RICHMOND, VA – Virginia State Police chaplains can invoke Jesus during prayers again.

State Police Superintendent Stephen Flaherty reinstated a policy allowing chaplains to use the name Jesus on Wednesday.
Under former Gov. Tim Kaine, who chairs the Democratic National Committee, Flaherty barred chaplains from praying in Jesus’ name after a federal appeals court said prayers delivered on behalf of governments cannot favor one religion over another.
Religious groups had asked Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell to reinstate the policy. The Republican governor says chaplains should be allowed to pray according to their consciences.

April 23, 2010

Dear Rev. Graham,

We stand with you in both your expressions of love for Muslims and your criticisms of Islam. We at the American Family Association likewise desire that every Muslim may come to faith in Jesus Christ and know the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life that is found in him.

It is because of our love for Muslims that we also stand with you in your conviction that Islam is an “evil and wicked religion” which puts its followers in bondage and puts others in danger.

Here are some inconvenient truths about Islam:

• Devout Muslims have a sacred responsibility, according to the command of Allah through his prophet Muhammad, to “slay the idolaters wherever you find them (Sura 9:5).” Over 100 verses in the Koran call for the death of infidel Christians and Jews. We have seen the tragic fruit of this ideology both on 9/11 and at Fort Hood. Islam is not, in fact, a religion of peace but of violence, death and war.

• Islam, through the example of Muhammad, sanctions the marriage of girls who are but children. Muhammad himself began having sex with his youngest wife Aisha when she was just nine years old (Bukhari, Vol. 8). Just last week, a 12-year-old girl in Saudi Arabia went to court to divorce her 80-year-old husband. In the West, these are acts of pedophilia and utterly at odds with the Christian principle that the sexual purity of young females is to be protected until they are mature enough to voluntarily and freely enter into marriage.

• Christians are granted only second class status under Islam, and are given only three choices where Islam reigns: conversion, submission or death. Conversion from Islam to Christianity remains a capital offense in many Muslim countries. In supposedly free Egypt, Coptic Christians are even today routinely harassed, persecuted and killed by Islamic fundamentalists. Freedom of religion, a profoundly American value, is utterly absent in Islam. Further, this practice is directly at variance with the fundamental concept in American jurisprudence that we are all, everyone of us, equal under the law.

• Women under the iron fist of Islam are indeed, as you said, given “horrid” treatment. In many Islamic countries, women are not allowed to receive an education or even show their faces in public. Husbands are taught in the Koran that they may literally beat their wives into submission, completely contrary to the Christian admonition that husbands are to “love their wives as Christ loved the church.” The blatant and deadly sexism in Islam is contrary to the fundamental Christian precept that men and women are full equals before the true God in spiritual worth, value and significance.

• The practice of honor killings is widespread in the Islamic world. According to the U.N., over 5,000 women a year are brutally murdered under the flag of Islam, in many cases because they have brought “dishonor” to their families by becoming the tragic victims of rape. The “horrid” practice of honor killings sadly has come to the U.S. A Muslim husband decapitated his wife in New York, while a Muslim father in Texas shot his two teenage daughters to death in the back of a taxi cab and another Muslim father in Arizona ran his daughter down with the family SUV. The crime in the latter two cases was that their daughters had become too “Westernized.” This practice is utterly at odds with the Christian teaching that fathers are to nurture and protect their children.

Additionally, we are alarmed that your First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion have been so severely compromised. The spirit of Christianity has infused our military since the days our first commander-in-chief, George Washington, appointed Christian chaplains, directed his troops to “attend Divine service,” and challenged them to add to the “distinguished character of Patriot” what he called “the more distinguished Character of Christian.”

According to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, one of the enumerated powers of Congress is “To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces.”

We are going to insist that all members of Congress declare themselves on whether they agree with the shameful treatment you have received at the hands of the current administration. We will be sending an alert to all 2.4 million members of the AFA network, urging them to contact their senators and representatives and challenging them to answer this one question: “Do you agree with the decision of President Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to ban Rev. Franklin Graham from praying at the Pentagon?”

May God affirm you and honor for declaring the truth both about the gospel of Christ and the religion of Muhammad.

