Leg Lengthening - Who Experienced It?

[victoryword]

Hey

During the big Charismatic explosion, I heard that leg lengthening was really popular. I was reading more about it in H. A. Maxwell Whyte's book, "The Working of Miracles." I also had a minister friend who told me of how God had used him to do this type of stuff, but I had never seen this for myself.

Have any of you Charismatics seen this or been involved in this type of thing?

 

[NewSong]

Hey

During the big Charismatic explosion, I heard that leg lengthening was really popular. I was reading more about it in H. A. Maxwell Whyte's book, "The Working of Miracles." I also had a minister friend who told me of how God had used him to do this type of stuff, but I had never seen this for myself.

Have any of you Charismatics seen this or been involved in this type of thing?

I was in several services where we had a counterfeit that was praying for leg lengthening and claimed to have the power and that it was happening. However, we also had another doctor who had credibility dispute that it was happening and he is really charismatic and honest and does believe in leg-lengthening.

I have not had my legs lengthened in a service because I have not had a reason to have them lengthened since the good doc laid hands on me . I have been in services where it "supposedly" happened. I did not witness any of it though.

I would like to see the real thing.

 

[JimB]

We have a member of our church who is 7’1” tall. He is wondering if where he can find somebody with a leg shortening ministry.

While I believe God can and will heal any disorder and disease, I am a real skeptic on this particular slight of hand trick which seems to be practiced by every bogus healer who ever pitched a tent. It has been part of the show of some of the most notorious televangelists who have ever been cauth with their spiritual drawers down. I have seen this stunt performed dozens of times.

Here’s how it works:

The evangelist will sit someone in a chair in front of a crowd and have them extend their legs in front of them while he holds their heels in his hand. Sure enough, he demonstrates, one leg is slightly shorter/longer than the other (like a millimeter, or something). This usually comes as a surprise to the person sitting in the chair who never imagined they were “crippled”. According to osteopaths (ask one), this is really not all that unusual – everyone has one leg imperceptibly shorter than the other (and one foot smaller than the other, etc.). Then the “evangelist” will do his shtick, shouting toward the legs commanding one leg to grow “in the name of Jay-uzus”, and sure enough, right there before the eyes of everyone, right there in the palm of the healer/performer, the legs come into alignment, one of them actually, visibly “growing” to match the length of the longer leg. IMO, this is where psychology and the power of suggestion kick in. The seeker, feeling conspicuous and unaccustomed to being in front of people and not wanting to embarrass the healer/performer or look, God forbid, like they lack faith, will unconsciously shift his/her body to comply with what is expected of them. Her/his legs line-up!! It’s better than David Copperfield.

IMO, anyone snowed by this sort of scam will readily empty their pockets to support someone with that kind of “anointing” … and that’s often the point.

But the fact is, the person whose leg has been “lengthened” (but never shortened) will discover, if the same stunt was pulled again and they were again put in the hot-seat, that, surprisingly, their leg would be just like it was before. Nothing really happened. So, what I would like to see is one of these "evangelists" with leg-lengthening (but never shortening) ministries actually heal a leg that is, say, two-feet shorter (not a barely noticeable fraction of an inch), lengthened. I mean, a leg that is clinically shorter/longer than another, say, a person with a built-up shoe who is technically handicapped. But none of this slight-of-hand cr*p.

Having said that I hasten to add that I believe God can and does heal such osteopathic disablements all the time. But I do not believe He does it to create a touring road show or cottage industry to dupe gullible Christians.

~Jim

 

[LittleRocketBoy]

Hey

During the big Charismatic explosion, I heard that leg lengthening was really popular. I was reading more about it in H. A. Maxwell Whyte's book, "The Working of Miracles." I also had a minister friend who told me of how God had used him to do this type of stuff, but I had never seen this for myself.

Have any of you Charismatics seen this or been involved in this type of thing?

I did this one time.... it was at a new friends house. A neighborhood kid come in (with his mom and I noticed him limping. His mother said he had been born with "one leg shorter than another". Sounded odd, but I asked him to sit down in a straight backed chain and sure enough one leg was in fact and inch or so longer (shorter?) than the other. I recalled being in a service (yes this also was in the 70s) and seeing a minister do what you describe. I asked if they wanted to pray over this and they said ok.
We all sat and watched as I said the name of Jesus and gently pulled the short leg... and it grew out to match the longer one. He stood up walked around without the previous limp.
Never done this since.

It never occured to me to "push" the longer leg up to match the shorter!

 

[LittleRocketBoy]

Jim must really dislike me a lot!

I'm a "scammer" from way back!

 

[Trish1947]

I know when leg lenthening was popular there was probably some that could have been faked. I have seen a few, but couldn't tell you which ones were or not. All I could go by was their own testimony. The biggest leg miracle I have ever seen as far as putting things right in the leg department, was when I attended an Oral Roberts tent revival when I was a kid. This childs legs were so malformed and twisted that his feet were turned backwards. He was born with this affliction. When God started working on Him, it sounded like someone was snapping tree twigs, and his feet suddenly faced forward. But that was a healing of both legs.

 

[victoryword]

We have a member of our church who is 7’1” tall. He is wondering if where he can find somebody with a leg shortening ministry.

That's the funniest thing I have read by you in a while. That put a chuckle on my face.

Having said that I hasten to add that I believe God can and does heal such osteopathic disablements all the time. But I do not believe He does it to create a touring road show or cottage industry to dupe gullible Christians.

~Jim

Been a while also since I could actually agree with any post by you that I have read (the key phrase is "post by you I have read"). I actually agree with you here.

