Category Archives: Jesus

When God Appeared to an Eleven Year Old

As a nurse, I work with a lot of people, and now that I’m in the float pool, I work with different people on different nursing units every day. While it has its upsides and downsides, I’ve met some really cool people over the years, and while I can count the number of patients I have ended up knowing long-term on one hand, the few who have chosen to stay connected with me after their hospital stay have become treasured relationships.

Recently, I was working with a woman who, at the end of our day together, let me pray for her, and then she told me a story. When she was eleven years old, her family was having difficulty. Her mom and dad were getting a divorce, and her life hadn’t been that rosy up to that point either. Well, things were about to change.

One night, she remembered this large being descending through the ceiling and speaking to her. She couldn’t see his figure clearly, but she was very clear on one point—this figure was God and He had come to visit her. The visitation wasn’t long, but God spoke a message to her, saying:

“You’re going to go through problems, but it’s all gonna be okay. Take heart.”

This eleven year-old probably didn’t realize that this visitor was practically quoting what He said to the disciples in John 16:33, saying ““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In the subsequent years, that family went through major turmoil. The domestic violence and abuse came to a head one day and the mother had planned to murder the father to make it all stop. A pastor stopped by the house, something he never did, saying “The Lord would not let me alone until I came to see you today.” As a result the mother did not harm the father in spite of his many transgressions against the family, and God spared both his life and protected the children from what would otherwise have thrown them into the foster system.

As this woman told me this story of how God visited her and spoke to her words of peace and strength so many years before, she was still very excited about it. After all, it’s not every day that one has a visitation from God, and it’s not every day that you can share it with a stranger and have them not just believe you, but share in your excitement.

Furthermore, that message is a good message for us all to remember, regardless of the situations we find ourselves in. Take heart! He has overcome the world!

Could These Be Bread Lines Again?

The following is a guest post from Margie Moorman, sharing a visionary experience she had on January 12th, 2017.  It originally aired on Facebook here.  I hope this blesses and speaks to you as it did to myself and others whom she shared it with.

 

I was in my kitchen this morning and unexpectedly an angel picked me up and took me by the hand. We ‘flew’ together to a part of the city which I was not familiar with. Suddenly we descended and were on top of a large cliff overlooking thousands of people lined up. Eight across, twelve across, thousands of people. I was puzzled at what I saw. I stared at the mass of people and the angel asked me. “What do you see?” I’m not sure if it was my spirit, or my carnal mind but I thought “is this a question like Jesus asked the man at Bethsaida?” (Mark 8:23-25)

Then in a moment we were in a different city with the same sight. “What do you see?” He questioned me. I didn’t answer because instantly He lifted me up and we were suddenly hovering over one more massive group of people in yet another city.

This went on for quite some time. We traveled to so many cities, seeing the same sight. The angel and I did not stay only in the United States and North America. We flew on. He brought me to cliffs above cities to see the same sights in Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, then Central America. It seemed a whirlwind, but the angel took me around the world, pointing out the same enormous types of gatherings of people. I was confused. I wanted to know why he had me see all these people.

We ended up on a cliff overlooking an ocean. It was a very calming sight at first, but viewing the ocean and hearing the thunder of the crashing waves caused me to think of the nations and groups of people we had seen. I’m not sure where we were, which ocean I was enjoying with this angel. It didn’t really matter. We were silent for some time. Then the angel asked me the same question again. “What did you see”

I responded to the angel saying “I saw so many people lined up, waiting. What are they waiting for?” I felt foolish answering him in this way, but I continued “it almost looked like I saw the bread lines of times past.” He grinned and then quizzed me “tell me what you know about bread lines”.

I told him I knew that the bread lines in the United States were during the 1930’s. He asked me what that particular time in history was called. I said “The Great Depression” He then put this question out to me. “What else do you know concerning bread lines?”. “I’ve read that there were so many homeless people and they were desperate to survive” I replied.

Suddenly I felt Jesus put His hands on my eyes. My eyes were opened to see what the angel was showing me, and I saw everything clearly. (Mark 8:25)

I exclaimed in a loud voice “Countless numbers of people in this world are desperate! Countless are homeless! Countless are depressed! Countless want to survive! Countless want to be healed and whole!”. Then I gasped “It IS a Bread Line!!!! They are in line for the Bread of Life! JESUS!”