Sincerely,

Tim Wildmon

FOXNews.com

Evangelist Franklin Graham is sticking by his remarks about Islam, including that Muslims are “enslaved” by their religion, even as he faces being uninvited from the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer service on May 6.

In this Sunday, May 24, 2009 file photo, Franklin Graham prepares to give the invocation before the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 auto race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. (AP)

Evangelist Franklin Graham is sticking by his remarks about Islam, including that Muslims are “enslaved” by their religion, even as he faces being uninvited from the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer service on May 6.

Franklin, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, told Fox News on Thursday that he loves Muslim people and wants them to know that God loves them, even if they can be saved only through Jesus Christ.

“I want them to know that they don’t have to die in a car bomb, don’t have to die in some kind of holy war to be accepted by God. But it’s through faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone,” Graham said.

Graham said said he loves the Muslim people, just not their religion — which he called “horrid” for its restrictions on women.

“I love the people of Islam but their religion, I do not agree with their religion at all. And if you look at what the religion does just to women, women alone, it is just horrid. And so yes, I speak out for women. I speak out for people that live under Islam, that are enslaved by Islam and I want them to know that they can be free,” he said.

Graham said it’s up to the military to decide whether he will be a guest speaker, but he will show up if the invitation is still on the table.

The Army is considering whether to rescind Graham’s invitation to be honorary chairman at the May 6 event amid complaints from Muslim members of the U.S. military who have not forgiven him for his description of Islam as evil.

After the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Graham said Islam “is a very evil and wicked religion.” In a later op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, Graham wrote that he did not believe Muslims were evil because of their faith, but “as a minister … I believe it is my responsibility to speak out against the terrible deeds that are committed as a result of Islamic teaching.”

Army spokesman Gary Tallman told Fox News that Graham’s “presence at the event may be taken by some as inappropriate for a government agency.”

“As the executive agent of the Pentagon chaplain’s office, Army leadership determined it needed further review,” he said.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation raised the objection to the appearance, citing Graham’s past remarks about Islam, in a letter sent Monday to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Mikey Weinstein, president of the foundation, said the invitation offended Muslim employees at the Pentagon because Graham never retracted or apologized for his description of Islam as evil. Weinstein said the invitation would endanger American troops by stirring up Muslim extremists.

Army Col. Tom Collins said the invitation wasn’t from the Pentagon but from the Colorado-based National Day of Prayer Task Force, which works with the Pentagon chaplain’s office on the prayer event.

The task force organizes Christian events for the National Day of Prayer. Collins said neither Army Secretary John McHugh nor Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. was aware of the invitation.

After Graham’s appearance, the Council of American-Islamic Relations issued a call for supporters to petition the Pentagon to drop Graham.

“To have an individual who calls Islam evil and claims Muslims are enslaved by their faith speak at the Pentagon sends entirely the wrong message at a time when hundreds of thousands of our nation’s military personnel are currently stationed in Muslim countries,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “Franklin Graham’s appearance has the potential to harm unit cohesion and morale through the promotion of distorted, intolerant and divisive views within military ranks.”

Task force chairwoman Shirley Dobson said in a written statement that U.S. leaders have called for a day of prayer during times of crisis since 1775, but the tradition is under attack.

“Enough is enough,” said Dobson, wife of conservative Christian leader James Dobson. “We at the National Day of Prayer Task Force ask the American people to defend the right to pray in the Pentagon.”

She called on President Obama to appeal a ruling by a federal judge in Wisconsin last week that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional because it amounts to a call for religious action. The judge did not bar any observances until all appeals are exhausted.

SPEAKER’S LOBBY: Judge’s Decision Unpopular on Capitol Hill

Weinstein objected to the working relationship between the Pentagon chaplain’s office and the task force, saying the chaplains have effectively endorsed the task force by using its materials and routinely inviting its honorary chairman to speak at the Pentagon.

Weinstein said that amounts to preferential treatment in violation of Defense Department rules.

Collins said the working relationship has been reviewed by Pentagon lawyers and passed legal scrutiny.

“We are an all-inclusive military. We hold observances throughout the year. This one happens to be a Christian-themed event,” Collins said.

