All posts tagged: Divine healing

Credit: Mathew Wilson/Flickr/Creative Commons

That Time When I Was Healed

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Praying for the sick is an old tradition among Christians. Apparently, the Last Rites in the Roman Catholic Church started as prayers for healing, but they morphed into a final send-off. Today, I am sure that Christians in most denominations will pray for a sick person, for healing and for peace at the end of life. If they don’t, they should. Praying for the sick makes Christians different from all other religions. It’s not a common practice, in the religious world. The Bible is very clear about this responsibility in Christian churches. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. (James 5: 14 and 15) It’s clear to me that this is the business of the leaders in the church, and not the exclusive property of specialized faith healers. …

Lodi, California Credit: Wayne Hsieh/Flickr/Creative Commons

California doctors can’t explain what happened to Paul Wood’s brain tumor that suddenly disappeared

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Lodi is a small rural town of 6,000 people located 40 miles south of Sacramento. Oddly up to now, the town’s biggest claim to fame is a song written about it by an old mega rock band, Credence Clearwater Revival. But that may soon change. It is now home to an unexplainable miracle. But it is only unexplainable, if you remove faith from the equation. Paul Wood lives in Lodi with his family where he attends Gravity Church. Several months ago, he started experiencing intense head aches and found it difficult to walk without holding on to the walls. His doctor suspected bleeding on the brain and referred Paul to a San Francisco neurosurgeon. However, testing there revealed a tumor on his brain that was probably malignant and preparations were made for surgery. At this point, Paul turned to faith, prayer and his church for support. In an interview with KOVR TV, Gravity Church pastor Jason McEachron said: “He just kept saying, ‘no matter what happens to me, I’m going to be okay. I trust …

Jesus healing the blind man by El Greco (1541-1614) Credit: Wikipedia

Barbara Snyder’s healing from MS shocked doctors

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In his book, The Case for Miracles, evangelist Lee Strobel cites the miraculous healing of Barbara Snyder that took place nearly 30 years ago. Strobel, 66, is a former investigative journalist with the Chicago Tribune. He became a Christian in 1981 shortly after he decided to investigate Jesus and the Christian faith after his wife became a Christian. After his conversion, Lee worked briefly as a pastor before moving into an apologetic’s ministry focusing on writing and video productions. In his most recent book, Strobel decided to look at miracles. Though he believed the Biblical stories of Christ’s miracles, Strobel was less convinced miracles were happening today. However, after analyzing several miracles Strobel is convinced they are. One miracle in particular stands out. It involves Barbara Snyder and took place nearly 30 years ago. The Mayo Clinic had diagnosed Barbara with multiple sclerosis. Despite several operations and treatments, Barbara continued to deteriorate to the point that she was put into respite with doctor’s orders not to resuscitate. By this point, she was almost blind and …

Roman Catholic officials confronted Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms to force him to recant of his heresies Painting by Anton Werner (1843-1915)/Wikipedia

Martin Luther not only believed in salvation by faith but also divine healing

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When Martin Luther pounded his 95 theses on the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517, he was trying to reform the corrupt Roman Catholic church. The impotence for this decision 500 years ago was the arrival of Johann Tetzel who was selling indulgences on behalf of the Pope who was raising money to renovate St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. The purchase allowed people to buy their way into heaven. They could even buy it for a deceased friend or relative. Tetzel said, “Once the coin into the coffer clings, a soul from purgatory springs.” In his 95 theses. Luther wrote that the Bible, not the Pope or traditions of the church, was the final authority for the believer. It stated that a person could not buy his way into heaven, salvation was based on faith alone. Luther who had his doctorate in theology and was teaching a the University of Wittenberg was struck by a passage in Romans that righteousness could only come through faith, not money: 17 For …

How Dr. Chauncey Crandall raised a man from the dead in the ER

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Dr. Chauncey Crandall is a cardiologist based in Palm Beach, Florida. He also is a Christian and believes in the healing power of God which was dramatically displayed on October 20, 2006. At the time, Dr. Crandall was working at the Palm Beach Gardens Hospital when auto mechanic Jeff Markin, then 53,  came to the emergency room (ER) at the hospital. He had been on his way to work and wasn’t feeling good. His boss convinced him to go to the hospital. Markin had just entered the ER when he collapsed to the floor due to a massive heart attack. His heart had stopped beating. ER staff frantically worked on Markin for 40 minutes trying to resuscitate him including shocking his heart several times. Towards the end, they called in Crandall, but there was nothing that could be done. When Crandally arrived, another attempt was made with the defibrillator, but Markin’s heart monitor continued to display the ominous flat line. Markin’s fingers and mouth were already turning black. Dr. Crandall declared the man dead at …

Jesus healing a blindman by Andrey Mironov/Wikipedia/Creative Commons

Did a Bible miracle prove itself?

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The Bible is a book of miracles. But there is one miracle that stands out from the crowd. It’s not on anyone’s list of  top ten Bible miracles.  Some have even called it a failed healing. But I argue it is one of the great miracles of the Bible, because this curious healing actually proves itself to be true. But before we study this account, we need to look at an intriguing story told by Dr. Oliver Sacks. Dr. Sacks is professor of neurology and psychiatry at  Columbia University Medical Centre in New York. In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, he tells the intriguing story of a man who received his sight after nearly a lifetime of blindness. In 1991, Sacks received a call from a retired minister about his daughter’s fiancé Virgil (pseudonym for Shirl Jennings) who was diagnosed as a young boy with retinitis pigmentosa. It is a hereditary disease that destroys the retina causing permanent blindness. This diagnosis was compounded by cataracts so thick, Virgil’s retina could not be seen. His doctor labeled …