Fire On Your Head

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Psalm 32:1-6

Notice David in this passage is stating how good it is to be forgiven of sin. Why? Because in his condition, he is arguably under conditions of weakness, for which he knows to go to God for forgiveness for his sin, and doing so will remove these conditions. Even if the wording here is used figuratively and with no tangible physical weakness present, it’s worth noting the language David speaks in, knowing God’s goodness would lead him to being restored in his physical condition.

I’ve heard countless stories and anecdotes of people suffering physical conditions as the result of holding on to bitterness and unforgiveness. I read a secular study once showing the difference between cancer patients with religion and those without and how a large percentage of the ones ‘with religion’ in the study had lower blood pressure, less stress, and things like that. Even in the natural unbelieving world, there’s an understanding that the peace that comes from knowing God brings healing in some fashion to your physical body.

“Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones,so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food.
His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death. If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him, and he is merciful to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom;
let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor‘; then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness. He sings before men and says: ‘I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me.He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.’ “Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life.
Job 33:19-30

OK, where do we start?

First of all, notice that in verse 19 it says that this condition of the man being spoken of, is a rebuke, or as the King James says, a chastening. This is to serve correction. So let’s for one moment entertain the idea of God putting a disease or a sickness on a person (which I believe is the case way less often than most evangelicals teach and believe), here it says it’s a rebuke, or correction, interestingly. I will not tell someone if they are sick, have a disease or illness that they have some sin in their life that has caused God to send judgment on them, but I’m hard pressed to ignore passages like this. Compare this with the account of the Lord causing leprosy to break out on King Uzziah when he tried to offer up unauthorized incense in the temple, and lived a leper the rest of his life as a result of his pride (2 Chronicles 26:16-22).

These conditions which Elihu goes on to list here, are undoubtedly describing an actual physical experience, possibly a deathbed experience, since it talks of this person’s soul going down to the pit, or grave. Verse 23 talks of an angel or mediator of some kind, who has found a ransom. Scholars are split on just what or whom the ransom spoken of here is, but read this quote from Matthew Henry’s commentary:

“Jesus Christ is that ransom, so Elihu calls him, as Job had called him his Redeemer, for he is both the purchaser and the price, the priest and the sacrifice; so high was the value put upon souls that nothing less would redeem them, and so great the injury done by sin that nothing less would atone for it than the blood of the Son of God, who gave his life a ransom for many. This is a ransom of God’s finding, a contrivance of Infinite Wisdom; we could never have found it ourselves, and the angels themselves could never have found it.”

Matthew 20:28, and 1 Timothy 2:6 indicate Jesus is the ransom for our souls. Even if it can’t be concluded accurately if this was foreshadowing Jesus Christ’s atonement for the sinner, this is still worth taking into consideration. The way the Hebrew word for ransom, kopher, is used elsewhere in Scripture strongly suggest this is an appropriate assumption, but I digress.

And for a change of gears slightly, take a look at the healings Jesus performed in the Gospels. I’ve already covered in a few past entries about why Scripturally healing is provided for in the atonement, so I will not belabor that point here. But notice what Jesus says in Luke 13:16, when the Pharisees are on Jesus’ case: His response to their accusations that He is breaking the Sabbath is “ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” I don’t want to only draw attention to the fact Jesus is saying ‘the Sabbath day the most appropriate day to heal someone’, but the fact he’s saying because she’s a daughter of Abraham, she should be loosed from the bondage of Satan in her body. See also the story of Zacchaeus.

We are not sons or daughters of Abraham. Well we are, but I mean we are saved through the blood of Jesus, and are not under the old covenant like this woman, but a better one (Hebrews 7:22, 8:6, 12:24).

If the old covenant had promises of healing, then how much more the new one we partake of?

Do we have any right to believe everyone who gets saved will automatically get healed when they are saved?  Does God make a distinction between healing the inner man versus healing the outer man?