Graham, who has a son fighting in Afghanistan, said the upcoming Day of Prayer event is not about “Islam versus Christianity.”

“We’re in war. And we need to pray for our military. We need to pray for our president and all those in authority. That’s what the National Day of Prayer is all about,” he said.

Graham is president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian international relief organization in Boone, N.C., and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Charlotte, N.C.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Judge Crabb’s crabby decision was made last week. She said that it would be no more permissible for the government to urge people to prayer than it would for the government to urge people to fast during Ramadan or to pray a Jewish prayer or to practice magic. But what the judge doesn’t understand is that the proclamation of the national day of prayer is NOT a legislated law, but rather a presidential proclamation, urging Americans to PRAY. The proclamation does not urge people to pray only Christian prayers. Do not Jews pray? Do not Muslims pray? There’s NO law forcing people to pray, just a proclamation urging them to. There’s nothing that says the prayers have to be Christian, just to PRAY for our nation. Would not a Jewish American pray in his or her way?

This law suit was brought by the national Freedom from Religion Foundation. So now, the 60-90 some odd percent of Americans who believe in God and practice some form of praying, have to give way to the 2-13 % of those who do not?

What is our country coming to?

THIS is just one of the many reasons why we need you to help support the American Family Association during our SHARATHON this week.
Please call or go on line to www.far.net.

Thanks!

Twice a year, we at American Family Radio stop, and for 3 days we SHARE with you, our listeners and supporters, the VISION and the MISSION of the American Family Association. It’s called Sharathon. Many “ministries” and other charity type organizations raise money on a regular basis. We do not. We take three days, twice a year, spring and fall, and share with you our needs in hopes that you will feel led of the Lord to help.

This is year is no different. We will have our spring Sharathon THIS WEEK, Wednesday thru Friday. Starting at 6 am this Wednesday morning, we will talk, share, pray, testify and demonstrate what AFA and AFR is all about. We ARE listener supported, meaning, we don’t operate like other radio stations do. We depend on YOU.

Our goal is always around $1.75 or $2.0 million dollars. That’s realitively low compared with all that we do. So, please, start now praying for us as we get ready to S H A R E with the world this week.

Sharathon – Wednesday through Friday, this week. On all 189 AFR radio stations and on American Family Radio!

I look back on it now and realize that in reality, there were probably only one or two  families that were upset with me being at the ministry. One was a guy that was simply unhappy often about the stance I / the ministry of AFA would take on many moral  or political issues in the culture war we fight daily at AFR.

Well, I’m no longer at that church, but let me tell you about the miraculous love of our caring God.

I was in the midst of a tough time at the church. As I rode to do a little something one day at AFR, I cried and prayed, “God, please, please Show me what to do!” I was desperate. Well, within 24 hours of that prayer, Tim Wildmon, the President of American Family Association, emailed me and stated that they wanted me to come to work full time with the ministry. The salary offer he made was nearly what I made at the church, with full benefits. The job responsibilities were things that literally THRILL me; third seat on the AFA Report show with Fred Jackson; I was doing the daily commentaries; and the bulk of my day would be working on a new project that I would help develop, a 4 hour afternoon drive radio/music show that would air ONLY in Central Mississippi, primarily Jackson. Well, I grew up in the Jackson, MS area and my first radio job at the age of 16 was in Jackson! I was thrilled and honored and so excited to have this opportunity before me, not only at this needy time in my life, but also just because of the work that I love and the trust that it appeared the ministry was willing to put in me after all these years.

I go into depth sharing the details of this story only because I want those of you who may have thought that I was pulling away from radio last year, to understand why I returned and why I am full-time with the work at AFR.

Please pray for me that I will do an excellent job. I don’t want Tim to ever doubt putting me on staff full-time.

God bless you. Keep this blog site active. I’ll bloviate often about what God’s doing in my life here.

I recently had an email question from one of our listeners/viewers of JumpStart, our morning talk show on the AFA Talk Network. We were talking about the new bill before congress to set up a subjective test (their words) for new moms to take before leaving the hospital. If they didn’t “pass” this test, they would not be able to take their newborn home! Meeke Addison (my co-host) and I felt that this was simply one more of the Obama big government intrusions into our lives. We were, admittedly, quite passionate about this bill.