John 6:35 (NIV) “Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.”

I knew seeing the places the angel had taken me to were an indication of the many who are waiting for a touch from Jesus, Our Provider. Many have heard of Him and are telling others there is LIFE in Jesus. He sustains us. He frees us from depression. He provides for the destitute. He is the Healer. He calls us to His Home. We are one in Jesus. One with the Triune God. Many have not heard the good news of Jesus, but are seeking and have heard these ‘bread lines’ have the answer. They have come longing to hang on to hope. Longing to hang on to a relationship which is unending. God will never forget the needy.

I was overwhelmed. I asked the angel his name. He answered “Elyacaph”. I started weeping. I asked Elyacaph what I can do. He smiled and said “You have seen. Pray for those you have seen to receive the Bread which came down from heaven. Pray that you step out in the love of Jesus when you see people in the ‘bread lines’. Introduce them to the One who loves them unconditionally, just as they are.’

(John 6:51 NIV) “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’

Elyacaph continued. “Pray the answer is simple and understood by the ones who come longing and asking questions.”

[Paul and Silas] replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Acts 16:31 (NIV)

The angel went on instructing me. “Pray for the new addition to the family of God to be nurtured and nourished. Pray that the family of God supports each other, adds their strength to these new ones, and loves as God loves”. And he added “I’m here to help”.

I then saw the ‘bread lines’ changing, becoming lines of joy and celebration. I think I squealed with delight. These lines were so long that they intertwined from city to city, nation to nation, tribe to tribe. The family of God was uniting. There were no oceans or seas separating us. We were one in Jesus. We were holding each other. We were taking care of each other. We were loving each other. There was no condemnation. The family of God was rejoicing!

I broke out in songs of thanksgiving. I bowed my head and raised my hands. “My Papa God! This is what You are longing for!”

The angel named Elyacaph patted me on the back and said “you have seen well”. I was immediately back in my home, standing alone in my kitchen. I believe I was transported forward in time, seeing the Bride of Christ coming together, manifesting in wholeness and love.

Note: I later had to look up the spelling of Elyacaph’s name. I was hoping I had heard and pronounced it correctly when he told me. It means “God increases the family”. My God will gather in those that seek Him!

John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (NIV)

2 Peter 3:9 (The Message) “ Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with His promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining Himself on account of you, holding back the End because He doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.”

-Margie Moorman-

Spiritual Discernment according to the Bible while Keeping the Unity of the Believers

As Christians, we are called to love one another and build one another up in the faith. Jesus prayed concerning all believers: “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17: 23)

Unfortunately, as I research what God is doing in our day I come across too many Christians sitting around criticizing and condemning their brothers and sisters in Christ instead of building them up. This saddens me and I pray that the body of believers will come to love one another as Jesus desired. Only then will the world truly see Jesus in us.

There is a deep division in the body of Christ. Jesus warned that a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe that there is room for disagreement and alternate perspectives within the body of Christ; but what worries me is when portions of the body begin attacking other portions of the body. These attacks come from deep-rooted misunderstanding of what the other members of the body stand for and confusion regarding how we are to discern whether a movement or a miracle is from God or not. My hope is that this article can bring understanding and ultimately unity to the body of Christ.

Two Perspectives

At issue here are two perspectives within Christianity:

On the one hand, there are the charismatic-leaning Christians who believe that supernatural giftings [Greek: khárisma] of the Holy Spirit as described in I Corinthians 12 and other places are still an important and valid part of the Christian life today . The charismatics believe that God is still speaking to his children and that God has empowered us to supernaturally do his work in the earth.

On the other hand, there are the cessationist-leaning Christians who tend to believe that after the canon of scripture was sealed God no longer needed to endow his church with miraculous supernatural giftings — that those giftings of the Holy Spirit have ceased to be a part of Christian life today. These brothers and sisters in Christ explain that those giftings were only meant to confirm the word of God as preached by the apostles and now that we have the full canon of scriptures there is no need for revelation of God’s truth and there is no need to confirm the revelation of God’s truth with signs and wonders.

seeing

Many cessationists are dedicated to protecting the Bible’s authority in the Christian’s life and are anxious to keep people from being misled by miracle working teachers who might lead people into false doctrine. They fear that people may trust the miracles as evidence of the teacher’s authority instead of relying on the Bible for that authority in a Christian’s life.