Faith needs to be built up in the hearts of the hearers. Faith can only be had where the will of God is known. That is why it is necessary to know God’s will, revealed in the Scriptures. That is why this entry will not cover everything there is to cover on this subject, but I will tackle other things in a few more entries after this one including one on aging and death, and another on the believer’s authority. I write these entries with the assumption in mind that many of you have already heard me say certain things, and I hope to only build on things I’ve already written–I strongly encourage newer readers or anyone struggling with the idea that it IS God’s will to heal all, to read this outline of Scriptures first before proceeding. And meditate on Scriptures to bring your faith to a certainty as to what God’s will on the matter is, or else this stuff in the coming entries will just be a bunch of theological opinions to you, and I doubt you’d benefit from it.

I’ve heard once that Kenneth Hagin said in later years of his ministry, he was seeing far less dramatic healings than in his earlier years of ministry. He believed this was the result of teaching only one night and taking less time on the subject before praying for people, as opposed to the days when he’d spend no less than three weeks in the same place teaching on it and building believers up on this subject. So even if and when I am being redundant, it’s for the specific purpose of hoping to make things clear and understandable. And the reason I’ve chosen to post these entries in the order I will, is to build upon things first, and say ‘this’, before I get to ‘that’. Comments are welcome, but don’t be disappointed if I don’t respond, but just continue to post the entries I’ve prepared. I’ve written these when I had some spare time, and will continue posting them a few days apart until I start traveling later this month, so it should wind up providing some stuff to go over.

When we think of Jesus as ‘Savior’, we think in spiritual terms and don’t give much thought to what else that also implies. When someone is drowning, and asked to be saved, they mean they want to be saved from drowning. In the West, we’ve made salvation exclusively spiritual. “Saved” has become some kind of term that guarantees people a way into heaven no matter how they live.

The Greek word “Sozo” means: to save; to preserve from harm; to keep; to rescue

When Peter was sinking into the waters, he cried out “Lord save me.” It was a physical rescue from danger he sought, and he received it. Luke 7:50 records Jesus forgiving the sins of a woman who lived an adulterous life, and says “your faith has sozo-ed you.” In Luke 8:48, Jesus heals the woman with the issue of blood, and tells her “your faith has sozo-ed you.” Sin and sickness are both forms of death, and Jesus delivers and saves from both. The same way one woman’s faith forgave her of her sins, the other woman’s faith healed her of her issue of blood. In Luke 8:50, Jesus tells Jairus, to not fear but only believe, and his daughter will be made well (sozo). This turned out to be a dead-raising, not a healing, so to speak, but the same concept is applied and the same word is used.

Jesus is the Savior, and He encompassed all these things in the Gospel accounts. The Gospel distinguishes in the New Testament, but it doesn’t ever separate healing and saving. See the prayer of faith in James 5 for example.

When Jesus told his disciples to go heal the sick, and cast out demons, and preach the Gospel, do you really think that was just for a special period, and now after the New Testament was written, preaching the Gospel of salvation in Christ would no longer include those things that it did in the Gospel accounts? Why wouldn’t it?

Jesus saves. Yes, correct. However, He saves people from what they need to be saved from. Asking if healing is apart of salvation is like asking if reconciliation is part of forgiveness or if redemption is a part of salvation. Of course they are, and you can’t have one without the other. Redemption has everything to do with restoration. It would not be restoration, if we were not restored. This cannot, by definition only apply to having sins forgiven, but being restored as well—spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, everything there is to be restored.

The instant one of us repents, and gets saved (I have phrased it repeatedly in this blog as “getting right with God” which I mean to say the same thing as saved), we have become born from above, and children of God. It is therefore a legitimate question to ask, “If I have been born from above, and my sins are forgiven, then how come I haven’t been healed yet?” Click here for some insight on why not all are healed, and here for some insight on how to position ourselves to receive healing.

Let’s look carefully at one of the key texts used by most to teach that healing is provided for in the atonement, and clarify some sacred cows and misunderstandings.