 

[YAWANNAKNOWJESUS?]

Hey I do have one leg shorter than the other and iam praying for my legs to be evened

oh and yes God can do it

 

[victoryword]

Thanks LilMissMuffet for your post.

LRB, I believe you are a man of credibility and since you don't pull any side shows, I believe that you genuinely experienced this. What I found funny when talking to a friend of mine was he said that one person he prayed for had a leg shorter than the other and when it grew, God played a practical joke on the person and made the short leg grow longer than the other. The person had to get all of her pants retailored. While I believe in this person's credibility, I had a hard time believing that God would play such a cruel joke, so I dismissed this particular story.

Trish, many of the people who have told me this and the stories I have read also seemed credible for the most part, though like you, I believe there is the possibility that it could have been faked. I think Oral Roberts, in spite of mistakes he may have made in the past, was mightily used of God and miracles and was also a man of credibility. I believe his story to be genuine.

 

[JimB]

That's the funniest thing I have read by you in a while. That put a chuckle on my face.

Been a while also since I could actually agree with any post by you that I have read (the key phrase is "post by you I have read"). I actually agree with you here.

I am sure there are a lot of things we agree on, VW, but we always seem to be stuck on the two things we don’t (WOF and PHIA).

~Jim

 

[Doug45]

I personally have seen it practiced by Derek Prince and Don Basham in the early 70's. Contrary to some of the reports posted here, they did not shout nor even speak a word. In most cases they simply lifted the legs so that the difference could be seen. Sometimves as much as an inch.

For a couple of years after being in this conference in Washington DC area my wife and I incorporated it into our ministry and saw many legs lengthened. It was usually accompanied by a feeling in the legs as they 'grew' in length and people exclaimed things to indicate that they actually felt their own legs grow.

Since this phenominon could be repeated on an individual and since those individuals who truly had legs that were longer or shorter due to surgery were not helped, we let it slip from our ministry. As I look back on it, it was probably more chiropractic than surgical.

I personally believe it more to be like the gold dust that falls in certain worship services like rain; no real purpose except a little fun or the laughter. I don't believe it to be a demonstration of healing. Some might call it a 'parlor' trick, but I believe it to be more like God putting us on His lap and jostling our hair as an expression of endearment and His nearness. Like a little note of encoragement.

Don't have chapter and verse. But for what it's worth mine were lengthened on several occasions and I felt it grow from my hip out.

Blessings,

Doug

 

[BillynJennifer]

I've never witnessed a leg-lengthening, but I did witness a leg-straightening. I was attending a church that had a "little person" for lack of a more PC term that had extremely bowed legs. Her little legs were so bowed that her gait was thrown off considerably. The minister had her stand on a chair so that the church could see and lightly layed her hands on the outside of the girls legs. We watched as the straightened and her gait became as normal as yours and mine. Let me tell you, there was some shoutin' going on in that church that night

BillynJennifer

 

[BarbB]

I know when leg lenthening was popular there was probably some that could have been faked. I have seen a few, but couldn't tell you which ones were or not. All I could go by was their own testimony. The biggest leg miracle I have ever seen as far as putting things right in the leg department, was when I attended an Oral Roberts tent revival when I was a kid. This childs legs were so malformed and twisted that his feet were turned backwards. He was born with this affliction. When God started working on Him, it sounded like someone was snapping tree twigs, and his feet suddenly faced forward. But that was a healing of both legs.

Wow! Father Rick had a similar story about a child healed of a club foot. I wonder how many atheists would witness something like that and remain atheists. Should at least knock them into the agnostic camp!

 

[LittleRocketBoy]

We need to start a couple more threads... one each for two area of the Charismatic experience that we have not critcized into oblivion.
Then we will be methodists.
No... wait. Even they started out with the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues.
We could be Jews!

 

[BarbB]

We need to start a couple more threads... one each for two area of the Charismatic experience that we have not critcized into oblivion.
Then we will be methodists.
No... wait. Even they started out with the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues.
We could be Jews!

There you go - a fresh start! That's not a bad thing!

 

[milestone]

i've only ever seen this once, and that's at a Todd Bentley crusade in Ethiopia.

I saw a man with a leg cut of at the knee due to an accident come to the front on a pair of crutches for healing. Todd prayed in the name of "jay-zus" (he's canadian) and there was the leg - growing right in front of us.

WOW!!!

 

[BarbB]

i've only ever seen this once, and that's at a Todd Bentley crusade in Ethiopia.

I saw a man with a leg cut of at the knee due to an accident come to the front on a pair of crutches for healing. Todd prayed in the name of "jay-zus" (he's canadian) and there was the leg - growing right in front of us.

WOW!!!

He writes pretty regularly for the Elijah List, doesn't he?

Edited to add: WOW, just WOW.

 

[BillynJennifer]

We need to start a couple more threads... one each for two area of the Charismatic experience that we have not critcized into oblivion.
Then we will be methodists.
No... wait. Even they started out with the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues.
We could be Jews!

Most of the modern day denominations did start out with the Holy Ghost power, didn't they? I wonder where it was down the line that they pushed the power out?

BillynJennifer

 

[Christina M]

Most of the modern day denominations did start out with the Holy Ghost power, didn't they? I wonder where it was down the line that they pushed the power out?

BillynJennifer

Probably when people started not believing God would heal and prosper them....and that He was glorified in their poverty and illness.

 

[BarbB]

Probably when people started not believing God would heal and prosper them....and that He was glorified in their poverty and illness.