Some cessationists spend much time trying to cast doubt on miracles and when the miracles are convincing they argue that the source of the miracle-working power is demonic. They also like to discredit charismatic Christian men and women whose ministries are supernaturally empowered. They consider these Christian men and women to be dangerous to the faith.

I know that these people – who consider themselves to be apologists for the faith – sincerely believe that the charismatic Christians are in error. I pray that this article will help bring a better understanding of who the charismatics are and why they value the supernatural, miraculous power of God in their lives.  I also pray that all Christians – whether cessationist-leaning or charismatic-leaning – will give themselves over to the great command of Jesus to love one another.

Condemning and criticizing brothers and sisters in the faith does not display God’s love in our lives. We should love all of our brothers and sisters whether we agree with their theology or not. That means that charismatics should love even the brothers and sisters in Christ who criticize and attack our spiritual brothers and sisters. That means that cessationists should love the men and women who rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to share God’s good news with the hurting people of the world.

Furthermore, loving one another means that when any of our brothers or sisters – even one of our pastors or leaders of the faith – are caught in a sin we should not cast stones but we should seek true restoration for that person (Galations 6:1). We should follow Jesus’ example. He has never turned his back on us even though we have often let him down and fallen into sins. He has always been eager to embrace us and restore us and build us up.

Understanding These Two Perspectives

Having said that, let me shed some light on these two dominant perspectives found in Christianity. Let us seek understanding and come to love the hearts of our brothers and sisters – whether we agree with them or not.

perspective

Both charismatics and cessationists believe the Bible reliably reveals God, God’s love, and God’s way of salvation. Charismatics and cessationists trust the Bible to be our invaluable source of sound doctrine.

The cessationist might complain that charismatics allow for additional revelations besides the Bible. But to be fair we should point out that, although charismatics allow for the Holy Spirit to reveal truth and give guidance, they believe that any true revelation from God will not contradict what God has already revealed in scripture. In fact, charismatics teach that any true revelation from God will be supported and confirmed by scripture and will be consistent with what has already been revealed in scripture.

There is a fundamental difference in the way charismatics and cessationists approach the Bible. Charismatics notice that throughout the Bible people are having direct encounters with God. They see frequent miracles throughout the Old and New Testaments, they see personal guidance given to God’s people by God himself (for example see Acts 18:9 where the Lord spoke encouraging words to Paul in a vision), and they see verses seeming to indicate that all believers should function in the supernatural (see the last words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel According to Mark where he says believers will drive out demons, speak in new tongues, heal the sick by laying on of hands and so forth and see Jesus’ words recorded in John 14 where he says anyone who has faith in him will do what he has been doing and even greater things). Charismatics also see that Paul set a pattern for sharing the Gospel that worked very well for him: “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” These words are found in I Corinthians 2. And again in Romans 15 he said “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done – by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.” (also see I Corinthians 4:20 and I Thessalonians 1:4-5 for similar statements from Paul).

Charismatics see the Bible as a window into what Christians are to be like. They see people who experience God’s love in a personal and real way (Jesus said, “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” John 14:21). These people in the Bible experience God’s love and healing and are set free from Satan’s kingdom of darkness. They are empowered to share Jesus’ love and grace with the world.

For charismatics it is not enough to know the stories and the truths of the Bible – they want to also live like the heroes of the faith, whom they see as biblical examples of what our relationship with God can be like.

Meanwhile some Christians (especially cessationists) treat the Bible as more of a history book that documents some unchanging truths. These Christians focus on believing the truths of the Bible but have trouble letting the supernatural experiences of the Bible off the pages into their own lives.

The 72 disciples found in the Bible who went out and healed people and cast out demons in Jesus’ name are not seen by cessationists as a model for today’s Christians. Instead, they are seen as a one-time, special-case, historical event. These Christians prefer to focus on theological truths regarding the process of salvation. They shy away from modern-day Christians with gifts of healing and prophecy for fear that these modern-day events and practices might get more attention than the historical events and teachings found in the Bible.