We had not at the time, read the bill in it’s entirety (what’s wrong with that? Senators will vote for the largest spending bill in American history without reading it [the so called stimulus bill]). But we had read enough from trusted sources that we had a really good idea about what it had to say. We have since read the bill entirely and still feel exactly the same way we did when we “ranted” about it on the air.

Here’s the email we got from an anonymous listener:

I was very disappointed re your coverage of the Mother’s Bill. I did not hear balanced coverage of the bill @ all, nor did I see it in your blog. The issue was not front & center on your site, yet you were very alarmist on the air. Focus on the Family is not alerting on this bill. I would not be able to defend your stance to a nonbeliever. One needs facts & balanced coverage to be called a journalist. I am ashamed of you as a ministry in this regard. Yes, this bill has the POTENTIAL for abuse, like ANY legislation, but you are fear-mongering on this. Your on air AM personalities are fond of saying “well, I’m going to RANT about xyz now”! Aren’t we to be in the world, not of it? This bill MAY also help many people. Christian Physician Assistants like myself & Social Workers who are believers, etc,. like my co-worker might have a chance to prevent a tragedy, in Jesus name! I have lost trust brothers & sisters. Take yourselves to the woodshed.

Well, you know me.

Here’s my response back to him:

My Friend, I love the fact that you listen, I love the fact that you wrote. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I promise you that Meeke and I appreciate you and respect you and your right to express your point of view.

Having said that let me try to answer some of your concerns about our presentation of the “Moms” bill that you referenced. (By the way, please sign your name to emails so that I can know to whom I write. Thanks.)

First of all, you referred to us as journalists. Meeke nor I ever claimed to be journalists. Although we both have been trained in some aspects of journalism and have many years of working in the broadcast industry, we are not classical journalists. We are OPINIONISTS. We have the job of presenting stories of interest and expressing our opinions about them. That is what we did with the information we had on that particular story.

You said, “This bill has the POTENTIAL for abuse, like ANY legislation, but you are fear-mongering on this.”  Ok, so now you are against us alerting people to the potential of abuse of parenthood by an overreaching government? You were upset with us because we were not supportive of this bill that has the potential, as well (according to your estimation) of bringing about much good, all the while acknowledging  that it has the potential of abuse??  A fear “Mongerer” is defined as, “a person who is involved with something in a petty and/or contemptible way”. I assure you, the Jumpstart  “OPINIONISTS” are not and do not fit that definition!

Just like you don’t want us to speak against a bill that has the possible potential of abuse, WE don’t want the government to act against a mother who might have the potential of abuse. As unfortunate as this might be, we should not be in the business of anticipating someone being a bad parent before they even leave the hospital. If that’s the argument that you’re going to give the government, then a more honest stance would be to simply have the government mandate the baby’s abortion to start with!! (Which, by the way, it’s not too far fetched to believe that a law like this could lead to such a practice!)

Also, I’m frankly a little weary, personally, of folks who question my walk with the Lord in some way (one person even declared that we were NOT Christians at all simply because they disagreed with a stance we took, which was a Biblical stance at that!), simply because they disagreed with our stories presentation for some reason.

“Aren’t we to be in the world, not of it?” You asked. Certainly! But how is expressing great and justifiable alarm and concern about the government being able to determine whether or not you get to take your baby home from the hospital, BEFORE you ever get a chance to commit a crime, being of the world? No one is qualified to judge my stance with Jesus after hearing one presentation of my opinion about something. (However, I hasten to add that our email response runs 100 to 1 in favor of our presentation style!)

Alarmists? I hope so! I am also growing weary of folks telling me things like, “Oh, why are you worrying about —–, you just need to concentrate on leading people to Jesus….” when the very thing I’ve spoken out about could very well one day hinder me totally from leading anyone to Jesus if we didn’t speak up and do something about the freedoms we’ve always enjoyed that are being attacked!

