I have healed you
January 1, 2025
The door opened and I was about to step off the bus when God spoke to me:
"I have healed you."
I paused in wonder for a moment, and then becoming aware that the bus driver was impatiently waiting, I stepped down and walked towards the high school where I was the Physics teacher. As I walked, I reflected on what God had said and realized that what He was telling me was that I was no longer an insecure adolescent like the students I was teaching. I was now an adult — I was then in my early 30s and had been married several years — and though I could still remember what it felt like to be a teenager, there was now a healthy distance between myself and my students.
I felt that God was affirming my manhood by these words, and this made me feel happy inside. But then a few days later, and again while I was on the bus to work, God spoke to me once more:
"I will heal your manhood."
Argh, I don't understand, Lord! You told me I was healed, and now you promise that you're going
to heal me??
I struggled for several weeks over these two seemingly contradictory divine utterances, but then slowly I began to understand what God was saying to me. He was indeed affirming me, but He was also saying that I still had some way to go before I reached mature manhood.
It's now several decades after these early experiences, and I'm thankful that I'm now a lot closer to being fully mature. But I'm not quite there yet; I'm still learning and growing as my Heavenly Father continues to father me.
My prayer for you today is what Paul prayed for the Ephesians: that with the Father's help you may reach "mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:13).
Be blessed and filled with the Father's love for you.
—Mitch
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In chapter 10 of the Book of Acts, Peter proclaims the good news about Jesus to a Gentile named Cornelius and his relatives and friends. As Peter is doing this, the Holy Spirit falls on them, and Peter immediately has them baptized. Then in chapter 11 Peter has returned to Jerusalem and is explaining to the church why he had baptized uncircumcised Gentiles. Peter answered them by telling them about the vision he had, how Cornelius had been visited by an angel, and how the Spirit of God had fallen on them in the same way as it had on them at Pentecost. Then Peter concludes by saying: “So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:17) “Who am I, Lord?” What humility to say that! And this from a man who had experienced Christ in so many ways! I think Peter probably learned humility after he had denied Christ three times. He had been outspoken and bold before, but now he knew the true measure of himself. This is the kind of rock that Christ built his church on. It’s also the kind of rock Christ wants to use today for building his church: men and women with no ego, obedient to God and dismissive of themselves. I’ve known a few great men and women who have had such humility. But only a few. It reminds me of a song from way back in the days of the Charismatic Renewal, it’s based on James 4:10 and goes like this: Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord And He shall lift you up higher and higher And He shall lift you up Blessings everyone. -Ingrid (Image: Claude Vignon - The Repentant Saint Peter - 1643)
Many years ago I listened to some teaching by John Wimber on the subject of personal evangelism. John had many practical suggestions that helped make me a more effective witness for Christ. I thought it might be helpful if I listed some of his tips for doing evangelism here on our blog. To keep things simple, I’ve listed these tips in bullet form. I’ve also incorporated these tips into a new PDF document titled John Wimber on Personal Evangelism which you can download from the Resources section of our website, and I’ll update this document with more of John’s teachings on evangelism as time and energy permits. John Wimber on Personal Evangelism These tips are from some notes I took listening to teaching by John Wimber. Fears that often hinder us: Not pure enough Not educated enough Might provoke anger or rejection But we have a job to do: “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) The key is just talk to people There’s no easy way to begin Find common ground by listening Start with God’s love “God loves us” is the content of our message “You don’t have to live under Satan’s power anymore, God’s kingdom is available to you in Jesus!” Times of crisis (sickness, trouble etc.) can be profitable times to talk to people about Jesus But should do so carefully and sensitively A comforting loving word can bring someone to the Lord More to come. —Mitch
A sower went out to sow. But first he needed some seeds. So he went to Home Depot and bought a bag of seeds. When he opened the bag, he saw that they were very nice seeds. So he wanted some more. Checking on Google Maps, he found a Garden Center on the outskirts of the city. So he drove there and bought several more bags of seeds. Soon he had a whole wheelbarrow full of seeds. But it wasn’t enough – he wanted more. He asked ChatGTP where he could purchase large volumes of high-quality seeds at wholesale prices. ChatGPT happily recommended some agri-suppliers in his county, and soon his whole barn was full of seeds. He continued building up his store of seeds in this manner until harvest time came. But he had no harvest that year, because he had been hoarding seeds instead of planting them! Hear what I’m sayin’? A good example of how this parable applies to the church is housegroups. Many pastors see housegroups as having a supportive role for their Sunday services. They reason that by getting visitors involved in housegroups (small weekday evening fellowship gatherings in people’s homes) they will feel “connected” and will be more likely to become full members of the congregation. And by centering housegroup activity on discussion of the previous Sunday’s sermon, pastors try to utilize their housegroups to reinforce their preaching and teaching. But they’ve got it backwards! As we explain in our book Simple Kingdom: Home Fellowships , it’s in home fellowships, not in Sunday morning services, where church really happens. Home fellowships are the perfect training ground for believers to learn how to worship, minister, serve, help, love, forgive, move in spiritual gifts, reach out to others, walk in holiness, and more. And they’re also the place where new leadership can arise and be nurtured in ministry areas like teaching, healing, evangelism, the prophetic, pastoral care and helping the poor. In other words, home fellowships are the seeds from which new churches can be planted. And by giving your church’s home fellowships the freedom to be led by the Holy Spirit and then letting them go when the Spirit imparts vision and authority to their leaders, you’re going to end up reaping a big harvest at the close of the age. So if you’re a pastor and you’re using your home fellowships to try and make your church grow, you’re doing it wrong. Yes, your church probably will grow if you do it this way, but the goal isn’t to make your church grow, is it? The goal is to make the church — God’s church — grow. So give your church away so that God’s church can grow. If you do that, you’ll be rewarded (Luke 6:38). Cheers, Mitch