More Healing info...

I wrote this for King's Seminary. It is the nuggets that I enjoyed from MacNutt's books Healing and The Power to Heal and Blue's book Authority to Heal. While I like Bethel churches approach to healing a bit more, I think these books help give a good understanding to healing too. I will warn you that it is a bit long. It also is written in the first person due to the nature of the paper.

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Healing is a primary theological issue in the church today. There are all sorts of debates regarding it: does God really heal? Does He do so today? Is this normal to expect to happen? Francis MacNutt and Ken Blue are authors with healing ministries. Their desire to see lives changed through healing has been one verified through extensive ministry and through their writings. In Mac Nutt’s books, Healing and The Power to Heal, and Blue’s book, Authority to Heal, they give an apologetic for the healing ministry, share their beliefs regarding healing ministry, and give ministry experience. From there works, I have pulled out the nuggets that I found to be particularly valuable to my understanding of healing. Consequently, this should not be seen as a manual on healing or a complete understanding of healing, but rather additions, clarifications, or even simply putting into words in a better way what I already believed on healing. As a result, it should not be seen as a comprehensive report on healing, in a similar way that 1 Corinthians 12 is not a comprehensive understanding of gifts but only a response to what was already occurring. From Blue and MacNutt’s books on healing, I have organized the nuggets I have gleaned into the categories of apologetics for healing, theology of healing, and technique in ministering.
Often, before the truth about healing can be understood, the negative understandings must first be removed. Consequently, it is important to have an apologetic for healing ministry. This will include adding ideas to a refutation of cessationism (the belief that miracles stopped with the last of the original twelve apostles), understanding the difference between sickness and suffering, removing ideas about divine determinism or an ultra-Calvinist approach to healing, and a couple of miscellaneous thoughts.
If cessationism were correct, there would have been no healings after roughly 100 or so A.D. when the last of the apostles died. However, since pagans were most interested in Christianity in the first three centuries because of exorcisms and healings, healing could not have ended with the last apostle dying off. As Dr. MacMullen of Yale University argued, the reason why ancient pagans accepted Christianity had much less to do with excitement over doctrine and much more to do with the power of God being greater than their gods.
Cessationism can, in the lives of some theologians, be a fundamental root issue with valuing non-essential doctrines over impacting another person positively. This is a problem that can occur in the academic community. It can be manifest through thinking that Jesus healed more to make a theological statement than that He loved people (although, at times, He did both, and not to confuse this further, but healing is a theology lesson). This can cause people to debate a theology of the importance of having compassion for the sick when praying, rather than actually having compassion. Healing is not about debating a doctrine, but about faith expressed in love for one another.
Most of the thought in Chritiandom today on suffering and sickness comes more from a Roman Stoicism’s idea of suffering than what Jesus said and did. Jesus did not divide people between body and soul and only care about one. He came to save the whole person. Blue notes that the word for suffering, pascho, appears sixty-five times in the Bible and only once is it referring to sickness and in that case the sickness was clearly caused by a demon (Mt. 17:15). In addition, when the word suffering was used in Mark 5:26, it was not used to describe the sickness, but to how the woman was treated by the doctors! James 5 further emphasizes this point by giving different remedies to those who suffer and to those who are diseased. It should be clear that the New Testament’s value for suffering should not also include sickness as the NT clearly views them as two separate things. It should also be very clear from when Jesus often lumped healing the sick with casting out of demons, that disease was inherently a bad thing, not a gift from God. There are no churches today that encourage people to remain in demonic torment because it is good for them to build character. In the same way, the church should not do that with those who are sick.
Another faulty view plaguing the American church is that sickness is a gift from God and when it does not go away when one prays it is due to His sovereign will. However, in the few instances in the Bible where sickness was from God, there was always a specific direction in order to receive healing. When Paul was struck blind by the Lord, it was not seen to be God’s will for him long term, but rather something only temporary after a change in Paul’s attitude and behavior. This makes sense. As Blue notes, “A parent’s discipline is only fair and helpful if the child knows what it is for.” In Mark 9, when the disciples were not successful in healing a boy through casting out a demon, they were not encouraged that this was because God’s will was for the boy to remain mute. They were accused by Jesus of shoddy work! This is not to heap condemnation on the body of Christ, but should cause all of us who do not pray with less than perfect results to have a desperation to have more of God’s power flowing in and through us and a much greater humility about any successes He does through us! Claiming God’s will is not to heal, though, is like saying it is God’s will for people to starve to death in Africa. Simply because something is occurring does not mean it is God’s will even if we did pray once for the opposite and did not notice a difference.