I’ll give you an example: We as a ministry were criticized by some for focusing on the “hate crimes” legislation for fear it would one day hinder our freedom of speech as promised us in the constitution. Our detractors said, “Why they have even promised us that a pastor’s freedom of expression in the pulpit would NEVER be taken away or hindered by this bill.” My problem is, that’s kind of restriction is exactly what has happened in Canada! There is a pastor IN PRISON right now simply because he simply read what the Bible had to say about homosexuality from the pulpit. A person attending that service complained to the “hate speech/crimes commission” about it. The pastor was prosecuted for committing a hate crime by this “commission” and was sent to prison for it.

Ok, they promise that would NEVER happen here. Oh, do you mean like they promised to never hire lobbyists in the new administration, and then proceeded to hire 17? Or, like they promised to END earmarked wasteful spending, and yet recently signed into law a spending bill with 9000 pork barrel projects in it? Forgive me but I simply don’t put much stock in their “promises” to us. So, when a bill is introduced that OPENS the door for someone in the NIMH to decide whether or not I can take my baby home with me from the hospital, I WILL “RANT” about that and I WILL call for everyone under the sound of my voice to call their congressmen and demand that bill not be signed into law!

Don’t you think it strange that there has been NO public debate on this bill? Don’t you think it strange that the “main stream” media hasn’t even presented this bill to their audiences? Doesn’t it feel like they KNOW there’s something “fishy” about this bill and that they don’t want the public to have an opportunity to speak to it?

Since when, PLEASE TELL ME, since when did our government move to the point of having to push legislation through in the middle of the night, hush-hush like this administration has done several times already in just the first 4 months? WHEN did we cease to be a nation governed OF the PEOPLE, BY the PEOPLE and FOR the PEOPLE?

No sir, we don’t need to be taken to the woodshed for our presentation of this bill. I believe congress might need to ease their backsides there, however, for trying to slip past their employers, the American people, such legislation!

Again, I DO appreciate your responding. Please feel free to do so again. I appreciate your passion for truth and on this subject. God bless you richly.

Dr. Buster Wilson

Because we think so much alike, Meeke wrote him back as well, independantly of me (she didn’t know I had written as well and did not know what I had said.)

Here’s her response:

Roger thank you for your concern. I would like to caution you that I’m not a reporter, I am giving my opinion as I understand a topic. With that said: the thing that concerns me is not that there would be programs in place to help mother struggling with post-partum depression, but that there would have to be some sort of assessment for these funds to be dispersed. Now the last I knew there was no machine that could diagnose depression this is subjective based on someone assessment on you.

My caution is the Big Brother factor that comes into play. Will mothers be forced to partake of these “services” in order to take their babies from the hospital? I’m not opposed to helping people, Roger please don’t misunderstand that. I’m looking down the road to what will result in a bill like this. As a Christian I wonder what sorts of questions will make up the questionnaire that determines if someone is depressed. Sometimes programs that present themselves as helpful end up hurting the people they purport to help.

I’ll give you this though, Roger. I tend to be a “little” on the dramatic side so I can see how you thought this was alarmism. I just get aggravated when I think of how the government says it wants to help people but in reality this is really more control of people and they always come waving money and we have our hands out and our eyes closed. As was just proven when the government starts handing out money they are then free to control what they fund. I’m thinking of forcing a CEO to step down from a privately held company. But I guess the Bible is true when it says the borrower is slave to the lender. Anyway I really must run but I hope this lengthy email is helpful.

Meeke

Truefully, that’s what I believe JumpStart is really all about. Taking the issues of the day, the narrative that the “main stream” media will not present, and making sure that our listeners/viewers know exactly what’s going on.

To me, that would be a valuable service.

What’d you think?

For the longest, I have been one of the “dejays” on the “music” networks, of which we had three total.  Since January, we’ve taken 130 of our 190+ radio stations and turned them into a Christian Talk Network.  I do a talk show (something I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do!!!) called JUMPSTART, co-hosted with a fantastic young lady, new to radio but a real pro, Meeke Addision!   The new network format has really taken off!!  We have had serious success, support and excitement in this stimulus/Obama/liberal age we live in!  AND GET THIS, in May, we’re going on TV, becoming one of the channels on the SkyAngel television network.  Yep, I may have to re-title this blog, “TV-RadioBuster”!  I’ve always thought that I had a face for radio……but at least folks will enjoy looking at Meeke!

