2 billion people on the earth call themselves Christians.
2 BILLION!!!
I'm not buying it.
If 2 billion people on this planet are truly followers of Christ, I have to ask the following:
How are there millions of abortions happening each year?
How do thousands upon thousands of children die from lack of food and clean water each year?
Why are veterans and seniors and the mentally ill homeless?
Why are people not being healed of diseases, raised from the dead and delivered from demonic oppression?
From here on out, I no longer identify as a Christian. I am a following of Jesus Christ.
So what's the difference?
Well, let's look at the church! Look at all the people that file through the doors on Sunday morning, and what do you see? They look no different than the rest of the world. They dress the same, they mouth the songs, they bow their heads, they warm the seats, they shake hands with the people and then it's back into the world. They struggle with infidelity, immodesty, foul language, alcohol/drug/sex/food/internet addictions, illness, jealousy, anger, anxiety, depression and so on and so on.
So what is missing??
The Power of the Holy Spirit and a true relationship with Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 10:18 Jesus told the disciples to Heal the sick,[d]cleanse the lepers, [e]raise the dead, cast out demons.
In Matthew 16:17 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
As followers of Christ, we should also be doing these things. But in the church these days we see people attending church every Sunday with no relief from their afflictions.
And why?
Fear
Pride
Control
Unbelief
Lack of teaching
Over the past five years, I have been on a personal journey learning from amazing authors and preachers about what the bible says about healing, deliverance and spiritual warfare.
Ephesians 6:10-12 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the [b]wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The secular world mocks Christians while they flock to psychics, ghost hunters, clairvoyants, mediums etc. not realizing that they are exposing themselves to the spiritual realm. These are all things that Christians have been warned to stay away from but some regularly visit energy healers and participate in all kinds of new age practices which give the enemy legal authority over them.
While a Christian cannot be possessed, they can be oppressed, tormented and become physically ill due to the influence of evil spirits in their lives. So why is the church not doing what Jesus told his followers to do?
Fear
Five years ago when I first experienced deliverance for myself, the reactions I got from friends and family ranged from mild amusement to outright "Cori's a religious freak." And at first, I was a bit hesitant to talk about it again, but then I got mad. Was I going to allow my worry about what other people might think to stop me from doing what Jesus asked me to do? No!
Pride
My experience with deliverance was pretty drastic. I think that some people are afraid of looking like a fool if they go for deliverance. Sometimes deliverance is quiet and calm, but sometimes there is shrieking, belching, and vomiting.
Control.
People don't want to give up control but the control they have is just an illusion. When healing and deliverance happens, sometimes a person loses control of themselves. Sometimes they go into a trance, sometimes they scream uncontrollably, sometimes they start laughing uncontrollably. A person who is afraid to give up control to God will have a hard time going through full deliverance.
Unbelief
A lot of people that go to church don't believe in demons, the need for deliverance or the gift of healing even though the bible talks about it a lot. 25 times, Jesus cast out demons. He healed a great number of people throughout the gospels and the disciples after his ascension did as well.
Lack of Teaching
Over the last 100 years, the church has focused more on teaching the gospel and getting people saved then it has teaching on the reality of spiritual warfare, healing and deliverance. The results are congregations full of people not living in the freedom that Jesus died for. And for the outside world, what we have is not attractive because we look just like them. We're living with mental and physical illness, addictions, and so on. The church needs to get back to teaching about spiritual warfare, healing prayer and casting out demons, otherwise, we will not walk in our full authority in Christ.
In Africa, missionaries share testimonies of demonic manifestations, blind people receiving their sight, the sick being made well and the dead being raised. Reinhard Bonnke, an evangelist from Florida-based Christ for All Nations, has witnessed amazing miracles when he has preached throughout Africa. A young British woman* whose right side had been paralyzed since infancy. experienced a tingling in her disabled extremities and as people watched, the woman's underdeveloped right foot grew to its normal adult size.
The Western church needs to set aside their fear, pride, control issues, unbelief and lack of teaching return to teaching the fullness of the Scriptures to see true transformation and revival.
*as told to the houston chronicle - https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Known-as-conduit-for-divine-miracles-in-Africa-6083035.php
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