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And here is one more beautiful Christmas carol that my beautiful wife Ingrid has written. She also composed the music for it, but I had to tweak her melody a bit when I arranged it. The song is in a minor key and has a kind of Celtic lilt to it, I think. My recording can be found here on our SoundCloud stream, and yes, it would have sounded a lot better if a young woman had sung it instead of an old dude like myself ;-) Come And See Song ©2016 by Ingrid Tulloch Come and see that the Lord is good, come behold his face. Bend your knee to him, Christ the King, come behold his face. Jesus Christ, our living Lord, we behold your face. Jesus Christ, our living Lord, we behold your face. He will suffer and die for us: Come behold his face. Jesus, Savior, Emmanuel: Come behold his face. Jesus Christ, our living Lord, we behold your face. Jesus Christ, our living Lord, we behold your face. Alleluia, alleluia, we behold your face. Alleluia, alleluia, we behold your face. Merry Christmas to all from Mitch and Ingrid :-)

Here is another of Ingrid's wonderful Christmas carols. This one was inspired by the Germanic "Christkind" and celebrates the birth and coming kingdom of our Lord Jesus. The words go like this: Christ Child Holy ©2014 by Ingrid Tulloch Christ Child holy, Christ child pure, Christ the Son of God we adore. Born in a stable, born of a virgin, Born to reign and rule forevermore. Alleluia, alleluia, Immanuel we adore you! Alleluia, alleluia, Immanuel we adore you! You are holy, You are pure, You are the Son of God we adore. You were born to us, died and rose for us, You will reign and rule forevermore. Alleluia, alleluia, Immanuel we adore you! Alleluia, alleluia, Immanuel we adore you! You can listen to this song on SoundCloud . Once again, my guitar playing and singing aren't very good. Maybe I should just stick to playing keyboard? More info here . P.S. We tried translating her song into German but somehow we just couldn't seem to get the words to flow well. Contact us if you'd like to help us improve our translation. Thanks! Merry Christmas to one and all, great and small :-) —Mitch

Since it's just a few days until Christmas arrives, I thought it might be considered appropriate if I shamelessly plugged Ingrid's Christmas carols here on our website :-) Ingrid has written several beautiful Christmas carols which I've helped arrange to music and have recorded on SoundCloud. One of her earliest ones is actually an advent carol that celebrates how the angel announced God's favor to Mary and highlights how God shows similar favor towards us, His children. The full story behind how this carol came to be written can be found in chapter 4 of our book Simple Kingdom: Worship which you can read online or download as a free PDF. Here are the words to Ingrid's song: Favored By God ©2014 by Ingrid Tulloch Washed in his blood, changed by his Spirit, Cleansed thru his Word, we are favored by God. Filled with his love, sharing his mercy, Sent in his name, we are favored by God. Not for what we have done, but for what he has done for us, In the gift of his Son we are favored by God. Not for what we have done, but for what he has done for us, In the gift of his Son we are favored by God. My recording of the song on SoundCloud isn't very good. If you listen to it you'll notice that my guitar playing sucks and my voice wavers and gets creaky on the high notes. But hopefully you can still get a feel for the heart behind her song. Merry Christmas everybody! —Mitch

When my friend Martin Buehlmann handed over the leadership of the Vineyard churches in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to his son Marius, he urged Marius to remember three priorities that God had laid on his heart for the Vineyard: the Father's love for us, allowing freedom to the Holy Spirit, and Equipping the Saints as Wimber taught us. The Father's love has also been instrumental in my own Christian life and ministry, and I thought it might be helpful for some of you if I were to write a series of short posts on this important topic. Much has been written in recent years about the need, especially for men in our fatherless generation, to experience the love of God the Father. The subject of the Fatherhood of God has also been dealt with in books and videos from both theological and pastoral perspectives. My approach however is going to be different. Instead of presenting you with theology and practical advice, I'm simply going to share some stories about how I have *personally experienced* God as my Father and what impact these experiences have had on my life as a Christian. My stories will not be in any particular order — I'm not writing biography here, or an instruction manual like "Seven Steps to Experiencing God's Love." Instead they will simply be glimpses of key breakthroughs — and setbacks — in my lifelong journey of getting to know God as Father and experiencing the depths —and sometimes limitations — of his love for me, his child through Christ. My hope is that one or two of my stories will bring a new awareness of how you can experience the Father's love. And my prayer for those of you reading this — and especially for men — is that the Father will father you the way he has fathered me. I'll begin my series of posts shortly after Christmas. Ingrid will also be sharing some thoughts on this subject. In the meantime, be blessed and filled with the Father's love for you. —Mitch

