The first one:
I heard Doris Kearns Goodwin speak at a conference last October. She was really interesting in a "biographer" sort of way, so I added this book to my bookmooch.com list and was able to mooch it a few months ago. After a couple of months I finally got around to starting it. I'm now on chapter 3, but they're long chapters! Anyway, the biography is an interesting view on the Roosevelts. It looks at them through the lens of the guests they kept in the white house during that time or their times spent at their country estate. For example, Winston Churchill came and stayed at the White House on multiple occasions for a few at a time during the war. It's been interesting so far. I've learned quite a bit about Eleanor that I didn't know. She and he had a very unique married relationship.
The second one:
Jack Deere spoke at a discipleship conference in our church a little while back. I bought this book and then forgot about it until just the other day. So, I think I'm on chapter 2 of this one, even though they are quite shorter chapters.
In a nutshell, this is Jack's story of how he moved from a belief that many of the Gifts of the Spirit as listed in 1 Corinthians 12 but also displayed in action throughout the New Testament in (healing, words of knowledge, tongues, etc) no longer function today to a belief from experience to the contrary. Growing up in the pentecostal faith, this has always been an assumed belief in my faith. However, I'm interested to read how he came to this conclusion and the experiences God led him through.
I've also had a strong interest in healing for a while now but have not acted on it. While I've heard stories of people seeing miracles of healing all my life, I've never seen any of the really dramatic stuff personally. I think I'm feeling led to explore this more. Maybe God will allow me to see this work of His in action.
So these are my books right now. I'm adding a sidebar with these on it to the blog. Let's see how long it takes me to get them off the list and replaced with whatever comes next.
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9 comments:
Larry read Jack Deere's stuff a while back & while I haven't read it, I really enjoyed his talk at the church. I missed the conference, but I got the Sunday morning post-conference sermon & loved it. He's right up my alley! Coming from a non-Pentacostal background, I could relate to a lot of what he was saying. Hope ya like the book!
Next thing I know you'll be kissing snakes!
Regarding healings, I am the cynic of all cynics. But I like to believe that is because I live in America. My general impression, not based on anything scriptural really, is that God allows man to turn to his own devices and slowly removes His Spirit in the process.
So in the modern age we've turned to medicine and talented doctors - also gifts from God in their own right, but of a different fashion - gifts that require a less bold faith to accept.
Whereas in 3rd world countries, where I hear about healings sometimes (and am admittedly still cynical about the reality), I can at least allow for the fact that God's presence is stronger out of necessity, and that the faith required for healings is more readily offered due to circumstance.
I think your next medical mission trip you should go sanz supplies. Just show up with the salad spoons and say bring it on.
Pedro
Doesn't everyone like a snake kiss now and then?
Hey, I know many cynics, and in many ways I am a cynic. Not because I translate the Bible in a manner that leads me to cynicism in this age. In fact, reading the Bible is the only thing that keeps my cynicism in check sometimes. I have to believe that the acts of the apostles empowered by the Spirit really occurred. I have to believe that when God says in the last days he'll poor out his Spirit on all flesh he means it. I can't believe that a God who seeks relationship with his bride, who says behold I stand at the door and knock, who in Christ told his disciples he would pray for the Father to send a comforter to abide with us forever, would slowly remove His Spirit from us.
Now, I can say that through the means of understanding that God has granted us with, we have grown in our abilities and turned to our own devices to solve many formerly unsolvable mysteries - including countless numbers in medicine. And I can say that as humans, we definitely have a nature to turn away from God's Spirit and to our own devices. And I can also say that many humans have fed upon the gullible and thus tarnished the believability that God does give his people supernatural gifts through his Spirit.
And so, I am a cynic of people in this world, but I don't want to be a cynic of God's omnipotence or of his promises in the Bible. That's why I remain in this faith, and that in part is why I'm particularly interested in healing. If I never see someone instantaneously healed, I'm not going to lose faith in the power of God through his Holy Spirit. But just because I haven't yet also doesn't mean I'm going to stop looking for it. Who knows, maybe this interest is something the Spirit himself has put inside of me because he wants to use me in that manner some day. That may not be the case, but if it is I want to be open to it.
Maybe we should go sans supplies on a trip sometimes. I know I personally go sans any medical intelligence myself, and I spend a lot of time praying for people because that and a little "Dios le bendiga" is about all I can give.
If I ever get stabbed while we're out to lunch please take me to the doctor. If I wake up 10 minutes later and you're laying hands on me it won't be pretty.
And when I say "remove His Spirit" I guess I'm referring more to the blessing of healing that comes by His Spirit. So the transferrence of faith from one entity to another (God to medicine) really still involves the Spirit, but the blessing is less because He is working within the natural order.
So a modern country reliant upon science has many devout Christians practicing the art of healing within the context of human understanding. His Spirit may still be as ever-present in the hearts of those believers, but the gifts change because the faith has changed.