There are a couple of random thoughts that I liked. In regards to healing being only psychosomatic: “If Christian ministry and prayer can effect this type of psychosomatic cure they will have made a notable contribution to present-day medicine.” However, in defense of the doctrine of healing, clearly the following is often the most true: “For the believer no argument is necessary; for the unbeliever no argument will prove sufficient.” The particularly remarkable thing is that these people will argue adamantly for every supernatural thing in the Bible occurring but against every single one happening today. They should note the hypocrisy of this line of thinking.
After making additions to an apologetic for healing, there are numerous things to be added to a theology of healing from both the Word of God and from others’ experiences. Jesus gave his disciples as much of a command to heal as teach, so one would think that would apply to us as well. He also gave authority. Authority should not be understood as something Christians possessed as much as exercised. To exercise it, one must be under the authority of Him whose authority is being possessed. From looking at the Bible, it should also be seen that the afflicted does not need a “noble” motive for healing to occur. In other words, they do not need to desire a healing so that the doctor or some family member will see the healing and come to salvation. Jesus often did miracles just out of compassion for the person in need. When studying the Bible, there also is no evidence that healing is restricted to the extremely holy. Instead, we see normal people praying for others and the afflicted being healed. Consequently, there has to be a paradigm shift to seeing that this is for everyone and is a normal part of everyday life.
Healing is an extremely simple, yet extremely complicated issue. Healing, like sanctification and so many other aspects of a Christian’s walk, is so full of paradoxes and mystery that if one only wants simple answers and complete clarity they likely will be frustrated. It is so simple a little child can pray for another and see them healed. It is so difficult that there are numerous theological principles that touch on it and so it cannot be made overly simple like some have with statements like, “If you just had more faith, you would be healed.” Consequently, an experience should not create a universal method, like claiming a healing.
There are different things to be gleaned from other’s experiences that can aid in our understanding of a theology of healing. There are three traits that Blue found through all of the different healing ministries in the various denominations that are universal: a belief that God desires people to be healed rather than sick, a compassion for those with health needs, and personal investment and taking of risk in praying for others. MacNutt believes that healing is often a process. Many times there is improvement, but not a complete healing in the first prayer session. He also notes that in some instances where people believed they lost their healings, what likely occurred is that people thought the healing was complete but a little bit of the ailment was left and the rest grew back. It should also be noted through studying experiences of different cultures that expectation, an aspect of faith, clearly relates to seeing the miraculous. Blue notes that in places with little to no expectation for the miraculous, that healing rarely, if ever, occurs. However, in places where it is routine to expect the power of God, it often occurs.
After studying a theology of healing, it is also important to learn technique from Blue and MacNutt. There is knowledge to be learned about the importance of compassion, understanding about faith, the importance of soaking prayer, and some miscellaneous ideas. If I am filled with the compassion of Christ, I will reach out and touch another even if it is against my own best interests. Jesus’ healings on the Sabbath were generally not looked at as a positive thing to the religious community of the day. But His compassion caused Him to extend healing.
It is not profitable to focus effort on gaining faith. For then I am putting faith in faith rather than the God of faith. Faith is having “Chutzpah,” a Yiddish slang term, or “going for it.” It is a boldness in believing God will show up! This is seen with the woman with the issue of blood doing anything legally or illegally to be healed. As John Wimber has said, “Faith is spelled R-I-S-K,” and it has much more to do with obedience and boldness in our God than taking ourselves too seriously. Canon Jim Glenon told Blue that the healing ministry is like “walking perpetually on the brink of disaster and on the verge of a miracle.” However, Blue notes, “If people are not lied to, if they are not flogged for their lack of faith, if they are assured that nothing can separate them from the love of God, then there is no reason for them to be damaged by prayer.”
There is a need for soaking prayer, especially with some of the “bigger” requests. MacNutt believes that many more of these requests would be answered if people could simply spend fifteen minutes a day in soaking prayer for the individual in need, much like radiation treatments. Now, instead of seeing a cripple and wondering if there is hope, when he sees a cripple wonders just how much healing could occur if there were only people willing to sit beside him in soaking prayer for many extended sessions.
There are a few more miscellaneous ideas related to technique in ministering. Their appears to be a much greater breakthrough in healing services than sometimes occurs when MacNutt is praying on his own. If we want to help more people, more large healing services are essential. MacNutt notes, “It is necessary that we be free of the need to prove anything, that we be free of any personal desire for achieving results.” Also, in general, it will be most helpful if a healing model will evolve through the practice and successes of a church rather than imposed from the outside.
Through careful study of Blue and MacNutt’s books on healing, I have organized the nuggets that have been gleaned into the categories of apologetics for healing, theology of healing, and technique in ministering. As I finish writing this, it has awakened me even further to the importance of healing being involved in the church. The ancient prayer quoted by Blue adequately summarizes the churches’ (as well as my own!) need for understanding on healing, “From cowardice that shrinks from new truth, from laziness that is content with half-truth, from arrogance that thinks it knows all truth, O God of Truth, deliver us.”

