Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Supernatural Events I - The Awe of God

I have decided to write about the Supernatural events of my life. I once thought I would write a book and began to put together some stories. Since that time I have refined a few things in my own mind... a scary place to live. I discovered a few things about my narrative style. When I say "I" or "me", I really mean God and me. I also discovered that when I say "we", I really mean "God's people." Please keep that in mind as you read.

There is one thing that bothers me about this endeavor, and that is in some cases I have had the opportunity to deliver a message, or other form of ministry to another person. Being a vessel for God is the greatest privilege of my life, however; I am always amazed at how many people will never give credit to God for a word, a healing or some other form of Holy Spirit ministry. I wish, like Smith Wigglesworth, that I would never have to tell those stories myself. It would be an honor if the testimony came from the receiver, not the minister.

At this juncture of my life I honestly don't see any purpose in wasting my faith on a God that can't perform Supernatural acts according to His Word. I may never have touched the actual wounds of Jesus' resurrected body, however; I can certainly say I have seen Him at work in amazing ways! I don't have energy to waste on little coincidences; it is just not enough for me! I am in love with a Savior that can do the impossible and perform the mundane in spectacular ways.

Let me add, that I myself am often more amazed at what God does through me, then the one that receives the ministry. I have often retreated to my room, or some other private place to just say to God, "WOW, you were so awesome!" I usually end up crying as I am humbled beyond belief. This is one of few places, maybe even the only one, where I never feel misunderstood. Almost 20 years ago I was inspired by a book called "Caught Up Into Paradse" by Dr. Eby. It is in that same sense that I feel compelled to brag about my Jesus.

Let me begin. In the Spring of 1999 I met a Brazilian pastor who became my closest friend. He invited me to minister at a church where he was the Youth Pastor. I remember struggling in prayer for 2 or 3 hours before the Sunday evening meeting. I just seemed to be fighting with something, so I continued to press in, and finally I had a vision. I pictured a balding man in his late 50's to early 60's. The picture in my spirit was rather distinctive and I took note. After the short vision I felt the Lord impress upon me 6 things I was supposed to share with this man. Again, I took note and ended my prayer session.

That evening I drove to the meeting at a church not far from my house. As I stepped to the platform for my portion of the meeting, I saw the face of the man from my vision. What was confusing was that he looked younger and had thin, but rich black hair. I thought, I will just wait for his father to come and deliver the message. After 30-40 minutes, no one else showed up. I decided to take a chance and asked the man to stand up. I told him about seeing his face and the 6 things that I felt impressed to tell the person from my vision. I told him that I sensed that he had been in Brazil for a few weeks and just returned. He nodded in agreement. Each of the 6 topics seemed to hit home and he became tearful as God encouraged him. I then told him how I puzzled about the vision, the age of the man and the hair; for he had hair. There were some muffled snickers and then I end the meeting and the man sat down.

In the kitchen after the service, the pastor and a my friend came to me almost laughing. They told me this man had in fact just returned from Brazil where he received a hair transplant!

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