Isaiah 53:9 – the idea that Jesus’ body was whipped for our sicknesses, and that His blood was spilled for our sins—as if they are two separate things, with two separate goals is a false interpretation of the passage, one reason being it makes an artificial distinction between the two aspects of redemption, one from sicknesses and the other from sins.

Most Bible translations get away from the fact that in the Hebrew, Isaiah 53:4 talks of Jesus bearing our sins and our pains. The Hebrew word used here for “griefs” in most translations, comes from the root word for maladies and diseases (“choliy”, H 2483).

For blogging purposes, let’s compare two widely held views about this that are held in Evangelical circles.

View a) is that Matthew made his own translation when he brought out the differentiation of “diseases” from iniquities, to make his point in chapter 8:17 of his own writing.
View b) shows 1 Peter 2:24 to say this gives a picture of Jesus’ earthly ministry, but then He was nailed to the cross and died for our sins, but this verse has nothing to do with physical healing, therefore we have no reason to believe for healing through the atonement.

Problem: Matthew is quoting this in reference to the healing ministry of Jesus–the context of Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law. If Isaiah 53 was not talking about or including healing being in the atonement, Matthew wouldn’t have made this reference the way he did and say Jesus was fulfilling that passage [by healing]. View a) says Jesus did both, and fulfilled that passage, view b) says ‘yes of course’ Jesus did fulfill this stuff by His earthly ministry but that was only applicable up until He died on the cross and now it’s only spiritual healing we receive from His atonement.

Problem: Isaiah 53 is not either/or with physical & spiritual healing, but both/and. The passage describes both/and, therefore our interpretation of it cannot be either/or. When it says in this passage “we esteemed Him stricken” who is the ‘we’ in that sentence? If it applies to us, the New Testament believers, then when did we ever believe He was suffering for his own sins? This then has to be referring to the cross, and not Jesus’ earthly ministry alone. Since, the “we” Isaiah would be writing to was his own people, Israel, then we need to take that into account that all those involved in handing Jesus over to be crucified were the Jews, the people the Messiah came to save, and this then properly identifies who is the ‘we’ in Isaiah 53:9. So it would therefore be talking about the work on the cross, not exclusively His earthly ministry.

Possible Problem: Now in light of the above, if this applies to the cross, then how could Matthew quote it about Jesus’ earthly ministry if Jesus hadn’t been to the cross yet up to that point, if this passage in Isaiah is talking about his death?

Well, when Jesus has come down from heaven, and identifies with man, what does He do? He sees oppression, He ‘frees’ the captives; He sees sick people, He heals them; He sees people demon-possessed, He sets people free from demonic captivity. He entered into the sufferings of the people. He made people whole, and forgave them.

And He became a sin offering for us. And Matthew was writing in retrospect, significant time after Jesus’ death.

Check back for a follow up post, but in the meantime if you’d like to look into this further, check out some other examples of the way sozo is used interchangably to mean healing and saving in the New Testament here.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit brings us out of a walk in the flesh into a walk in the Spirit (see Romans 8).

Our “religion” is different than any other. Not only has our God recreated us and taken us out of the realm of darkness, the third person of the Trinity–no less God than the Father and Son, co-equal and equal in power–has come to live on the inside of us to be our helper (“parakletos”). Our God has taken up residence on the inside of us to be our personal helper and teacher! The Holy Spirit has a ministry to fulfill on our behalf.

This ministry does not happen automatically. It is not an arbitrary working. He does not do the things He has been sent to do without our initiating it anymore than He saves us without our initiation–as far as our reaction to Him drawing to Him in the first place. We have to pray, meditate the Word, seek Him, etc… Then as we do our part, He does His part. If we do not do our part, then He does not interfere with us and do it anyway. The Holy Spirit will let us go our own way and be ignorant and live in defeat the rest of our Christian walk if that is what we choose to do.

We have to yield to the Holy Spirit in these areas of praying in tongues and groanings in the Spirit. Sometimes He will initiate this, but even in these cases, we still have to yield. If we don’t, it doesn’t get prayed out.