1 Francis MacNutt, Healing (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 1999), 13.
2 Ibid., 46.
3 Ibid., 35.
4 Ibid., 49-50.
5 Ken Blue, Authority to Heal (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Press, 1987), 28-29
6 MacNutt, Healing, 64-65.
7 Blue, 26.
8 MacNutt, Healing, 67.
9 Francis MacNutt, The Power to Heal (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2007), 70.
10 Ibid., 67.
11 MacNutt, Healing, 9.
12 Blue, 157.
13 MacNutt, Healing, 79.
14 Ibid., 74-75.
15 Blue, 151.
16 MacNutt, Healing, 108.
17 Blue, 122-123.
18 MacNutt, Power, 32.
19 Blue, 60.
20 MacNutt, Healing, 85.
21 Ibid., 95.
22 Ibid., 103-105.
23 Blue, 114.
24 Ibid., 115.
25 MacNutt, Healing, 161.
26 MacNutt, Power, 55.
27 Ibid., 175.
28 Ibid., 186.
29 MacNutt, Healing, 122.
30 Blue, 120.
31 Ibid., 18.

Edit: For whatever reason, it did not put the little footnote numbers in my paper when copied it over here, so if anyone really wants to know which quote lined up with which endnote, let me know and I can find it.

Faith and Common Sense/Wisdom

I am extremely stereotyping, but only to make a point - it seems we have two types of people floating around in the church today - the faith community and the wisdom/common sense community. For example, when one runs into problems the faith community looks to God and the common sense/wisdom community looks to see what they can do to fix the situation - a "God helps those who help themselves" (which unfortunately, is nowhere in the Bible) type of model.

It is as though the faith community, when run to their logical extreme (again I am grossly exaggerating), can think I am believing God for finances, but I don't want to apply for a job because I don't want to make it look like my faith is in the job and not in God. Or I am believing for healing, but I don't want to change the way that I eat to eat more nutritiously, because I don't want my faith to be in the nutrition and not in God, or even get a check-up to see if I am healed because I do not want my faith in doctors, only God. So, for the sake of preserving faith, wisdom and common sense can get thrown out the window.