Pedro!
"So a modern country reliant upon science has many devout Christians practicing the art of healing within the context of human understanding. His Spirit may still be as ever-present in the hearts of those believers, but the gifts change because the faith has changed."
I know that's right. My wife is one of them. There are many that still cannot be healed even with our modern advances. My aunt who just died of a rare cancer and left 3 teenage kids and a husband was one of those. Just because God has expanded our giftings in one area - modern medicine - shouldn't mean that he has to retract them from another area, does it? I don't think he's finite.
I do want to be clear that I'm not one to abandon medicine. I took some Advil last night. I also would apply pressure to a stab wound and get you to a hospital. So, no fears Pedro. I may pray on the way, though. What's the worst that could happen? All God can tell me is "no".
"Just because God has expanded our giftings in one area - modern medicine - shouldn't mean that he has to retract them from another area, does it? I don't think he's finite."
I personally think it does, but not due to limitations on God, but as I said, due to limitations (changes) in our faith.
Just an opinion though. Mustard seed references aside, I still think the odds of finding a true faith healer in western civilization remote to non-existent.
Even Peter sank in the water after a brief moment gazing at the waves. "of ye of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Can God work through our unbelief? Sure. Does he choose to? I don't think so, but I've been wrong before.
Pedro
Interesting. I'm definitely not looking to be the next Peter or even Smith Wigglesworth. I just believe God can do it and would like to see it done. It definitely wasn't an everyday occasion in Biblical times. Every time Christ healed people were astonished - maybe not everyone present but most of them. So I don't expect it to happen regularly now either. That's part of the mystery. I think it's evident that the purpose of any miracle or sign is to point to Him. For many, even seeing won't cause belief. Abraham told that to the rich man in hell who wanted to send Lazarus back to his friends and warn them. But for some, I believe it does cause belief and brings encouragement to others who may believe but be clouded with doubt at the time.
So I have a question for you: do you pray for healing ever? When your child has a fever or stomach bug? If so, I'm curious as to what you ask - for the medicine to work or for God to touch?
That question is just curiosity. Definitely not talking down or criticizing. If you'd like to share, I'd love to hear it. If not, no biggie.
Agree the purpose of miracles is to point to Him. And a miracle in America is just as valid and mysterious as a miracle in Africa or wherever. I just think God supplies the faith necessary for the gift, and that environment plays a huge factor in determining whether the heart is ready for the gift. Western society conditions us away from a faith necessary for healing. But you're also conversing with a self-admitted cynic.
Regarding prayers - that is different than God using a person as an agent of healing. But to answer your question I'll give two specific instances.
My dad's pancreatic cancer. I prayed for both God's healing touch and for wisdom for doctors. And I did so believing fully that God could heal my father of a deadly disease, but of course subjected my prayer to "thy will be done." Is that lack of faith? Is that not praying with authority? If I have the gift of healing God will surely tell me first. So I think its appropriate. And since healing occurs in heaven, did God answer my prayer in the affirmative? We like to tell each other that but of course that wasn't the intent of the prayer so I can say with confidence that God chose not to heal - but as believers we can still find comfort in the end result.
Also, Joanna just split her head open. I prayed for there to not be any complications when they rolled her into the room for the CT scan. And I prayed for doctor's wisdom. So I guess the first part is praying for God's intervention. And I'm thankful that everything turned out well. Did God intervene? I have no idea.
So the big question is - if we lived in a 3rd world country without the easy access to quality medical care - what would my prayer have looked like as my daughter bled all over the ground?
I can tell you I would have been BEGGING God to heal her, pleading on my knees for her to be okay. Tears and the whole bit. Why? Because I wouldn't have had a "professional" to tell me otherwise. And so yes I think that kind of prayer would exemplify the kind of supplication and "faith" necessary for God to intervene in a more miraculous way. Nowhere else to turn - look to God and watch as He demonstrates His role as the great physician. And that in a nutshell is my point.
Just had an Austin Powers flashback. "Look, this is me in nutshell. How did a nut get so big? This is crazy - a nut big enough to hold me inside. Somebody help!"
Pedro
Good comments. I would agree that God often gives according to our faith - so he has obliged us by working through other giftings here in the west based on technology and advancements we've garnered through the knowledge he bestows.
When I pray, I would say I pray just has you have described. Whether for my aunt who just succumbed to cancer and left 3 teenagers and my uncle, or one of my boys who has a stomach virus or a fever, I ask for God's healing touch but I also ask for wisdom from doctors and bodily response to the healing means we apply via medicine. Either way, I'm happy with success and give God thanks - even for the healing of my aunt in heaven now and the strength He is now giving to her family that remains.
I think we agree on a lot of levels, and I've really enjoyed the conversation. I still believe God can (and does on occasion) miraculously heal instantaneously, and I'd love to see it some day. But seeing this is definitely not something I am hanging my faith on.
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