Three Observations:

1. If I could know all my weaknesses without the help of the Holy Spirit, then why send Him?
2. If I could overcome these weaknesses on my own and in my own power, why send Him?
3. If he has been sent to help my weaknesses, then these weaknesses must be what is hindering me.

The Holy Spirit has a ministry to fulfill in our lives that can only be performed by Him and in the manner in which the Word says He does so. In essence, a person who has the Holy Spirit but does not yield to Him by praying in the Spirit, obeying his promptings and His voice, is not much better off, if any better off than the person who has never been filled with the Spirit.

Why talk about tongues? Because as human beings, we generally aren’t motivated to do anything until we know the payoffs for it. That’s why it’s good to know things, for example, like the consequences of sinful actions and the rewards for obedience. That’s why it’s a good idea to study and learn what tongues are for, and what consistent praying in tongues will do for someone’s spirit.

There are things hidden in darkness in our lives (thorn seeds, character flaws, deep hurts, etc…) that only the Holy Spirit knows are there. There are personality traits and outward actions that only the Holy Spirit knows the root of. They may never be exposed by any other means. And only He can change us in the part us that permanent change comes from.

But, if during our Christian walk, we will yield to the Holy Spirit on a regular, consistent ongoing basis and be doers of the Word, if it will become part of our lifestyle, then He will reach areas that we never even dreamed existed. And this purging process will be a normal part of our lives and normal part of our growth. And the Holy Spirit will bring them to light by revelation and we will take the Word of God and deal with them (“…you are clean through the Word I have spoken to you”). Then, the change is more permanent, because it has been done through the process the Word of God outlines, not a “work around” approach we’ve come up with in order to make up for the lack of spiritual discipline in our lives.

Four Basic Diversities of Tongues in the New Testament.

1. Tongues for personal edification (1 Corinthians 14:2-4).
2. Tongues to be interpreted in a public assembly (1 Corinthians 14:26-27).
3. Tongues of deep intercessional groanings (Romans 8:26-28).
4. Tongues as a sign to the unbeliever (Acts 2:4-11, 1 Corinthians 14:22).

Tongues for personal edification is the only diversity that we can exercise on purpose. It is also the only gift of the Spirit that we can exercise at will. This being the case, tongues becomes the doorway for us into the realm of the Spirit. Exercise of this gift also helps to qualify us for what God has called us to do.

1 Corinthians 12:28 — And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. The diversities of tongues is foundational.

1 Corinthians 14:4 – he that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself

1. Edify, edified, edifying, verb – to build upward, especially a skyline; to top out
2. Edifier, noun – one who plans, designs or constructs edifices.
3. Edification, noun – process of building up a skyline, especially on an existing cityscape.
4. Edifice, noun –a very tall sometimes massive structure; a beautiful, extraordinary, or monumental building, often used in reference to a skyscraper or tower.

Edifies – Oikodomeo – to build a house, erect a building.

• to build (up from the foundation)
• to restore by building, to rebuild, to repair.

As we yield to the Holy Spirit, He will build into us the revelation of everything Christ is in us, our hope and glory, and build into us the character of Christ.

Tongues are edification, not presence.

Edification comes through understanding; tongues is a revelation gift (v.6).

1 Corinthians 13
As we pray in tongues, it produces knowledge and understanding. Pillars of knowledge and understanding are erected in my spirit. The understanding of these mysteries is revealed to me –the mystery of healing, the mystery of righteousness, and the mystery of love, and so on. The Holy Spirit begins to erect these pillars of revelation, understanding, wisdom and knowledge in my spirit. As I pray these mysteries up before the Father, He answers those prayers by a supernatural imparting of divine insight. Every time the Holy Spirit causes me to understand a mystery, one more pillar of the edifice or superstructure is erected. And it results in change.

It is a combination of all these mysteries revealed to our spirit that will eventually construct an entire library of knowledge, an edifice full of the revelation knowledge of Jesus on the inside of our spirit. The building is constructed in knowledge. It is the understanding of all these mysteries filling our inner library of knowledge that produces the capacity for mountain moving faith in our heart that we are transformed by the Word of God.