Some even go so far as to take scriptures out of context in an attempt to prove that these modern-day practicing Christians are illegitimate. An example of this is when they quote I Corinthians 13:8 – “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.” – and say that this shows that prophecy and tongues were meant to cease in the church. They sidestep the problem that if this verse means what they say it does then knowledge should have also ceased in the church. Knowledge is of course very important to them. Meanwhile, knowledge joined with practice and experience are important to the charismatics.

To put things into perspective, consider two students of biology. They have both thoroughly studied the chapter of their textbook on animal dissection. One of the students does not get to have the experience of dissecting an animal but the other does. The student who dissects the pig finds it to be a messy, fascinating experience. He finds the experience much different than he had imagined it to be while he was studying the textbook. Not to say that the textbook was in error in any way. He simply found that the study joined with the experience led to the fullest and most meaningful education. One student can parrot the explanation from the textbook and has a very pristine and orderly view of dissection. The other student benefits from the raw experience of actually dissecting a pig according to the instructions found in the textbook.

How Big is that Box?

Whether cessationist-leaning OR charismatic-leaning Christians, believers nearly always have God inside a box. Some allow for bigger boxes for God than others but they have him in a box all the same. Many Christians feel like they know about God and they have him figured out. They feel qualified to determine if a message or a miracle came from God or not because they know what kinds of things God does and what he says.

Interestingly, these Christians usually do not have such a box for Satan. So, when something happens outside of their God-box, they say it couldn’t have been God and must have been the Devil.

boxes

One of the boxes that Christians have God in is no bigger than their pocket-sized Bibles. They have decided that God only does the things that were specifically recorded in the Bible.

For example, these Christians see people miraculously receiving gold fillings in their teeth and say that it couldn’t have been from God since that particular miracle was never recorded in the Bible.

Ironically this idea that God can only do the things that were written about in the canon of scripture is not taught anywhere in the Bible. God never put such a restraint on himself.

The scriptures were never intended to exhaustively reveal everything that our all-powerful, eternal God has done and will do. In fact, the Gospel of John concludes with this statement: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

This verse of scripture clearly indicates that the Bible is not intended to tell us everything that God has done. Furthermore, like I said before, there is no scripture that says that God will not do a new thing or that he is limited by what has been included in the canon of scriptures.

In fact, Psalm 115:3 puts it bluntly: “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”

Also, notice that in John 14:12 Jesus says that his followers will do even greater things than he ever did during his ministry. So, Christians are not limited by what Jesus did. What he did was meant to be a foundation for us to build upon through our faith and reliance on God’s power and the Holy Spirit imparted to us.

Sadly, many Christians are experts in Biblical scholarship and know all the things in the Bible but when God does something in their lives they miss it because it doesn’t fit into their framework. To such people Jesus spoke this warning in John 5:39: “You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me.”

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were very well studied scholars of scripture but they misunderstood what God was doing in their own day. They missed out on Jesus. They condemned him and accused him of doing miracles by Satan’s power because what Jesus was doing didn’t fit into their understanding of the scriptures. They had a chance to be intimately familiar with God in the flesh but they totally misunderstood him and plotted his destruction.

Let us discern correctly the moves of God in our day and be careful to not miss out on what God is doing now. God is active and anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear and understands what God is doing has the opportunity to join God in the mighty work he is doing in our generation!

Discerning the Genuine from the Counterfeit

We are commanded in scripture to be on guard against false teachings and are warned that just because miracles are performed does not necessarily mean the teacher is from God or is speaking the truth. In fact, we are told that the beast’s false prophet will perform great miraculous signs including calling down fire from heaven (Revelation 13:13 and 19:20). Jesus also warned that false messiahs and false prophets will come who will perform great signs and miracles to deceive God’s chosen people (Matthew 24:24).

So, what are we to do? Should we reject every wondrous sign and miracle and assume that all such things are from the enemy? Should we bury our heads in the pages of the Bible where we know the miracles and teachings are safe and reliable?

counterfeit

But don’t those very same pages in the Bible tell us that anyone who believes in Jesus will do the miracles that Jesus did and even greater ones? (John 14:12) Doesn’t Paul the Apostle instruct the believers to eagerly desire spiritual gifts? (1 Corinthians 14:1)

Is it right to ignore the parts of scripture that don’t match our personal experiences? Should we discourage Christians who are walking out spiritual truths that we are uncomfortable with? Should we reject anything supernatural for fear that it may come from evil spirits instead of the Holy Spirit and God’s holy angels?