Sharathon is our twice a year plea for financial help from our listeners, since we are listener supported non-commercial radio.

Sharathon is happening right now (April 15-17).  Please pray for us.  We need the support!

Doesn’t this smack of HYPOCRISY?

It’s one of the oldest objections to believing in what the Bible teaches about the Spiritual giftings of healings:  “If I believed in healing like you say you do, I’d go to every hospital and go room to room and empty that thing!!”

Of course, we’re talking about the “gifts of healings” listed in 1 Corinthians 12 (among other Scriptures).  “Healing” is listed with the other 9 supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit listed there.  I have always thought that it was interesting that the “Gift” was listed as “giftS of healingS”.  I have interpreted from that a rather different understanding of THAT one gift than most others express.  Where as the gift of TEACHING is a supernatural gifting given to ONE individual as the Spirit wills, and the one who has THIS gift can stand and teach the Word of God, the GiftS of HealingS are individual GIFTS given as needed in the body of Christ.

Let’s first talk about what Spiritual gifts are before we answer the question of whether or not it’s hypocritical for one to say they believe in Healing and yet get sick themselves.

Spiritual gifts, of which there are 19 total listed in the Scriptures, are “supernatural MANIFESTATIONS or EXPRESSIONS of the Holy Spirit in Supernatural works that build the body of Christ or win the lost, or bring Glory to God.  Some of these gifts are mimicked in natural talents, such as one can TEACH without having the spiritual gift of teaching, or one might have FAITH without the supernatural spiritual gifting of faith.  But when you operate in the supernatural spirit gifts, you are doing supernaturally, by the Holy Spirit’s power and energy, what could not be done without the Spirit’s power. For example, you can tell, you can just tell, when you are listening to the operation of a naturally talented teacher as opposed to the supernaturally empowered spiritual gift of teaching.

Now, the giftS of healingS are individual gifts of healing and wholeness given by the Holy Spirit  to individuals who need that healing at that moment and that time.  It operates within the anointing of FAITH as demonstrated by the life of a lame man and his four friends in a story in Mark 2.  The lame guy was lowered into the living room of a house where Jesus was healing the sick.  There were four guys that tore the roof off of that house to let their friend down through because they couldn’t reach Jesus through the front door;  the crowd was too great.  The Scripture says that when Jesus saw THEIR FAITH, he healed the lame guy.

Acts 14:9 says, “he listened to Paul as he was speaking.  Paul looked directly at him, and saw that he had faith to be healed…..” James 5: 14, 15 tells us, “is any one of you sick?  He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in FAITH will make the sick person well….”

Faith is a condition of being healed! It is the one Spiritual Gift that requires that someone who’s having the gift’s operation upon their life or the life of someone they’re praying for, mix it’s offering with somebody’s faith. As in the story in Mark 2, Jesus healed the lame guy, but it was when He saw THEIR faith (the faith of his four friends who were with him) that Jesus exhaled the gift of healing upon his life!

So, to answer the one big objection to belief in the gift of healing, I would say something like this: I believe its true that God never promises to give one individual the GIFT of HEALING that he can operate upon another’s  life at the drop of a hat, when he wants, how he wants, like one could do with the gift of teaching or faith. If I could express a gift of healing like that, I WOULD go to a hospitals and empty them out!

I’ve heard all the preacher jokes about the preacher who prays for others to be healed but is himself bald! Or, as in my case, has false teeth!  People believe that such discrepancies invalidate the giftS of healingS promised in the New Testament.  But at best, I think such statements are just bad preacher jokes!

So, can you believe, I mean truly have faith in the giftS of healings, like taught in the Scriptures, and yet wind up being sick yourself?  The obvious answer is, if from nothing other than the untold numbers of examples from the lives of multiples of preachers who do, is YES!!  Does that make them a hypocrite?  Not in and of itself.

You see, healing, though taught in the Word, is still mysterious;  it’s a MYSTERY.  A Biblical mystery is something that hitherto has been unknown or unknowable, but is either now or will one day, be revealed to the body of Christ.