Taken from Brian Parkman’s “Divine Healing class” noteboook at FIRE School of Ministry. I’ve made several changes and added things, but it resembles the notes I got so much that I deemed it necessary to credit him.

Edit Nov 17/06: Check out this article in Slate on brain scans done on people while they spoke in tongues.

Is there something wrong with us single people?

I’ve noticed something, and this may turn out to be one of those “vulnerable” entries that I oh-so-rarely do. In fact, you better take the phone off the hook and free yourself of any other distraction. You’re about to learn something that you should already know, but apparently people don’t know it about me.

Yep. Steve has feelings. And hormones that run through his brain.

Since getting back from the trip I took to North Carolina, after returning from the Netherlands (I love bringing those two places up in the same sentence—it makes it sound like I travel a lot)—I have been asked many times if I had a girlfriend. Or other variations on the same question, such as “why the Netherlands, do you have a Dutch girlfriend?” After my response, which is “no”, one of a few things undoubtedly happens—its’ almost always the same: the person then asks “so how old are you?” as if it’s unfathomable that a 25 year-old could be single (I know plenty of others my age and older who are).

The other response I get when I tell people I’m still single, is the person then asks if there’s anyone I’m fancying, and 90% of the last 5 years of my life the answer has been, with total and complete honesty, “nope”. But the look on peoples’ faces when I say I’m single–and they know I’m 25 years old or I tell them–makes me almost wonder if I’m doing something wrong. Or if something’s wrong with me. I seriously think sometimes when I’m visiting my grandparents and aunt telling them there is no special someone in my life, I feel like they’re kind of ashamed or something. Like, they’re waiting for me to come out of the closet and admit to being gay or something—which I shouldn’t have to tell you I’m not. However, a few years ago I read words of someone else’s email where I was referred to by a former friend as “a queer waiting to happen”. This brother in particular, no longer serving the Lord, has had a string of two-month long relationships for as long as I’d known him, and never gone more than two months without being in a relationship, so I’m not surprised he can’t fathom I’m content in the Lord as a single male until the Lord changes that and invites me to initiate something towards some awesome young woman of God.

Another funny thing happened this summer: when I first got to Holland, Dan Slavin and I went to this conference called Momentum, to hear our friends Corianne and Sue preach a seminar on the gift of singleness. The brochure even advertised them both as “experienced singles”. This seminar had way more people turn out than they were expecting, and that tent was crowded. At one point they asked for a show of hands of how many people present were single. Everyone’s hands went up. I thought to myself, “great, I can take my pick!” Then Sue and Corianne asked how many of us have been single for one year. Most hands were up. Then it was asked how many were single for 2 years. Three years. And so on, and hands would go down and fewer remain up. Finally, at around 6 years, I was the only one still holding my hand up. They said “seven years and single?” and I guess after realizing I was the only one with my hand up, they stopped asking.

Sure, I’m human just like you. I’d love to have someone to watch cheesy Leslie Neilson movies on my laptop—who likes them also (you don’t count, Chad!). I’d love to take someone special walking around various places in Rotterdam and maybe Leewarden on occasion that I’ve prayer walked numerous times. I have all those desires and fancies. But I can wait, because I don’t desire to share those times with just anyone. And I have been that way for years. Maybe a lot longer than you.

You see, I know I can’t entertain a relationship in my life right now, even if I wanted to (believe me, I want to). But so much would have to change that I don’t want to change yet, to be honest—and I don’t think the Lord wants to change in my life this season either.