The common sense group sees a problem and (again, I am exagerrating to make a point) figures out how they can fix the problem on their own. They may pray once about it, but that's just because they figure that that is the right thing to do - not that they would actually think God would do something. So they try to figure out by willpower how they can make things happen. They can easily become burnt-out, frustrated, religious, and depressed because it seems like, although some things in life can be fixed with just a bit more willpower, that many can't. Just reading the Bible for a few more minutes or fasting once didn't fix the problem. So they can be very disillusioned with God.

As a side point, I think many areas of life are interrelated. So I will focus on a few issues and make parallels to what I was saying above. Let's go after healing and purity. In regards to purity, let's say a guy from work who struggles with impurity came up to me and said, "I quit watching movies with sex scenes in them and I'm reading my Bible for 45 minutes a day, however, I don't feel like I'm getting any better. I think I probably won't do those changes any more as they don't seem to help." One needs to note the following: We as humans are much more complex than we like to think and substantially more screwed up than we would like to believe. There is this idea that if one or maybe, at the most, two things in my life were adjusted, that everything would work perfectly. So while the two changes are good, common-sense changes to make, the reality is that if his hope is in those changes, or even that the next change is going to be what will bring breakthrough, he probably has missed the whole point. The point isn't that one more little tweaking will make the difference but rather a whole radical paradigm shift. Purity does not come from one tweaking here or there. It is from Him. It is a part of who He is. It is something we continually gain through ongoing relationship with Him. So if I were to tell that person - generally, a necessary step for a person who is going to walk in purity is to have healthy open relationships with a few people that know everything about you and will hold you accountable, if they think that making that change will fix things, they again missed the whole point. Their eyes are on making a change that will fix them rather than on God. One has to keep their eyes on God and live in dependence on Him for purity, all the while changing and shifting things that need to be done so. To take one's eyes off of God and putting them back on oneself and what one can do to make victory happen is to miss the whole point.

I think the same thing is true in the area of healing. As those of you who read my notes regularly know, I've been on a bit of an obsession with healing. Maybe this is from having had cancer before or maybe it is for a variety of reasons, but this is certainly a passion of mine. As near as I can tell, evangelism and fasting are like two sticks of dynamite that prompt the annointing level to go up greater and greater for more healings. Obviously, many other things factor in, such as spending time with the Lord, keeping my view of Him greater than the problems in front of me (I can't say I always succeed at this), not going introspective before praying, praying for more people, commanding healing instead of asking for it, get in the glory zone of His presence, focusing on that God wants to heal the person in front of me rather than looking introspective, and so forth. But yet, as I am in the School Planting Track at the School of the Supernatural, I am always contemplating how I would teach people about this. I think one can start to see healing in a similar way to purity. If one focuses on that they need to do this or that just right of the above and that will cause the person to be healed, they missed the whole point. They took their eyes off of God and put them back on themselves to get breakthrough on their own. For someone to say, "I commanded the health condition to leave in Jesus' name and nothing happened so I am not going to pray that way anymore" is to be like the guy who said that he started reading his Bible regularly but it didn't cure his purity problems so he's going to quit doing that because he doesn't want to be religious about it.

This can even work with finances. The "faith" community exageration from above might never apply for a job because they are just praying for God to provide - they don't want to apply for a job because it would show a lack of faith and that they do not want to look like they trust in things of this world over God. The common sense people might apply for 25 jobs, but then feel frustrated due to the economy and so forth and feel like there is no hope because their hope is not really in God, but in the economy, how much work experience or education they have, or whatever. The reality is that one keeps God as their source, but that this does not keep one from common sense and wisdom.

