Comments on: Miracles

By: Mart De Haan

Mart De Haan — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:21:18 +0000

That’s a good suggestion. Thanks.

By: kairos

kairos — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:17:37 +0000

I believe science can explain much, but not all that we see, sense, theorize, or long for. Science often provokes my sense of AHH, but it’s different from the AWE I may feel for the very same object or experience; that’s divine.

Like others,I too have seen miracles “equivalent to what Jesus did in healing withered limbs.” Diseases in remission for no earthly reason; physical survival when death was imminent; the redemption and atonement of many.

I’m grateful for the diversity of experiences, beliefs and worldviews expressed here. I often wonder what it’s like to live with the certainty some have expressed. My faith is full of awe, but also questioning and doubt. I’m also intrigued by the comments that “God does not change.” How provocative. (Perhaps, Mart, you’d consider this for a future column?)

May God bless us all.

By: mpoteet

mpoteet — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:19:16 +0000

When you see something in nature, like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, or later dancing on the wind, would you agree that the most exhaustive scientific explanations can’t begin to explain something like a common house fly, or a humming bird, or an ostrich?
Absolutely! On a daily basis, as a matter of fact. Look at the beauty of water in all of its forms – the oceans, streams, ice. It is breathtaking to see the many blessings around us.

Have you seen a miracle equivalent to what Jesus did in healing withered limbs?
Yes. With the variety of diagnoses I have, I should not feel as well as I do. That is a miracle. It is only because of my church and my church family that I feel so loved and healthy.

Have you ever been burned by a false claim of miracles?

By: Ricky

Ricky — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:57:41 +0000

I think anyone who questions if God still performs miracles has never failed to prepare for a science test, gone to bed praying for a miracle for tomorrows test and awoken to three feet of snow on the ground and all of the schools closed the next morning. God seems very simple to me and I think we too often make what is simple more complex or more difficult than need be.

By: Mart De Haan

Mart De Haan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:52:55 +0000

I think your comments are giving us such helpful examples. With or without healing, our faith in the Lord can continue to grow and deepen. The Apostle Paul experienced both sides. He saw God do real miracles in the lives of others. Yet when he experienced his own “thorn in the flesh”, he found God unwilling to remove it. Instead of losing hope in God, he ended up with the confidence that God was saying, “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2Cor 12:9)

By: Merrie

Merrie — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:40:42 +0000

I enjoyed reading the thoughts of others. I feel very badly when someone says that my faith is not great enough or else my body, crippled by polio in 1944, would have been healed long ago. And I feel so badly for people that are deceived by false “faith healers” and money driven “prosperity preachers”. Every day is God’s gift to each of us. And I truly believe He can perform any miracle that is needed to glorify Himself.
Jesus did not heal every leper or every blind or lame man. Also, it takes faith to live each day being disabled.

By: Thomas Brown

Thomas Brown — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:03:38 +0000

I have never witnessed a miracle such as the ones performed by Christ and his disciples. Can God still do this? Yes. He never loses any of his power. He never changes. I have witnessed failed attempts by many Faith Preachers and Evangelists….by fail I mean the person receiving the supposed healing was not healed. The success did come to the one claiming to have healed the person (ie.monetary gain). The person whose healing did not “take” or later receeded is told that it’s because thier faith is weak. We as Christians beleive but we have not seen. That’s faith! We need to be careful who we let lay hands on us and who we watch on TV and the Internet. The Holy Spirit living inside us bears witness to these things. Listen to Him.

By: Sully

Sully — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:55:27 +0000

I have been a firm believer in miracles all my life. (Mainly because of my absolute faith and belief in every word of the Bible.) However, it always seemed to me that the miracles that I or other people would pray for, weren’t the miracles that happened …. because I was praying for the outcome that I wanted! Now I’ve learned that God is in control of every circumstance in our life. He either ordains or allows every circumstance for His puroposes. (i.e. To strengthen, teach, or purify us…or maybe even to allow us to experience a circumstance so He can lead us through it and then in turn minister to someone else in the same circumstance. It was when I adopted this belief that I received my miracle!
I had a growth in my throat that was large enought to block food from passing through and it was located right against my voice box. After doing a biopsy, the oncologist told me that because of the location, he could not remove the growth completely in one surgery without removing my voice box. He said that I would have to endure several surgeries where he would slice a small amount off at a time and try not to affect my vocal cords. The number of surgeries would be dependent on how fast the tumor grew. So I was given a month to heal from the biopsy and then he would begin the surgeries. They prayed for me every week in my church and I was on everyone’s prayer list. I asked them to pray that God would give me comfort and strength to endure all these surgeries and that I wouldn’t have to lose my voice completely. The Sunday before my pre-op visit, an elderly gentleman from our congregation (who’s now home with the Lord) came up to me after the service and said that he had been struggling with God for the past two weeks and he was not going to let this day go by without obeying God. Then he proceeded to put his hands on my throat and say; “You aren’t going to need any surgeries.” Being old, I thought that he was confused but maybe he was giving me some good news from God that I wouldn’t need a lot surgeries. So I thanked him and asked him to keep praying because I was going to the doctor in the morning.
As I sat in the chair with the scope down my throat, the doctor who had been so vocal and so informative during previous scopes…..was now not saying a word. Because he had told me that this series of surgeries would only be possible if this was a slow growing tumor, I though he was just putting of telling me the worst possible news. Still in silence, he removed the scope and was writing notes in my chart when finally with tears running down my face, I said: “Doctor, it’s OK. You can tell me the truth.” With that, he turned around and with an almost expressionless face said: “You aren’t going to need any surgery!” Word-for-word what the man in church said!!!!!! When I asked him why, he just said: “I can’t remove what’s not there!” The tumor was completely gone!!!!
I asked if he had any medical explanation for this and he said no. He said he had seen cases where doing a biopsy caused a tumor to shrink in size. But he told me this wasn’t the case here. He said that there was absolutely no sign of any thing in my throat…not a mark where a tumor had been….not even evidence that a biopsy had been done!!!! I do not believe that this doctor was a Christian, but when I told him about the man at church, all he said was: “I can’t explain it…but that man was right!”
So now I carry the x-ray of my miracle in my Bible and show it to anyone who will listen!
That was seven years ago and I haven’t had another problem with my throat since! So all of this didn’t give me an “American Idol” voice……..but I still have the voice God blessed me with and I can still make a joyful noise to the Lord….so I am now a member of our church choir!

By: Mart De Haan

Mart De Haan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:59:17 +0000

Good comments! I’m not suggesting that God does not or will not do “first century” miracles today. My concern is with those who are exploiting human need, leveraging the name of Christ, and selling expectation of the supernatural. When the miracle of financial relief or physical healing doesn’t happen– disappointed people are left to think that their faith (or financial gift) must not have been enough.

By: persian72003

persian72003 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:49:25 +0000

I have seen many healings in my years of walking with the Lord. To me, God is Our Physician. If a person has faith to believe for the small stuff, then nothing is impossible in the miracles that God can do in peoples lives, no matter how big or small. Nothing is too big for Him to do for His children and it’s the faith in that person who is the one that is going to receive the miracle. Heb. 11:6 is a scripture I pray and stand on when believing for a miracle. All things are possible with the God we serve each and every day.