In their eagerness to avoid being misled, some Christians tend to label every supernatural miracle as being a counterfeit miracle. And, in fact, there may very well be counterfeit miracles as scripture clearly warns us: ‘The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.’ (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

But, please keep in mind that for there to be a counterfeit there must also be the real thing that the counterfeit is modeled after. God is the creator; not Satan.

God is the creator. God specializes in creating. That is what comes naturally to him.

Satan, on the other hand, can steal what God created, he can kill what God created, and he can destroy what God created (John 10:10). He can even counterfeit God’s creations. But let’s not give Satan credit for creating a new miracle. God is the creator. Satan is the thief.

God created every kind of miracle and supernatural wonder. Satan is not creative at all. He can only produce weak forgeries of the true wonders of God. Name any supernatural work that devils do and I can point to the real thing in Jesus. Psychic readings? Those are cheap counterfeits of true prophecy. The beast’s false prophet calling fire down from heaven? That is just a copy of what God already did numerous times in the Old Testament. Levitating a few feet of the ground by demonic power? That is wimpy compared to Jesus walking on water and ascending all the way up into the clouds to return to heaven. Every counterfeit miracle and sign and wonder demonically produced has a very real counterpart with its origins in God’s power.

Let’s also consider that only truly valuable things are counterfeited. For example, do we have a problem with forgeries of pennies? No! We have forgeries of $100 bills. Do we have counterfeits of brown paper bags? No! We have forgeries of masterpiece paintings. If it is truly valuable then you can expect someone to try to counterfeit it. The fact that signs and wonders are counterfeited tells me that the real thing is valuable. And of course it is valuable because the real thing points to the power and presence of God in the lives of people on earth. Now, because there is forged money out there, will I reject all money? Of course not! Instead, if I don’t want to be deceived, I will learn how to discern if the money is real or counterfeit.

The Biblical Discernment Test

Now, in regards to discerning the current moves of God, the Bible gives us some clear instructions.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that we can judge whether a tree is good or bad by its fruit. So, true teachers and miracles from God should cause people to have positively changed lives given over to the fruit of the Holy Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Furthermore, in I John 4 we are told that we can know if a spirit (and incidentally a prophet) is from God or not by whether the spirit honors Jesus for who he really is or not.

Also remember what Jesus said when he was accused of doing miracles by the power of demons. He explained in Mark 3 that there are two kingdoms at war and that we can know which kingdom is sponsoring a move by determining which kingdom is being attacked. So, in the case of Jesus driving out demons, it is evident that the kingdom being attacked is Satan’s kingdom which would indicate that God’s kingdom is sponsoring the attack.

From this teaching we can learn if a movement is from God or from Satan by determining which side is taking a hit from the movement.

Jesus also warns us in this passage not to blaspheme the movement of God’s Spirit by giving Satan credit for what God is doing.

Often I hear my brothers and sisters giving credit to Satan’s minions for signs and wonders that are causing thousands of people to wholeheartedly give their lives to Jesus. Can I just point out that if demons are doing those miracles that they must be the stupidest demons ever?!? Why would a demon do a miracle that will cause people to stand in awe of God Almighty and to give praise to God Almighty and to commit their lives to God Almighty and to have increased faith in God Almighty?

Demons do not work to glorify God and lift up the name of Jesus Christ. But the Holy Spirit and God’s angels ARE working to glorify Jesus.

So, after looking at these scriptures, we can see that we can clearly discern the source of a spiritual movement or a miracle by asking a series of questions:

What is the fruit like? (Matthew 7:15-23)

Is Jesus honored for all that he is? (1 John 4:1-3)

Is Satan’s kingdom losing ground? (Mark 3:22-30)

Is Jesus’ kingdom gaining ground? (Mark 3:22-30)

And as we have already discussed, we can discern whether a teaching or revelation is from God by going back to scripture to check if the teaching or revelation is consistent with scripture. So, we will add one more question:

Is it consistent with scripture? (2 Timothy 3:16)

Now, let’s take a look at a particular Student Awakening that occurred on a campus several years ago. The primary theme of the Student Awakening was hearts being healed and discovering the love of Jesus in a very personal, real way. There were physical healings and students were set free from addictions. The net result was students falling in love with Jesus.

