4Jesus,
So you're saying that parts of the Bible are for us today and other parts are not?
Jesus is always the one Who does the healing. The people being used to help that healing manifest are just tools in His hand. One does not have to be touched by someone in order to receive healing but that does not mean that it is out of order to do so.
Scripture tells us to call the elders and lay hands on the sick and that the prayer of faith will heal. Just because one apostle talks about something and another does not does not mean that the subject matter talked about first no longer exists.
I personally, with my own eyes have seen people instantly healed. I saw my best friends leg, which was substantially shorter than the other grow as I watched. I have seen that same thing several other times on other people as well.
All my life I have seen people healed. Not strangers, but people I knew. Even I have been healed on several occasions.
We had one man in a church I use to go to that had an accident and hurt his leg really bad. He was in the middle of a law suit with the company that was responsible.
We had a new Pastor at the church and the new Pastor did not know that the guy wanted the money from the law suit more than he wanted healing. My Pastor laid hands on him and he was instantly healed. Would you believe the man left the church, spreading all sorts of lying rumors about the new Pastor because now he could no longer get money because his leg was no longer hurt. God definately has a sense of humor.
I have not yet seen anyone raised from the dead but I think it would be pretty cool. I don't need it to believe but I still believe it happens. People in foreign countries see these things frequently.
In a book (I Just Saw Jesus) written by Paul Eschelman, with the Jesus Film he wrote about how when the film teams went into other countries they saw the supernatural power of God in ways that people in the States do not. People in the States don't believe therefore they don't receive. People in other countries, saw Jesus do a miracle on the screen, believed and received.
Immagine the Campus Crusaders trying to convince them Jesus no longer does those kinds of things. They could'nt. Neither could they return to the States and report these things because their churches would throw fits, just like people are here on the forum.
If you don't want to believe that's fine. That's your choice. But again, I've come to my conclusions from reading the whole Word of God. I believe all of it's true. And I believe it is for today. I see it in operation today. I experience it in operation today.
As stated in other threads and as you've said, people get sick for many different reasons, and none of those reasons is because God delights in it. It could be sin on our part or someone else's part. It could be ignorance on our part or someone else's part. It does not matter. . .God want's us healthy. And scripture reveals to us how to live in health, in body, mind, and spirit.
People are not less spiritual if they are sick or handicap. I believe they are still healed by the power of God. Healed, as in past tense. Jesus already did it. . .If their healing does not manifest until they see Him in Heaven that's OK. At least they can go believing instead of unbelieving.
Scripture says that anything that is not of faith is sin. When we don't have the faith that He will do what He said He would do, it is sin. It did not say that it was required that our faith manifest for the human eye to see, but for Him to see. It has nothing to do with us. Everything is about Him.
Quaffer