Herein lies a problem. Some people will read this and think that because all of the myriad of steps aren't in place for breakthrough to happen in one of these areas that there is no point in even trying. But just like the person with the desire for a job, sometimes only one application is all that is necessary to get a job! And no one knows when the breakthrough will occur, but if one gives up it probably won't occur! Honestly, the different lists is more for troubleshooting if one is trying and not seeing breakthrough to give more ideas, not to try to make things more complicated than they need to be. I wrote more about different things that seem to help me so that I can look back over it (the primary person I write these notes is for me :) ). So it isn't that all of these things have to be in place and one feels hopeless if they aren't. God takes us where we are at, wants us to overcome more than we want to, and is more than happy to help us in the growth process. And the reality is, is that quite a few things are just solved through going deeper and deeper in relationship with Him!

It is like we have this core principle of God being our source and we rely on Him and Him alone. However, that does not mean that we don't learn how to better align with Him. Maybe I am just really infatuated with Bill Johnson's theology of healing breakthrough, but it is sooooo true for everything, it seems. The breakthrough is God's - He's the source - but that does not mean that one may not have to apply some wisdom in order to see more or begin to see breakthrough. Thankfully, He is the source (and people and other things He works through) for that wisdom too! This really isn't too different than what I posted on here (my blog if you are reading this imported into facebook) to combine the notes from March 15, 2005 with March 22, 2007. Man, I love reading my old notes on here!

Anyway, God bless you guys and I hope I made things easier to understand than to make things more difficult.

What I learned in the past 10 days:

Healing is far easier than I thought. I made it so difficult and filled it with religious striving - I can only expect God to work if I have done this and that and the next thing. It really is so much more simple. Because I believed I had to do this and that and the next thing to see a healing I limited God by what I believed. It really can be as easy as - healing has nothing to do with me, its all God, My God is powerful, He gave me all authority, and I can command with His authority backing me up. Healing is as difficult to happen in my life as I believe it to be.

I don't have spend my life feeling like I'm too busy to serve in the way that I would like. I can serve more (as I am able) knowing that some of the things I want to believe God for might only be released through service and that all of ministry is an act of service.

In an ideal world, as my heart for others grow, I always care far more for the people being healed than to see the miracle occur. This sacrifice keeps love and serving as a focus not simply the joy of God doing something through me. This sometimes, in the past, has felt difficult as many people I am praying for within about 2 minutes of meeting them and it is harder to care for the people that are unknown. However, greatness in the kingdom of God comes through being a servant.

God is instilling in me a confidence that He will show up and is dependable when I step out.

I cannot allow robbery by formulas anymore. It only causes me to limit God by religiosity.

When people allign themselves to God's Will - Evangelism through the Great Commission - they get bulldozed by the blessing of God and many things they are praying for get answered as they shift from trying to have God do their will to doing His will.

I already knew this, but a refresher: if I am overly concerned with what people think, I probably am valuing compliments too much.

A sure fire way to become spiritually proud or religious and consequently judgmental of others is to try to think that my efforts are what causes God to work in or through me.

If I am formulating ways (fasting, reading my Bible more, evangelizing more, etc.) to try to become more annointed and see more breakthrough and think my actions prompt it rather than God's goodness, I have taken my eyes off of what God says about all authority being given to us through the great commission.

I have no right to ever believe God does not want to do signs and wonders through me because I did not do this or that enough - its not about me.

I need to focus on worshipping God, not over analyzing myself to try to get breakthrough.

The reason why I love being saturated in the Word is not to get smarter but to change what I believe. God responds to what I believe.

How I handle another person treating me poorly when treasure hunting shows whether I cared more about them or wanting a miracle.

Fasting is fine as long as I don't make it a crutch and depend on it more than God.

If I feel fear in a situation and am checking to see if I feel bold or annointed enough I have taken my eyes off of God and put them back on me. This is a good time to worship Him.

I cannot look at my resources, but at His resources.

I don't chase annointing by religious activities. I am a child of God so He annoints me.

If I focus on me when I pray I have my resources when I pray. When I love and serve another when I pray, I am alligning much more with the kingdom getting the kingdom's resources when I pray.