This morning I was drawn back to a verse that has been foundational for me since I became a Christian: Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33 NIV) In the NIV and most modern English translations, the passage where this verse is found (6:25-34) has to do with worry and anxiety about the necessities of daily life (e.g. the NIV has "do not worry", the ESV has "do not be anxious" and so on). But I don't think that's what Jesus is getting at here. Worry and anxiety are associated with fear, but the underlying Greek word μεριμνάω isn't about not being afraid: it's about not being concerned with stuff that's really not that important. In other words, Jesus isn't saying "Don't be afraid that you won't have enough money to buy food and clothes if you follow me" but rather "Don't focus so much on trying to earn a living; God will take care of you if you follow me." In other words, Jesus is saying we should prioritize God's kingdom above our own concerns, pursuits and aspirations. How do we do this? We can start by asking God to give us eyes to see the opportunities he has arranged for us today to do the stuff: heal the sick, drive out demons, proclaim the good news, help the poor. God has prepared these works — Wimber called them divine appointments — in advance for us (see Ephesians 2:10). Unfortunately we often miss seeing them or don't have the courage to seize the moment and act upon them. So we should pray for courage too. The early disciples did (Acts 4:29) and look what happened. Be blessed and strengthened. —Mitch

The story of the healing of the centurion's servant in chapter 8 of the Gospel of Matthew concludes in verse 13 like this: And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment. The ESV translates this poorly here, as the Greek actually says "And the servant was healed in that hour" (καὶ ἰάθη ὁ παῖς ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐκείνῃ). This suggests that the healing happened over a short interval of time, but not instantaneously. Examples of progressive healing (where healing progresses over a period of time) can be found in several other stories involving Jesus. See for example Mark 5:1-20 (especially verse 8) and of course Mark 8:22-26 which is the most well-known example. Ingrid and I have ministered healing in progressive fashion to a number of people over the years. And also to each other! Here are two recent examples which, to me anyways, helps clarify the nature of the faith that's involved in such praying for healing. Healing a rash Not long ago I began to see an rash on my right upper thigh. Thinking it might be jock itch, I applied an anti-fungal ointment that I had used with success in the past. I kept applying this for a week, but the rash began to spread further down my thigh. Worried this might be a recurrence of a severe case of poison ivy that I had experienced about five years ago (I thought this could be the cause as I had done a little yard work a few days before the rash appeared) I tried applying cortisone cream several times a day to try and reduce the redness and relieve the itch. But the rash continued to spread. Soon it became uncomfortably itchy and small bumps appeared. This worried me as I thought it might be a recurrence of hives, something which has plagued me from time to time since my teenage years. In the past they had occasionally gotten so bad that my doctor had to put me on prednisone, but my doctor had recently retired and I've been unable to find a new one I've felt confident about. So I began taking Reactine which has been my standard way of treating episodes of hives. But the rash kept spreading further until it appeared under my knee and on the back of my calf. Now I was getting worried. Sensing my worry, Ingrid said "Let me pray for it." She laid her hands on my leg and prayed, first in words asking the Lord to heal the rash and then in tongues. Then she said, "I rebuke fear in Jesus' name." Suddenly I thought, "That's it, I'm afraid. Fear is the Enemy's tool, and he uses it to destroy. I won't let him use his fear against me." And I started to relax. I felt confident that, without fear oppressing me, we would get to the bottom of this problem and it would be healed and go away. And the next day, the rash began to fade. A week later there was no more burning sensation, though the skin where it had been was still somewhat red. Then I gradually weaned myself off Reactine over a two-week period. (They say its formula is non-drowsy, but it does have negative effects on your emotions, or at least on mine anyways.) Several months have now elapsed since Ingrid prayed for me, and the skin on my right thigh still looks slightly darker than on my left thigh, but they say that fungal infections (which it may have been) can lead to permanent changes in skin color. But I'm healed. Healing a swollen ankle More recently, Ingrid noticed that her left ankle had become swollen. We tried to figure out why. Could it be several days of gorging on pastries at a German bakery we had discovered recently? Maybe too much sugar triggered something with her blood sugar. And the left side of your body is connected with the heart, right? We weren't sure however what the cause was, but we were getting quite concerned as the swelling didn't go down as the days passed. So one morning I said, "Let me pray for it." Clutching her ankle with both my hands, I prayed "Swelling be healed in Jesus name." But nothing seemed to happen. Then I rose to put my hands on her chest and back, but she said "It's not my heart." She went back downstairs, and I thought, "Well, I guess I didn't have enough faith to see instantaneous healing happen, but I think I do have enough faith (maybe a third of a mustard seed) to believe that her swelling can be healed progressively. The next morning Ingrid came and found me upstairs in my study and said, "Look, the swelling is less." I looked at her ankle, but it still seemed somewhat swollen to me. "No, it's definitely less." OK, we'll wait and see. And the next day it definitely did look like there was less swelling. And a week later, both her ankles look exactly the same as far as I can tell. And we've laid off eating sweets for a while :-) [NOTE: This article was previously published on our site six months ago in early June 2024 and since then her ankle has had no swelling. --Mitch] Conclusion The lesson here, as I see it, is that as Jesus says in Matthew 8:13, healing happens "as you have believed." That is, the degree of healing power God gives us can depend on the level of faith we have that God is going to heal. So even if you don't have faith to believe that the person you're praying for will be healed instantaneously, you may have enough faith to believe that some degree of improvement will happen in the person's condition. That's all it takes to see someone (or even yourself) healed when you pray for them to be healed. Just a smidgen of faith, along with the patience to see it realized over time. Be blessed, and be healed. --Mitch

