus comes back with the correct understanding and overcomes the deception and temptation. 3. Does the Teaching in Any Way Deny the Deity, Incarnation, Death, Payment, or Resurrection of Christ? These doctrinal points are the very foundation of Christian faith. Take away one and everything falls out of place. Jesus is the Word. The Word IS God. The Word became flesh. He was tormented and sentenced unjustly to death on a cross where He took our punishment for sins. Then He said, "It is finished," (tetelestai) which really means, "Paid in full." Then he died. the Romans pierced his side and saw that his blood had separated into water and plasma... a sure sign of death. Then He was buried in a rich man's tomb and rose 3 days later. He was witnessed by hundreds in His resurrection. But this simply leads me back to the first 2 points. Don't take my word for it. Read your Bible. Read it for your self. and spend time studying to understand all these things. Then when Satan temps you, or tries to pull you away from the truth, you'll be so familiar with Christ, even a well camouflaged version will stick out like a sore thumb. Summary If any teaching, doctrine, or interpretation you hear fails any one, or all , of these three points, then you can be sure it wrong, and is simply another demon trying to wrap himself in light. (By the way, all the religions mentioned fail all of these tests) Don't fall for it. Stay strong, read on, and live out your faith. Go, and be blessed. This last Wednesday at Blueprint, I spoke on God's healing power. I also spoke about spiritual goals and disciplines. Now when I preach a message, I am always preaching to myself as well as the church. So, in obedience to Wednesday's message, here is my testimony:
After talking with a friend at the MMA gym, I was getting in my car to leave. As I pulled out, I saw a 15-16 year old boy on crutches hobbling along with his right root barely even touching the ground. So instead of leaving, I parked the car. I went over to him and his mother who was pulling things out of her back seat, and I asked what had happened to the boys leg. He said that he dislocated his knee in football. Knowing all to well the pain of dislocating joints, I asked for permission to pray for him and they gladly said yes. So I placed my hand on his knee and prayed for healing in the name of Jesus. I asked him to move his leg. He moved it slightly back and forth, surly expecting pain, but then he grinned, "It feels better," he said. So I prayed once again in the name of Jesus, asking God to heal all the ligaments and pull the pain out of his knee. This time he lifted his leg, and he fully extended and retracted it a couple of times. "Does it feel better?" I asked. He smiled real big and said, "It doesn't hurt at all!" He and his mother were both very happy. Of course I did nothing other than pray and believe. All the power and glory are in Christ Jesus, and in the presence of His Spirit. I asked if they were Christians and believed in Jesus. They both said yes, so I simply said, "God bless," and then I left. Hallelujah, glory to God. Many people outside the church have ideas or misconceptions about what being a Christian means. Some people in the Church don't even have a good idea what being a Christian means. Hear what these 3 men have to say about Jesus Christ and their faith.I was happy to celebrate one year as Associate Pastor at Friendship Bible Church this Sunday, November 1st.It's amazing what God can do in a year. In your faith. In your family. In your community. When I began at Friendship Bible, I was doing a weekly Bible Study through Genesis, evangelizing, and meeting at Ingram HS ever morning to teach the word to a group of students. I had never preached a sermon. In fact, I had only spoken publicly a few times and was always terrified. Thankfully, a lot has changed.Pastor Mark asked me to preach one Sunday a month; the first few months came with the most nervous and depressing feelings you could ever have. I always felt horrible after leaving the pulpit. I felt as if I just didn't quite know enough, I didn't speak well enough, or they already knew what I was telling them. The enemy is quite good with his tactics to say the least, but I used it to dig deeper into the word, and find a bold passion for preaching, just as I had in evangelizing. Pastor Mark was a big help too. We meet every week, and he gave me the much needed realization that I was just to be faithful in preparing and speaking the word, and God would take care of the rest. He was right. Then there was Blueprint... My passion for preaching being found, I now preach every Wednesday and once a month on Sunday. I also do a monthly devotional at Habitat for Humanity. I've spoken and concerts, rallies, and conferences. Pastor Mark started making me do weekly bible memorization, and God gave me a zeal for getting people "off the couch with their faith." All this led me to the conceptualization of, "Blueprint: God's Design For Your Life." It was created pretty much as it sounds.... to draw a clearly understandable basis for how a Christian should live their life according to the word. Raw and dynamic, we gather every Wednesday night. God wanted an interactive group so I ask questions during the sermon and provide an open discussion small group afterwards. God also calls all of us with purpose, so we work hard to find a place of service for everyone, and He brought together one of the most kind, open, and honest group of people I have ever met. The result has be amazing. We started as 5 young men. Myself, Stephen, Jacob, Derek, and Andy. We have since grown up to about 20 people in any one given night, and consist of mostly people in their mid twenties, though we have those in high school as well as those in their late 30's. Attendance grows and declines week to week just as any other service, but regardless of numbers, there is a core group that is almost always there, and everyone involved is growing together.... that's whats important. Finally, we look into the future. In addition to Blueprint, I also have been teaching martial arts as an outreach, planting home churches, teaching evangelism and disciple making classes, working for a community service mission, and for a world missions organization. I have also been blessed to do 1-3 baptisms every month, and realized that seeing people come to salvation and then rise up out of that water are the only two things that can really make you feel like superman for a day.
God made it clear though, there is more work to be done. I have left my paid position with community service ministry and am working on a God inspired 2 year Bible school for Kerrville, as well as a Annual World Missions Conference! I am excited to see God work and move this town in this direction, just as I am blessed to see close friends of mine grow in the word and slowly start moving more and more into a spirit led walk of faith. The Lord is truly good and all that is written here is simply to testify of His goodness. He is even sending me to Romania this year, India next year, and all over the country here in the U.S. consistently. Such a life as this I could have never asked for, yet such a one as this God provided. I can only hope that He continues to grow me in faith and usefulness, and that He will grant me the wisdom to guide others along the same the path. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." If you wish to help see the Kingdom of God grow, please consider a one or a recurring donation that will allow me to continue doing the work God has called me to. Thank you and God bless. |
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