Twenty-five? Is that really how old I am? It feels like this past decade has been just whizzing by! The other night, I was up late, and a re-run of Saturday Night Live (hyperlinked for you Dutch folk who’ve never heard of it) came on and it looked almost brand-new–it’s been years since I’ve watched it consistently, but I still catch the odd live show if someone interesting is going to be hosting it. But I knew it was a re-run because of the timeslot in which it was on. They opened with a skit based on the presidential election debates between George W. Bush (played by Will Ferrell) and Al Gore played by Darrell “Is he still on SNL” Hammond. It was hilarious as heck. And then after the opening credits, out came Dana Carvey who was hosting that episode, and he proceeded to make fun of all these politicians of the day and I *understood* the jokes and references.

I thought to myself “six years? This episode is six years old? I remember this stuff like it was months ago! Where did all the time go?” But I don’t feel I’ve wasted any time in the last six years or so. The idea of going to FIRE school is still fresh, like I can’t believe I even went, let alone graduated and have been on the mission field! I have very few things I’d change or do differently. It’s not 100% the way I’d like it to have been, but then there are a few—just a few things I’d do differently. However, there are no girls I would have gone and done something to sweep off their feet. Almost all of them that I ever had an interest in I went for it and found out quickly and with varying degrees of disappointment that it was never meant to be. I didn’t begin anything that resulted in me being dumped or devastated like many of you have.

I don’t feel like I’ve been missing out. If anything, I feel like I’ve avoided a lot of crap I’ve watched other people get into. And I don’t feel I am worthy of the pity that some people treat me with as if being single at my age is the same as having terminal illness I can do nothing about. Just because you would have died if you didn’t marry your sweetheart at the age of 18 like you did, doesn’t mean I’m not content, satisfied and whole in my relationship with the ultimate lover of my soul, Jesus Christ.

Worth mentioning: this past spring, I started to get really discouraged about my singleness. I was nowhere near getting credentialed with a mission organization (not in Canada anyway). I was working a temp job through ManPower, which though I loved and it suited my purposes for the season I was in, it would not put bread on the table and support a family if I had one. And specifically, three of my closest friends all were beginning dating relationships. I asked God if He had forgotten me when he was arranging these relationships. “How come, two of these people are always in dating relationships and breaking up, but I never have any luck in that department even though I’ve been waiting patiently—but you’re giving them significant others’ to have?” My faithful reader and fellow classmate Amy had to listen to me gripe all about it on MSN at the time for a while, so she can vouch for me!

But then I’ve seen in the months since, all of those relationships didn’t work out. Two of those resulted in those friends getting dumped and being miserable. One had her boyfriend dump her for his ex girlfriend, while the other–a male friend–it just didn’t work out and the girl ended it to his severe disappointment. The other one of the three–it didn’t work out with that particular guy she was communicating with, and this sister in the Lord is now dating a guy she matched up with on E-harmony, and has disappeared off the face of the planet far as I can tell, and I hear from her way less because it’s blossoming into a godly relationship and her MSN is always busy if I see her on late at night. But it’s funny how big a difference such a short period of time makes—and what things looked like back then were nothing like how they turned out. Now that I’ve got some hindsight, I see I had nothing to be jealous about. God has spared me I don’t know how many times over the years from unnecessary heartbreak that all sorts of peers all around me go through from rushing it.

Some of you may pity my loneliness and singleness all these years, but I shake my head in gratitude that I’ve been spared the pain I’ve watched many of you go through from relationships that were never meant to be.

So what’s the rush? Will I be worthy of pity if I’m single for another five years? Ten? Never marry? (which, God, I hope is not going to happen!)

Statistically speaking, almost all of you reading this will spend the majority of your life married to someone. Do you really think it’s too hard for God to make it work out with someone He has ordained for you before the foundation of the world? I personally don’t believe in soul mates, I believe we choose. And I believe whomever we choose, will happen to be our soul mates. Try and figure out that paradox! I am not contradicting myself, I just believe that’s how it works. Can wrong people decide to marry each other? Sure, but I don’t plan on marrying the wrong person, or settling for second best, and that’s why I’m still single at this point in my life. And I’m fine with it and happy because my wholeness comes from Christ Jesus, not on who else is in my life for the time being. In fact, I’ve gone this long this far, and I’m not about to settle now for just anybody.