Isa. 53 promises healing in the Atonement.  “By His stripes we ARE healed…..“  I can’t tell you how many times and how many preachers, there have been that have told me that this passage promises healing of our souls through salvation only!  They argue that the atonement is for salvation from sin and sin only.  BUT, I understand that atonement is redemption from the curse of sin!  Sin brought not only damnation for our souls, but also death, sickness, disease, and misery are all included in the curse of “lostness”.  Deliverance from sin, from death and hell, from misery (”You can have life…and have it more abundantly”…..John 10:10), and so much more is all included in the deliverance of the atonement!

I love Psalm 103….“bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His BENEFITS; He forgives all our transgressions, He heals all our diseases….” But alas, there are still many who continue to hold that the “temporal” blessings of knowing Jesus just don’t exist.  He has fogiven us all our SIN, qualified us for Heaven, and that’s it!

In relation to the SPiritual gifts, He gives to each of us (1 Peter 4:10) those Spiritual gifts to better minister His love and mercy to the body of Christ.  19 total of which 9 are supernatural abilities.  I keep coming back to the word “supernatural” because that is what explains the gifting’s dept and power.  Spiritual gifts are much more than normal talents, though I do believe that great talent is more than just natural ability.  As I am sure that great talent is a gift from God, as all good gifts come from above, there is much, much more to the supernatural giftings of Spiritual Gifts.

IF I believe in the gift of healing (sometimes instantaneous, sometimes a slower “recovery” kind of healing – Mark 16:20) I will pray for folks and hope that they can BELIEVE the promises of God’s Word and thus recieve their healing by faith in Him.  I can NO MORE MAKE a healing occur than I can MAKE salvation occur in someone’s life.  I can present the Gospel, and pray for many to get saved, but the ones who WILL get saved, are those that the Father has drawn to Christ, and are the ones that have faith to recieve their salvation in Christ (John 1:12).  I can not force someone to be healed because it requires God’s will to make it happen and faith from the person to receive it!

Now, back to this “hypocrital” preacher.

Am I a hypocrite for preaching, and I do preach it passionately, am I a hypocrite for preaching healing and then I miss work or miss church for being sick?  Does that make me a hypocrite?  Or worse yet, does it make me ignorant of the true meaning of the Word?

I assure you that “healing” is a part of the ministry of Jesus Christ.  Look at it this way:  the ministry of Jesus for those 3 and 1/2 years was divided into three segments.  He spent His ministry time 1) Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, 2) Healing the sick and 3) Casting out devils! You go back and read the four Gospels.  That’s how Jesus spent His time with others.  Guess what?  He is STILL  doing the same three things today!!  “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever”, Heb. 13.

So, just like I will NOT cease preaching the Gospel because not everyone gets saved, I will also NOT stop praying for the sick to get healed, even if not all of them do!  Including ME.  I know that most times, I do have faith to be healed, but again, that’s not the only condition for healing.  I have to BELIEVE God, that’s for sure, but GOD has to also will it.  Now my charismatic friends will tell us that it is God’s will that everyone get healed.  Yes, just as it is God’s will for everyone to get saved! But just like not everyone will be saved, not everyone will be healed;  some for lack of faith, some simply because the mystery of healing doesn’t apply at all times to all people.

I will submit that it is in those times that I AM sick that I exercise the greatest faith for healing.  I also submit that those who resist or reject the teaching of healing as a valid gift for today, will cease to do so once they get sick!  I’ve NEVER met anyone who is sick that disavow the teaching of a spiritual gifting of healings!

I hope this has clarified the matter for most.  I am under some persecution for teaching healing while at the same time getting sick (with some regularity here of late, I must say!!).  But, I have been persecuted for teaching other aspects of the Glorious Gospel of Christ, too, so, whatever!  LOL.  But, though I incurr sickness as a tool of the enemy to repress my service in the Kingdom (I am one of those who believes that sickness is NEVER from God to teach us a lesson or punish us or whatever.  Never!  I will gladly expound on that, but at a later time), I will continue to preach and proclaim His spiritual gifts as existing today as they always did, to bless those who need His power in their lives! If I’m sick, then I’m one of His who needs a gift of healing!  I will exercise my faith and await the mystery of healing to be given to me in His love.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Cough, cough.  Fever’s gone…..bless His name….I’m “recovering”……
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