April 17, 2014
Column #1,703
Where Are the Resurrected Lives?
By Mike McManus The Pew Research Center recently reported that the number of
Americans who do not identify with any religion “continues to grow at a rapid
pace.” One-fifth of the U.S. public – and a third of adults under 30 – are
religiously unaffiliated today.
In the last five years alone, the unaffiliated have increased from about 15% to
20% of all U.S. adults. Among them are 13 million self-described atheists and
agnostics as well as 33 million with no particular religious affiliation.
However, two-thirds of the 46 million believe in God. And surprisingly, one in
five pray daily.
Why are they religiously unaffiliated? Overwhelmingly, they think that churches
are “too concerned with money and power, too focused on rules and too involved
in politics.”
However, Sunday is Easter when many Easter-only people attend. How might
churches inspire them about the Resurrection?
I have a suggestion. Ask people whose lives have been resurrected or healed to
share their story.
I asked a leader of The Falls Church Anglican’s healing ministry for stories. He
suggested that I go to www.tfcanglican/healing to read testimonies.
“Leg Lengthening” was one headline. After a class on the Holy Spirit, a woman
said, “I asked one of the prayer team members if she would pray for me as she
prayed for another woman…to have one of her legs extend to the same length as
the other one. It seemed that God granted the prayer because she seemed to be
excited about the result and left happy.
“I have also suffered from one of my legs being significantly shorter than the
other one. So when I asked the prayer minister to pray for me, she offered to do
so immediately...It must have been about 30 seconds. I felt a slight tug on my
left leg and then to my amazement, the prayer minister said that she saw my leg
extend and that both of my legs were now the same length! I stood and checked to
see if I felt differently. I was amazed…God answered my prayer!”
“No More Cancer” was another headline. “I have much to be thankful for. God has
healed me from cancer that was diagnosed less than a year ago. My wife and I can
clearly see God’s hand in the timing of the diagnosis that caught the cancer
right before it became much more serious, and in the doctor’s skill and
decisions in surgery and treatment. It is now nine months after surgery and two
checkpoints have come out `clean, perfectly normal.’”
However, he had two sisters who were each diagnosed with cancer at about the
same age as he. They too prayed for healing, but “God chose not to heal.” Yet
each “demonstrated a graciousness and vibrant faith that was amazing to see even
through the bitter pain of losing them.” Why was he healed but they weren’t?
“Maybe the bigger miracle was God giving my sisters their unwavering faith and
confidence in Him through their trial by fire, enabling them to trust God and be
courageous in passing victoriously through the valley of the shadow of death.”
Rev. Robert Watkin told me of Touraj, an Iranian immigrant who was wounded in
the Iran-Iraq War and began using drugs to ease his pain. To pay for them he
became a dealer, was caught and sent to prison here where he had a dramatic
conversion. In a dream, he had an 11 minute conversation with Jesus, who was
robed in white and spoke in beautiful classic Farsi, the language of Iran. That
impressed Touraj, a Muslim.
The chaplain of the prison got him a Bible, written in both Farsi and English.
He read straight through the Old Testament “only 12 times,” but devoured the New
Testament 23 times. He told his sister he had many questions.
A member of Falls Church Anglican, she asked Pastor Watkin to visit him, who did
so regularly. One day as Touraj was reading about Paul and Silas in a Philippian
jail. They were singing hymns to God when a violent earthquake shook the prison,
opening its doors, “and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and
when he saw the prison doors open, he drew a sword to kill himself…Paul shouted,
`Don’t harm yourself. We are all here.’”
At that moment, the jailer of Touraj told him, “You are being released early.
You are free.”
Wouldn’t such testimonies move skeptical Easter attendees to realize the
Resurrection of Jesus was real – and could change their lives?
Show this column to your pastor and urge him to let people tell their stories!
|
|
Since 1981...
2000+ Columns |
|
LATEST ARTICLE |
|
March 2, 2021: Column 2064: Stop
Executions for Murder |
|
Recent Columns |
|
RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE |
|
Observing Lent |
|
Celebrating Marriage Week |
|
A Case for Pro-Life
|
|
End
The Death Penalty? |
|
Christian Choices Matter |
|
2020 Was A Terrible Year |
|
Suicides Rates Are Rising |
|
The Biblical Sexual Standard |
|
How to Cut the Divorce Rate in Half |
|
Divorce Rate Is Falling |
|
How To Save Marriages |
|
55 Years of Marriage |
|
How To Cut America's Divorce Rate |
|
Suicide Rate Rising |
|
Overcoming Porn Addiction |
|
The Devastation of Pornography |
|
Marriages Are Falling - But Improving |
|
Divorce Rates Are Falling |
|
Cohabitation: the Enemy of Marriage
|
|
How To Reduce Suicide |
|
How To Stop Drug Addiction |
|
Cut Federal Funds for Planned Parenthood |
|
The Horror of Soaring Suicides |
|
Make
Adoption More Appealing |
|
The Addictive Nature of Pornography |
|
Abortion Becoming Illegal |
|
Protecting Girls from Suicide |
|
The Worst Valentine:
Cohabitation |
|
Pornography: A Public Health Hazard |
|
Sextortion Kills Teens |
|
Cohabitation: A Risky Business |
|
Recent Searches |
|
gun control,
euthanasia,
cohabitation,
sexting,
sextortion,
alcoholism,
prayer,
guns,
same sex marriage,
abortion,
depression,
islam,
divorce,
polygamy,
religious liberty,
health care,
pornography,
teen sex,
abortion and infanticide,
Roe+v+Wade,
supreme court,
marriage,
movies,
violence,
celibacy,
living+together,
cohabitation,
ethics+and+religion,
pornography,
adultery,
divorce,
saving+marriages |
|