Now let’s apply the Bible’s discernment test…

Fruit of the Tree Good: YES

Jesus Honored for All  that He Is: YES

Satan’s Kingdom Losing Ground:  YES

Jesus’ Kingdom Gaining Ground: YES

Consistent with what is Revealed in Scripture: YES
(In scripture, God is revealed as a Healer who Loves Us)

That was fun. Now, let’s use our discernment test on a supernatural phenomenon occurring in modern times.

We will take a look at the manifestation of gold fillings as well as gold crowns. These are signs and wonders putting God’s mark on people in a way that can only be explained by the supernatural. These are very personal manifestations that tell the people to whom they occur that God is real and that God cares about them. In this way, God becomes a very real, powerful being in the lives of these people instead of an abstract idea somewhere up there in heaven. People are giving their lives over to God as they realize that He is extremely real and cares about them. Each time they look in the mirror and see the gold filling they remember that God does miracles in their life and they worship him and give Him all their worries.

Now let’s apply the Bible’s discernment test to these miracles…

Fruit of the Tree Good: YES

Jesus Honored for All  that He Is: YES

Satan’s Kingdom Losing Ground:  YES

Jesus’ Kingdom Gaining Ground: YES

Consistent with what is Revealed in Scripture: YES
(In scripture, God is revealed as a Healer who Cares about Each of Us)

Now, let’s look at one more spiritual movement.

There is a man in Florida named Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda who claims to be the modern-day manifestation of Jesus Christ. He also claims the title of Antichrist. He discourages anyone from worshiping the Jesus that most Christians worship since he believes that he is Jesus’ replacement and claims to be even better than Jesus. Furthermore, he teaches that there is no devil, no hell, and no sin – even murder is not a sin according to this man’s teaching. He encourages his followers to put away all feelings of guilt and to enjoy every pleasure that life has to offer including gluttony, satisfying all sexual appetites, and so on. He also teaches that there is no point in praying to God. His followers are encouraged to demonstrate against Christian churches and whole Christian denominations because they are classified by him as false religions.

Now, let’s apply the Bible’s discernment test to this movement:

Fruit of the Tree Good: NO

Jesus Honored for All  that He Is: NO

Satan’s Kingdom Losing Ground:  NO

Jesus’ Kingdom Gaining Ground: NO

Consistent with what is Revealed in Scripture: NO
(In scripture, there is only one Jesus Christ and his true followers live lives of love and holiness)

This test can be easily applied to any supernatural or prophetic movement. Just be careful to look at the evidence without your personal theology and biases coloring your perspective.

Examine scripture to see if a movement or a message clearly contradicts the teachings of Jesus Christ and the early apostles or not. While you are studying the scriptures, remember to be open to seeing the scriptures in a fresh light and be careful to comprehend the point of what the writer of the scripture was really trying to say.

Jose Miranda, mentioned above, tries to confuse people by quoting from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians where it says “everything is permissible.” He takes these words out of context to scripturally support his teaching that there is no sin. He conveniently ignores that Paul is actually quoting other people in that verse and he ignores the many verses warning against immoral living — even in the same chapter.

We can also see that Jose’s claims directly contradict Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 24: “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

 Can You Recognize the Children of God?

Our biases and personal experiences often cause us to make wrong judgments. For example, imagine you are worshiping in your usual spot in your church one Sunday morning when you see a man fall to his knees and begin shaking and crying and then laughing. We can only see in the natural realm and too often we make spiritual judgments based on our five natural senses. We might even throw in some scripture to justify our judgments. We might think to ourselves, “That man is not being self-controlled and he is not worshiping in an orderly fashion.” In this way, we stand in judgment over that man based on our superficial understanding of what is happening. We can only see what is happening on the outside in the realm of nature. What we don’t know is that this man is having a supernatural encounter with Jesus. If we saw Jesus like this man was seeing him and if we were being radically set free from the wounds of past trauma like this man, we would understand how appropriate it is to be on our knees shaking with strong emotions before the feet of the Living God who created the universe and has poured out his life on the cross to rescue us into his heavenly kingdom.