A strong, pain-free back is important for an active, healthy life. Back problems are common however, so it's not surprising that we often prayed for many people suffering from various kinds of back pain in our home fellowships, church gatherings and conferences over the years. Here are three stories that illustrate some of the kinds of things that can happen when you minister healing prayer to people experiencing back problems. 1. The team approach At a Vineyard conference a man who came forward during ministry time said he had been experiencing almost constant mid-back pain for years. After interviewing him, three of us decided to take the man downstairs where we could minister to him in a more private setting. The three of us laid hands on him and began praying for the man, who was standing in the midst of us. One of us took the lead and began asking God to release his healing power on the man's back. The second member of our team was praying in tongues. I remained silent and waited for the Holy Spirit to give us a word of knowledge about the man's condition. After a few moments I saw in my mind what looked like a vertebrae that glowed warmly, so I began to pray out loud and say "Touch that vertebrae with your power, Lord, heal it." At this point the man we were praying for was twisting his torso and moaning. It sounded like he was in pain, so we continued with our prayers, each of us praying independently according to how we felt the Holy Spirit was leading us. After about five minutes of praying, we looked at each other and decided to stop praying. "How are you doing?" one of us asked him. The man opened his eyes and began to slowly twist and bend his torso. Then he looked at us with puzzlement in his eyes and said, "The pain is gone." "Really?" we all said? "Try bending right over, but be careful, do it slowly." The man bent over and touched the floor, then stood up straight and said, "No pain." The three of us who had been praying looked at each other with wonder and some excitement, but the man merely looked puzzled and somewhat apprehensive, perhaps fearing that he might only experience a temporary reprieve from his pain. But since the man seemed to be healed, we blessed him and he left to go back upstairs. Looking back on our prayer session, it struck me afterwards how poorly the three of us had functioned together as a team. We had prayed independently of each other and had not shared with each other what we thought might be the root cause of the man's pain or how we should pray effectively for him. We also didn't discuss our prayer session afterwards to see what we could learn from it or what we might have done differently. And yet the man was healed, for a few years later I ran into him again and he confirmed that his back was still healed and he was no longer experiencing any pain! But he still looked puzzled when I talked to him about it, and I probably should have probed his mind further in case there was some missing spiritual dimension to the constant pain he had been experiencing. But we were both busy and had other things to do, so we parted and moved on. 2. Persist in prayer The second story illustrates how persistence in ministering healing prayer can, over a period of time that may range from weeks to months, can eventually result in healing. This story was told by my friend Ken and has been excerpted from chapter 3 of my book Simple Kingdom: Home Fellowships which you can read online or download as a free PDF. Anyways, here is Ken's story of how his back got healed in our home fellowship: When I joined the house church I was experiencing back pain almost continuously. The group prayed for me every Sunday for over a year until my back was finally healed. I received a lot of love from that group and it encouraged me to pursue God and pray for healing for others. While this story is short, it illustrates several important things. The first is that home fellowships provide an ideal environment for people to learn how to pray for the sick. A second observation is that when someone gets healed of a debilitating condition, the result is often that they start praying for others to be healed—that's kingdom multiplication happening through the expression of God's power! And finally, don't give up when you pray for someone's healing—keep on praying until they get healed! John Wimber brings this last point home on page 158 of his book Power Healing when he says: "There is another reason—I believe the most fundamental reason—why more people are not healed when prayed for today. We do not seek God as wholeheartedly as we should. In other words, God is able to do greater miracles than we have yet seen, if only we would persist in seeking him." 3. Seize the moment The third story happened at the end of a time of fellowship in our home when those who came were standing in the entrance getting ready to leave. One of the men bent over to tie his shoelaces and suddenly let out a yelp. "Ouch! My back!" "What's wrong?" we all cried. "I can't stand up, I've thrown out my back again!" he said, as he remained stooped over. "This has happened to me before, and it'll be days before I can stand up straight again. Oh, damit!" At this point my wife Ingrid suddenly rushed over to the man, laid her hands on his back, and said "Be HEALED in Jesus' name!" The man's torso suddenly jackknifed upwards and he stood up straight. I asked him how his back felt and he twisted his torso and said, looking somewhat bewildered, "Fine, there's no pain". We all felt somewhat stunned, but we hugged each other and praised God and everybody went home. There are various ways one could explain how this healing occurred e.g. the Spirit came upon Ingrid, God gave her a gift of faith, she was moved with compassion, and so on. But the point is probably that she saw someone hurting and decided to act by praying for him, immediately and with expectation that God wants to heal. I wish I was more like that. Anyways, be blessed everyone, and be healed :-) --Mitch (with edits by Ingrid)