My focus needs to be much more on worshipping God then praying for breakthrough. He wants me to have breakthrough more than I want to. I can rest in Him and simply do as He wants done, not feel like I have to burn myself out.

The focus of preaching should cause people to feel encouraged that there breakthrough is possible, not to make them feel discouraged and without hope. This should be obvious and I knew it before, but I think I probably disqualified people more than qualified. Jesus qualified even the little children!

Essentially, the Lord knocked a lot of religion out of me and put more trust of Him in its place. I don't know if anyone will read this and feel helped, but I am probably writing it more for me to review and go over to remind myself.

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I wrote a note called breakthrough a little bit ago in which I probably should have quoted Bill Johnson in it. Certainly some of the ideas came from him. I wanted to talk a little more about it, and realize that I am sharing His idea and maybe expanding on it a little, which I thoroughly love.

A. B. Simpson said that Sanctification is God's work. It is our responsibility to consecrate, surrender, and dedicate ourselves to Him, but only God sanctifies. I personally love this. Essentially, the breakthrough is God's and we allign with it - as Bill talks about. Many think that there dedication will be what changes them. And while it is true that passiveness and apathy don't change anything, the reality is that if one believes their dedication will change everything that needs to be changed in them, they will probably be burnt-out, very religious, or a workaholic or something like that. The reality is that the dedication needs to be there, but the focus is not on the dedication, but on God the one who sanctifies. In the same way with healing, it is not that commanding a healing as a magic ritual produces the healing, or else one just took their eyes off of the healer. However, if one refuses to ever command a healing, they likely may not see very much of a breakthrough. Is the commanding magical? No, it is just alligning up more with God's breakthrough. Is dedicating oneself to the Lord magical? No, it is just aligning oneself up to God's breakthrough. However, people are complicated and often one thing is not the magic bullet. We like to think if I just do this, then that will change everything. The reality is that if we keep our focus more and more on Him and align as He shows us to is how breakthrough tends to occur more and more. The breakthrough is His and we through His goodness and revelation align more and more with it.

I talked back a bit ago about overcoming. While I hope it was clear, I wanted to make sure that no one thinks that I was advocating that anyone is perfect in this lifetime. Are you kidding me?? I only was wanting to advocate that I refuse to believe that people have to live cutting themselves, injecting things in themselves, snorting things, with a habit of pornography, starving themselves, throwing up what they have recently eaten, under a cloud of constant overwhelming fear, and so forth. This is not the abundant life and to believe that these things have to be a part of life and that there is no hope of overcoming is a bit off from what the Bible presents as truth. Will people who have overcome some of these things do anything wrong ever? Obviously. But one can maintain permanent victory over the addictions that previously entangled them only through the grace and goodness of God. If I did not believe this, I would never have worked at Teen Challenge.

Differences in prayer

I got this from Pastor Rick Wood. I love it. Its the difference between how I thought prayer was supposed to be and acted and how Bethel and some of the other signs and wonders churches pray. I'll tell you the new is so much more fun and effective than the old.

Old and New Wine Skin Praying

Old New

Begging Declaring

Pray hard Pray believing

Many words Fewer words

Belief during prayer Belief after prayer

Reactive Proactive

Talk about problem Talk to the problem

Stopping devil and curses Releasing God and blessing

Focusing mainly on problem Focusing mainly on testimonies and promises

Mostly asking Mostly thanking

God is reluctant and/or hindered God is good and has already won victory

Uncomfortable with silence Values soaking prayer

Worship prepares for prayer Worship is prayer

Intercession dominates church Intercession is one part of diversified prayer plan

Fasting from things Fasting to things

Fasting is an event Fasting is a lifestyle

Burdened Joyful

Laughing is rare Laughing is frequent

Focusing on the duties of prayer Seeking the depths of God

Spiritual attacks are positive signs Expect God’s protection/blessing after prayer