Please beware of nitpicking a true work of God. Don’t miss out on supporting a genuine move of God in our day.

The Bible encourages us to discern, but we need to be able to discern correctly. We should follow the biblical discernment test outlined above so we don’t fall into the trap of the Pharisees who called the true work of God in their day the work of Satan and became guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, they rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God. How many children of God have we rejected and criticized because we were judging them by our personal standards instead of following the Bible’s discernment test?

I love all of my brothers and sisters in Christ and plead with each one of you to be slow to condemn the men and women who are trying to serve God. No one except Jesus is perfect. But isn’t the Good News that we are loved and accepted by God through Christ’s finished work on the cross despite our imperfections? Isn’t it wonderful that God has chosen to use imperfect jars of clay to carry his treasures? (2 Corinthians 4:7)

children

Let us carry in our lives the attitude of Christ who looked down from the cross to those mocking him and said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

I am so glad that we serve a merciful God who is eager to forgive us of all our sins. He knows our hearts and understands our motives, but he wants to give us his heart and he wants his goals to be what drives us. Let’s put away our divisive attitudes and truly love and lift one another up in the spirit of humility and grace.

The standard for our unity is the unity between the Son and the Father in the holy trinity. Hear Jesus’ words: “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their [the apostle’s] message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20-21) Now, Jesus and God the Father enjoy complete harmony and unity and share a single purpose. Jesus desires that we all get along with one another and support one another just as Jesus and the Father are completely unified. Furthermore, we are meant to be completely unified with Jesus and the Father. All of us – Jesus, the Father, you, and me – share the same Spirit and should be completely unified. When this happens, the world will truly see the body of Christ in the earth.

Leaping Across the Space-Time Continuum Via Supernatural Travel

There are many accounts from various sources of people and vehicles being physically transported through space and time in a supernatural way. In some cases, travel from point A to point B is occuring in tiny fractions of the time that should be possible. People are stepping through spiritual doorways and physically appearing in places on the other side of the planet for some spiritual meeting and then coming back in just a matter of an hour or so. There are instances of physical objects passing through one another without damage to either object. People are bi-locating so that they are in one place and in another country in the world at the same time doing completely different things.

Here I will share some of the documented time-space transport miracles and also provide some spiritual background to these by sharing the historical precedent for these as recorded in the pages of scripture.

bruce-allen-translation In the remarkable picture to the left, you can see Bruce Allen’s transparent body captured on film while he was bi-located in Idaho, USA and in the nation of Latvia at the same time. His written testimony about this incident is found on his website.

Before we move on from Bruce Allen who has become instrumental in teaching people about the spiritual basis and right for experiencing these spiritual transportation miracles, here is an interview and teaching by Bruce Allen.

Bruce Allen interviewed by Sid Roth regarding supernatural travel

 

Bruce Allen teaches on translation by faith (1 hr 48 min long – and you’ll wish it was even longer because it’s so good!)

A two-session teaching by Bruce Allen on Supernatural Translocation:

 

 

In the following interview on “It’s Supernatural” a woman tells about an experience wherein a truck sped through an intersection and went right through her car without hurting herself, her car, nor the other passengers.

Truck passes through a car and passengers — David Herzog with Sid Roth

 

David Herzog tells about driving through time warp

 

A young woman tells about her “quantum transport” experience

(Click on the title above to follow the link)

Joshua Mills gets supernaturally transported to China – part 1 of 2 (story starts 4:30 into video)

Joshua Mills gets supernaturally transported to China – part 2 of 2

Now, as promised, let’s take a brief survey of some of the ancient supernatural space-time travel precedents for today’s spiritual people:

One of the earliest examples of a person transported supernaturally is Enoch. Genesis 5 and Hebrews 11 say that Enoch walked with God but then he was nowhere to be found because God took him away. He was one who walked closely with God and then he ended up walking right out of this world hand in hand with God.

Another individual noted for space-time travel was Elijah. In 1 Kings 18 the prophet Obadiah told Elijah, “I don’t know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you.” Then, in 2 Kings 2 Elijah is finally carried away permanently in this scene worthy of cinema: “As Elijah and Elisha were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, ‘My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!’ And Elisha saw him no more.”

The prophet Ezekiel frequently describes in his writings that he was carried places by God. In Ezekiel 8 we read, for example, “I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came upon me there. I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem.”

Jumping forward to Christ Jesus we have some great examples of supernatural time-space travel starting with when Jesus walked right through an angry crowd wanting to throw him off a cliff (Luke 4). The gospels Mark 6 and John 6 record an incident where Jesus sends his disciples on a boat trip across a large lake. Jesus stays behind to pray on a mountain. A storm comes up on the lake and the disciples are stuck in the middle of the lake trying to row against strong winds and powerful waves. Jesus who is still on the mountain supernaturally sees his disciples struggling to get across the lake and so Jesus walks out onto the lake and meets his disciples in the middle of the lake. He gets in the boat, and instantly the entire boat and all its occupants are instantly transported to the lakeshore the disciples had been trying to reach.

Luke 24 tells about an incident when Jesus is having a meal with two guys and then Jesus disappears right in front of them. A little later, Jesus’s disciples were staying in a locked home and Jesus appeared out of thin air right in front of them (John 20).

Later, we read in Acts 8 about a guy named Philip who was going where the Holy Spirit told him and after he completed his spiritual assignment he was whisked away by the Holy Spirit and then appeared in a town miles away.

Here is a great article called Portals of Heaven, Ancient Gates that addresses the Biblical concept of spiritual gateways.

I hope you have been inspired to journey with God — it is a wonderful and exciting adventure.

The Heavens Opened – Anna Rountree’s heavenly visions shared in detail

Many have been deeply blessed by the detailed accounts of Anna Rountree’s visits to heaven. She has been taken up into heavenly encounters and experiences hundreds of times and has documented these visits in her books, which you can listen to here.

The Heavens Opened

The Priestly Bride

 

Sid Roth’s 1 hour interview with Anna Rountree

Her two books The Heavens Opened and The Priestly Bride have been combined into one new book, Heaven Awaits the Bride,  that would make a wonderful, life-changing gift for someone in your family, at work, or someone else you wish would get a vision of how wonderful heaven and God are. The book also includes a study guide that shows how Anna Rountree’s visions are consistent with Christian scriptures.

Heaven Awaits the Bride

 

Eye Witness Account of Heaven – Kat Kerr Revealing Heaven

Kat Kerr has been taken on visits to heaven on a daily basis for many years now. She has written a series of books giving detailed descriptions of what she has seen and experienced. For those of us who have not been to heaven yet she is our eyes into this wonderful spiritual world.  The video below is a few hours long but is a detailed sermon on her experiences.  Be blessed as you listen!

Below that is a link to the first of her books.

 

revealing-heaven

You can learn more at Kat Kerr’s Website

Visions and Miracles Out of the Land of Egypt – 2010 Documentary

Here is a documentary showing footage of wonderful miracles including oil mysteriously flowing from objects and a woman’s hands, apparitions and lights, healings, and more.

First, watch the one minute trailer to get an overview of the treat you are about to enjoy:

Now, here is the video.

The audio track is out of sync but I did not find that to be much of a problem in this film. For a better version of the video, you can always get the DVD.

Film may take a moment to begin.

School of the Supernatural with Ryan Wyatt

Ryan Wyatt is not only an excellent teacher of how to live a supernatural lifestyle but also walks the talk.

May you be blessed by this interview he recently did with Sid Roth’s TV show It’s Supernatural as well as the additional resources below.

If the above video has whet your appetite, you can download his School of the Supernatural in eBook  or Paperback formats.

Moreover, you can see him teaching at his video channel on XPmedia. That is how I first discovered him and really found his teaching to be extremely helpful.

Little boy tells about seeing heaven

At first his parents weren’t sure what to make of their young son’s claim that he had seen heaven while on the operating table. But then the boy began telling them things that he couldn’t have known such as details about his sister that they had never even told him about and his great grandfather whom he had never met. He says he knows these things about these people because he met them while in heaven. He also met Jesus and angels and learned many extraordinary things while in heaven.

His experiences and discoveries in heaven are all in the book Heaven is for Real.

Here is a 20 minute radio interview with Colton Burpo’s father: