Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Examples of Prayer Warriors

G.C. Bevington
Remarkable Incidents and Modern Miracles Through Prayer and Faith by G.C. Bevington (or here, here, here, here) (autobiography)

Johann Christoph Blumhardt
The Awakening: One Man's Battle with Darkness by Friedrich Zuendel
Pastor Blumhardt by Capt. R. Kelso Carter
Blumhardt's Battle: A Conflict With Satan by Thomas E. Lowe

Rees Howells
Rees Howells--Intercessor by Norman P. Grubb

John Hyde
Praying Hyde by Francis McGaw (or here, here)
A Present-Day Challenge to Prayer by Captain E. G. Carre

George Mueller
The Life of Trust by George Muller
George Muller of Bristol by Arthur T. Pierso
George Muller: Man of Faith biography by Basil Miller

John Welch
John Welch:Mighty Man of Prayer
John Welsh of Ayr by Maurice Roberts
The Life, Correspondence, & Sermons of John Welch, Somtime Minister of the Gospel in AYR
The History of Mr. John Welch

Answered Prayer in Missionary Service by Basil William Miller

D.L. Moody's Supernatural Experience

(originally posted 10/8/15)

In the biography of D.L. Moody by his son William R. Moody, the following is written on page 149:

During this Eastern visit the hunger for more spiritual power was still upon Mr. Moody.

"My heart was not in the work of begging," he said. "I could not appeal. I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York—oh, what a day! —I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for fourteen years. I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths, and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all the world—it would be as the small dust of the balance."

This is probably the same experience recorded by his friend R.A. Torrey in his book Why God Used D.L. Moody

The seventh thing that was the secret of why God used D. L. Moody was that he had a very definite enduement with power from on High, a very clear and definite baptism with the Holy Ghost. Moody knew he had "the baptism with the Holy Ghost"; he had no doubt about it. In his early days he was a great hustler; he had a tremendous desire to do something, but he had no real power. He worked very largely in the energy of the flesh.

But there were two humble Free Methodist women who used to come over to his meetings in the Y.M.C.A. One was "Auntie Cook" and the other, Mrs. Snow. (I think her name was not Snow at that time.) These two women would come to Mr. Moody at the close of his meetings and say: "We are praying for you." Finally, Mr. Moody became somewhat nettled and said to them one night: "Why are you praying for me? Why don't you pray for the unsaved?" They replied: "We are praying that you may get the power." Mr. Moody did not know what that meant, but he got to thinking about it, and then went to these women and said: "I wish you would tell me what you mean"; and they told him about the definite baptism with the Holy Ghost. Then he asked that he might pray with them and not they merely pray for him.

Auntie Cook once told me of the intense fervor with which Mr. Moody prayed on that occasion. She told me in words that I scarcely dare repeat, though I have never forgotten them. And he not only prayed with them, but he also prayed alone.

Not long after, one day on his way to England, he was walking up Wall Street in New York; (Mr. Moody very seldom told this and I almost hesitate to tell it) and in the midst of the bustle and hurry of that city his prayer was answered; the power of God fell upon him as he walked up the street and he had to hurry off to the house of a friend and ask that he might have a room by himself, and in that room he stayed alone for hours; and the Holy Ghost came upon him, filling his soul with such joy that at last he had to ask God to withhold His hand, lest he die on the spot from very joy. He went out from that place with the power of the Holy Ghost upon him, and when he got to London (partly through the prayers of a bedridden saint in Mr. Lessey's church), the power of God wrought through him mightily in North London, and hundreds were added to the churches; and that was what led to his being invited over to the wonderful campaign that followed in later years.

Time and again Mr. Moody would come to me and say: "Torrey, I want you to preach on the baptism with the Holy Ghost." I do not know how many times he asked me to speak on that subject. Once, when I had been invited to preach in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York (invited at Mr. Moody's suggestion; had it not been for his suggestion the invitation would never have been extended to me), just before I started for New York, Mr. Moody drove up to my house and said: "Torrey, they want you to preach at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York. It is a great big church, cost a million dollars to build it." Then he continued: "Torrey, I just want to ask one thing of you. I want to tell you what to preach about. You will preach that sermon of yours on 'Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible to Be the Word of God' and your sermon on 'The Baptism With the Holy Ghost.'"

Time and again, when a call came to me to go off to some church, he would come up to me and say: "Now, Torrey, be sure and preach on the baptism with the Holy Ghost." I do not know how many times he said that to me. Once I asked him: "Mr. Moody, don't you think I have any sermons but those two: 'Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible to Be the Word of God' and 'The Baptism With the Holy Ghost'?" "Never mind that," he replied, "you give them those two sermons.

Once he had some teachers at Northfield—fine men, all of them, but they did not believe in a definite baptism with the Holy Ghost for the individual. They believed that every child of God was baptized with the Holy Ghost, and they did not believe in any special baptism with the Holy Ghost for the individual. Mr. Moody came to me and said: "Torrey, will you come up to my house after the meeting tonight and I will get those men to come, and I want you to talk this thing out with them."

Of course, I very readily consented, and Mr. Moody and I talked for a long time, but they did not altogether see eye to eye with us. And when they went, Mr. Moody signaled me to remain for a few moments. Mr. Moody sat there with his chin on his breast, as he so often sat when he was in deep thought; then he looked up and said: "Oh, why will they split hairs? Why don't they see that this is just the one thing that they themselves need? They are good teachers, they are wonderful teachers, and I am so glad to have them here; but why will they not see that the baptism with the Holy Ghost is just the one touch that they themselves need?"

I shall never forget the eighth of July, 1894, to my dying day. It was the closing day of the Northfield Students' Conference—the gathering of the students from the eastern colleges. Mr. Moody had asked me to preach on Saturday night and Sunday morning on the baptism with the Holy Ghost. On Saturday night I had spoken about, "The Baptism With the Holy Ghost: What It Is; What It Does; the Need of It and the Possibility of It." On Sunday morning I spoke on "The Baptism With the Holy Spirit: How to Get It." It was just exactly twelve o'clock when I finished my morning sermon, and I took out my watch and said: "Mr. Moody has invited us all to go up to the mountain at three o'clock this afternoon to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. It is three hours to three o'clock. Some of you cannot wait three hours. You do not need to wait. Go to your rooms; go out into the woods; go to your tent; go anywhere where you can get alone with God and have this matter out with Him."

At three o'clock we all gathered in front of Mr. Moody's mother's house (she was then still living), and then began to pass down the lane, through the gate, up on the mountainside. There were four hundred and fifty-six of us in all; I know the number because Paul Moody counted us as we passed through the gate.

After a while Mr. Moody said: "I don't think we need to go any further; let us sit down here." We sat down on stumps and logs and on the ground. Mr. Moody said: "Have any of you students anything to say?" I think about seventy-five of them arose, one after the other, and said: "Mr. Moody, I could not wait till three o'clock; I have been alone with God since the morning service, and I believe I have a right to say that I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit."

When these testimonies were over, Mr. Moody said: "Young men, I can't see any reason why we shouldn't kneel down here right now and ask God that the Holy Ghost may fall upon us just as definitely as He fell upon the apostles on the Day of Pentecost. Let us pray." And we did pray, there on the mountainside. As we had gone up the mountainside heavy clouds had been gathering, and just as we began to pray those clouds broke and the raindrops began to fall through the overhanging pines. But there was another cloud that had been gathering over Northfield for ten days, a cloud big with the mercy and grace and power of God; and as we began to pray our prayers seemed to pierce that cloud and the Holy Ghost fell upon us. Men and women, that is what we all need the Baptism with the Holy Ghost.

John Flavel's Supernatural Experience

(originally posted 10/8/15)

According to one article, the following account by John Flavel is probably autobiographical and told in the third person in a similar way Paul spoke in the third person in 2 Cor. 12:1ff.

1. Mediate, in, and by the previous use and exercise of faith, heart-examination, &c. The Spirit of God concurring with, and blessing such duties as these, helps the soul by them to a sight of its interest in Christ, and the glory to come; which being gained, joy is no more under the soul's command. I have, with good assurance, this account of a minister, "Who being alone in a journey, and willing to make the best improvement he could of that day’s solitude, set himself to a close examination of the state of his soul, and then of the life to come, and the manner of its being, and living in heaven, in the views of all those things which are now pure objects of faith and hope. After a while, he perceived his thoughts begin to fix, and come closer to these great and astonishing things than was usual; and as his mind settled upon them, his affections began to rise with answerable liveliness and vigour."

"He therefore (while he was yet master of his own thoughts) lifted up his heart to God in a short ejaculation that God would so order it in his providence, that he might meet with no interruption from company, or any other accident in that journey; which was granted him: For, in all that day's journey, he neither met, overtook, or was overtaken by any. Thus going on his way, his thoughts began to swell, and rise higher and higher, like the waters in Ezekiel's vision, till at last they became an overflowing flood. Such was the intention of his mind, such the ravishing tastes of heavenly joys, and such the full assurance of his interest therein, that he utterly lost a sight and sense of this world, and all the concerns thereof; and, for some hours, knew no more where he was, than if he had been in a deep sleep upon his bed. At last he began to perceive himself very faint, and almost cloaked with blood, which running in abundance from his nose, had coloured his clothes and his horse from the shoulder to the hoof. He found himself almost spent, and nature to faint under the pressure enjoy unspeakable and insupportable; and at last, perceiving a spring of water in his way, he, with some difficulty, alighted to cleanse and cool his face and hands, which were drenched in blood, tears, and sweat."

"By that spring he sat down and washed, earnestly desiring, if it were the pleasure of God, that it might be his parting place from this world: He said, death had the most amiable face in his eye, that ever be beheld, except the face of Jesus Christ, which made it so; and that he could not remember (though he believed he should die there) that he had one thought of his dear wife, or children, or any other earthly concernment."

"But having drank of that spring, his spirits revived, the blood stanched, and he mounted his horse again; and on he went in the same frame of spirit, till he had finished a journey of near thirty miles, and came at night to his inn, where, being come, he greatly admired how he came thither, that his horse, without his direction had brought him thither, and that he fell not all that day, which passed not without several trances, of considerable continuance."

"Being alighted, the innkeeper came to him, with some astonishment, (being acquainted with him formerly) O Sir, said he, what is the matter with you? You look like a dead man. Friend, replied he, I was never better in my life. Show me my chamber, cause my cloak to be cleansed, burn me a little wine, and that is all I desire of you for the present. Accordingly it was done, and a supper sent up, which he could not touch; but requested of the people that they would not trouble or disturb him for that night. All this night passed without one wink of sleep, though he never had a sweeter night's rest in all his life. Still, still the joy of the Lord overflowed him, and he seemed to be an inhabitant of the other world. The next morning being come, he was early on horseback again, fearing the divertissement in the inn might bereave him of his joy; for he said it was now with him, as with a man that carries a rich treasure about him, who suspects every passenger to be a thief. But within a few hours he was sensible of the ebbing of the tide, and before night, though there was a heavenly serenity and sweet peace upon his spirit, which continued long with him, yet the transports of joy were over, and the fine edge of his delight blunted. He many years after called that day one of the days of heaven, and professed he understood more of the light of heaven by it, than by all the books he ever read, or discourses he ever had entertained about it." This was indeed, an extraordinary foretaste of heaven for degree, but it came in the ordinary way and method of faith and meditation.

Pneumatologia:Treatise of the Soul of Man by John Flavel [direct link to chapter]

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

My Blog Comments That Address the Supernatural

Before I list a selection of links to other people's blogs containing my various comments on the topic of the supernatural, I'm going to list some links to some of my own blogposts here that also deal with the supernatural.

Links on the Subject of Miracles in the Context of Craig Keener's Recent Book gospelcrumbs.blogspot.com/2012/11/links-on-subject-of-miracles-in-context.html

Alleged Visions, Dreams and Visitations of Jesus to Muslims
misclane.blogspot.com/2013/04/alleged-visions-dreams-and-visitations.html

Evidence and Testimonies of Demonic and Angelic Encounters misclane.blogspot.com/2013/04/evidence-and-testimonies-of-demonic-and.html

List of Notable Calvinists who are also Continuationists gospelcrumbs.blogspot.com/2011/02/list-of-notable-calvinists-who-are-also.html

Finally, here's a link to a blogpost where I've collected a fewer list of the same links below that specifically address my views on the charismata.

My Tentative Views on the Charismata

**********************************************

Evidence and Arguments Against Materialism and Naturalism
http://misclane.blogspot.com/2014/01/evidence-and-arguments-against.html

Christian Philosopher Alvin Plantinga's Experiences of God

The following is an excerpt from Alvin Plantinga's Spiritual Autobiography [or archived HERE, or HERE]:

...During my second semester, however, there were two events that resolved these doubts and ambivalences for me. One gloomy evening (in January, perhaps) I was returning from dinner, walking past Widenar Library to my fifth floor room in Thayer Middle (there weren't any elevators, and scholarship boys occupied the cheaper rooms at the top of the building). It was dark, windy, raining, nasty. But suddenly it was as if the heavens opened; I heard, so it seemed, music of overwhelming power and grandeur and sweetness; there was light of unimaginable splendor and beauty; it seemed I could see into heaven itself; and I suddenly saw or perhaps felt with great clarity and persuasion and conviction that the Lord was really there and was all I had thought. The effects of this experience lingered for a long time; I was still caught up in arguments about the existence of God, but they often seemed to me merely academic, of little existential concern, as if one were to argue about whether there has really been a past, for example, or whether there really were other people, as opposed to cleverly constructed robots. Such events have not been common subsequently, and there has been only one other occasion on which I felt the presence of God with as much immediacy and strength. That was when I once foolishly went hiking alone off-trail in really rugged country south of Mt. Shuksan in the North Cascades, getting lost when rain, snow and fog obscured all the peaks and landmarks. That night, while shivering under a stunted tree in a cold mixture of snow and rain, I felt as close to God as I ever have, before or since. I wasn't clear as to his intentions for me, and I wasn't sure I approved of what I thought his intentions might be (the statistics on people lost alone in that area were not at all encouraging), but I felt very close to him; his presence was enormously palpable. On many other occasions I have felt the presence of God, sometimes very powerfully: in the mountains (the overwhelming grandeur of the night sky from a slope at 13,000 feet), at prayer, in church, when reading the Bible, listening to music, seeing the beauty of the sunshine on the leaves of a tree or on a blade of grass, being in the woods on a snowy night, and on other kinds of occasions. In particular I have often been overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude--sometimes for something specific like a glorious morning, but often with no particular focus. What I ought to be most grateful for--the life and death and resurrection of Christ, with the accompanying offer of eternal life--is harder, simply because of its stupendous and incomprehensible magnitude. One can say "Thank you" for a glorious morning, and even for your children's turning out well; what do you say in response to the suffering and death and resurrection of the son of God? to the offer of redemption from sin, and eternal life?- Pages 7-8

Then later starting at page 17 Plantinga admits,

...Mountains have been a blessing: for many years anyway, the Sensus Divinitatis seemed to work most strongly, for me, in the mountains. I mentioned above the time I was lost in the mountains; but on dozens of other occasions I have strongly felt the presence of God in the mountains--although on some occasions what I also felt was guilt and divine disapproval. For if mountains were a blessing for me, they were also a bane. The problem was that (particularly during the first couple of decades of our marriage), I was positively obsessed with mountains.

Our Unclaimed Riches by A.W. Tozer

From "That Incredible Christian"

Those spiritual blessings in heavenly places which are ours in Christ may be divided into three classes:

The first is those which come to us immediately upon our believing unto salvation, such as forgiveness, justification, regeneration, sonship to God and baptism into the Body of Christ. In Christ we possess these even before we know that they are ours, such knowledge coming to us later through the study of the Holy Scriptures.

The second class is those riches which are ours by inheritance but which we cannot enjoy in actuality until our Lord returns. These include ultimate mental and moral perfection, the glorification of our bodies, the completion of the restoration of the divine image in our redeemed personalities and the admission into the very presence of God to experience the forever Beatific Vision. These treasures are as surely ours as if we possessed them now, but it would be useless for us to pray for them while we journey here below. God has made it very clear that they are reserved for the time of the manifestation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:18-25).

The third class of blessings consists of spiritual treasures which are ours by blood atonement but which will not come to us unless we make a determined effort to possess them. These are deliverance from the sins of the flesh, victory over self, the constant flow of the Holy Spirit through our personalities, fruitfulness in Christian service, awareness of the Presence of God, growth in grace, an increasing consciousness of union with God and an unbroken spirit of worship. These do not come to us automatically nor must we wait to claim them at the day of Christ’s coming. They are to us what the Promised Land was to Israel, to be entered into as our faith and courage mount.

To make things clearer let me set forth four propositions touching this heritage of joy which God has set before us:

1. You will get nothing unless you go after it.

God will not force anything on you. As Joshua fought his way into possession of the Promised Land you also must fight on toward perfection, meeting and defeating whatever enemies would stand in the way to challenge your right of possession. The land will not come to you; you must go to the land and on up into it by the way of self-renunciation and detachment from the world. “Those who travel on this road,” says John of the Cross, “will meet many occasions of joys and sufferings, hopes and sorrows, some of which are the result of the spirit of perfection, others of imperfection.”

2. You may have as much as you insist upon having.

“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you,” said God to Joshua, and this principle runs throughout the entire Bible. The history of Israel is dotted with stories of those who pressed boldly on to claim their possessions; such, for instance, as Caleb who, after the conquest of Canaan, went to Joshua, demanded the mountain Moses had promised him, and got it. Again when the daughters of Zelophedad stood before Moses and pleaded, “Give unto us . . . a possession among the brethren of our father,” their request was granted. Those women received their inheritance, not by the indulgence of Moses but by the command of God whose promise was involved. When our requests are such as honor God we may ask as largely as we will. The more daring the request the more glory accrues to God when the answer comes.

3. You will have as little as you are satisfied with.

God giveth to all men liberally, but it would be absurd to think that God’s liberality will make a man more godly than he wants to be. The man, for instance who is satisfied to live a defeated life will never be forced to take victory. The man who is content to follow Christ afar off will never know the radiant wonder of His nearness. The man who is willing to settle for a joyless, barren life will never experience the joy of the Holy Spirit or the deep satisfaction of fruitful living.

It is disheartening to those who care and surely a great grief to the Spirit, to see how many Christians are content to settle for less than the best. Personally for years I have carried a burden of sorrow as I have moved among Evangelical Christians who somewhere in their past have managed to strike a base compromise with their heart’s holier longings and have settled down to a lukewarm, mediocre kind of Christianity utterly unworthy of themselves and of the Lord they claim to serve. And such are found everywhere.

4. You now have as much as you really want.

Every man is as close to God as he wants to be; he is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wills to be. Our Lord said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” If there were but one man anywhere on earth who hungered and was not filled the word of Christ would fall to the ground.

Yet we must distinguish wanting from wishing. By “want” I mean wholehearted desire. Certainly there are many who wish they were holy or victorious or joyful but are not willing to meet God’s conditions to obtain.

That God has placed before His redeemed children a vast world of spiritual treasures and that they refuse or neglect to claim it may easily turn out to be the second greatest tragedy in the history of the moral creation, the first and greatest being the fall of man.

George Mueller Quotes

According to my judgement the most important point to be attended to is this: above all things see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord. Other things may press upon you, the Lord's work may even have urgent claims upon your attention, but I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek above all things to have your souls truly happy in God Himself! Day by day seek to make this the most important business of your life. This has been my firm and settled condition for the last five and thirty years. For the first four years after my conversion I knew not its vast importance, but now after much experience I specially commend this point to the notice of my younger brethren and sisters in Christ: the secret of all true effectual service is joy in God, having experimental acquaintance and fellowship with God Himself.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies/george-muellers-strategy-for-showing-god

I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies/george-muellers-strategy-for-showing-god

I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the word of God, and to meditation on it. . . . What is the food of the inner man? Not prayer, but the word of God; and . . . not the simple reading of the word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies/george-muellers-strategy-for-showing-god

It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly continue in prayer, until we obtain an answer; and further, we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing.
http://servantofmessiah.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/01/George-Muller-Man-of-Faith-and-Miracles.pdf

Think not, dear reader, that I have the gift of faith, that is, that gift of which we read in 1 Corinthians 12:9, and which is mentioned along with “the gifts of healing,” “the working of miracles,”prophecy,” and that on that account I am able to trust in the Lord. It is true that the faith, which I am enabled to exercise, is altogether God's own gift; it is true that He alone supports it, and that He alone can increase it; it is true that, moment by moment, I depend upon Him for it, and that, if I were only one moment left to myself, my faith would utterly fail; but it is not true that my faith is that gift of faith which is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12:9.- George Mueller quote taken from a sermon by John Piper
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies/george-muellers-strategy-for-showing-god

↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑
In Basil Miller's biography of Mueller, the same quote above continues "...It is the self-same faith which is found in every believer...for little by little it has been increasing for the last six and twenty years."
http://servantofmessiah.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/01/George-Muller-Man-of-Faith-and-Miracles.pdf

Often the work of the Lord itself may be a temptation to keep us from that communion with Him which is so essential to the benefit of our own souls.... Let none think that public prayer will make up for closet communion.

Here is the great secret of success. Work with all your might; but trust not in the least in your work. Pray with all your might for the blessing of God; but work, at the same time, with all diligence, with all patience, with all perseverance. Pray then, and work. Work and pray. And still again pray, and then work. And so on all the days of your life. The result will surely be, abundant blessing. Whether you see much fruit or little fruit, such kind of service will be blessed.... Speak also for the Lord, as if everything depended on your exertions; yet trust not the least in your exertions, but in the Lord, who alone can cause your efforts to be made effectual, to the benefit of your fellow men or fellow believers. Remember, also, that God delights to bestow blessing, but, generally, as the result of earnest, believing prayer.- George Mueller
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26522/26522-h/26522-h.htm

Self-denial is not so much an impoverishment as a postponement: we make a sacrifice of a present good for the sake of a future and greater good.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies/george-muellers-strategy-for-showing-god

For the first four years after my conversion I made no progress, because I neglected the Bible. But when I regularly read on through the whole with reference to my own heart and soul, I directly made progress. Then my peace and joy continued more and more. Now I have been doing this for 47 years. I have read through the whole Bible about 100 times and I always find it fresh when I begin again. Thus my peace and joy have increased more and more.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies/george-muellers-strategy-for-showing-god

God delights to increase the faith [or condition the faith-muscle] of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God's hand as a means. I say - and say it deliberately - trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.
http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Faith.html

God delights to increase the Faith of His children. Our Faith which is feeble at first, is developed and strengthened more and more by us. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God's hand as a means. I say—and say it deliberately—trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of Faith.http://www.chapellibrary.org/files/archive/pdf-english/rfai.pdf

Many people are willing to believe regarding those things that seem probable to them. Faith has nothing to do with probabilities. The province of faith begins where probabilities cease and sight and sense fail. Appearances are not to be taken into account. The question is - whether God has spoken it in His Word.
http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Faith.html

"Impressions have neither one thing nor the other to do with faith," says Muller. "Faith has to do with the Word of God. It is not impressions, strong or weak, which will make the difference. We have to do with the Written Word and not ourselves or impressions."
http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Faith.html

One thing more. Some say, “Oh, I shall never have the gift of Faith Mr. Mueller has got.” This is a mistake—it is the greatest error—there is not a particle of truth in it. My Faith is the same kind of Faith that all of God's children have had. It is the same kind that Simon Peter had, and all Christians may obtain the like Faith. My Faith is their Faith, though there may be more of it because my Faith has been a little more developed by exercise then theirs; but their Faith is precisely the Faith I exercise, only, with regard to degree, mine may be more strongly exercised. Now, my beloved brothers and sisters, begin in a little way. At first I was able to trust the Lord for ten dollars, then for a hundred dollars, then for a thousand dollars, and now, with the greatest ease, I could trust Him for a million dollars, if there was occasion. But first, I should quietly, carefully, deliberately examine and see whether what I was trusting for, was something in accordance with His promises in His written Word.
http://www.chapellibrary.org/files/archive/pdf-english/rfai.pdf

"It pleased the Lord, I think, to give me in some cases something like the gift (not grace) of faith, so that unconditionally I could ask and look for an answer. The difference between the gift and the grace of faith seems to me this. According to the gift of faith I am able to do a thing, or believe that a thing will come to pass, the not doing of which, or the not believing of which would not be sin; according to the grace of faith I am able to do a thing, or believe that a thing will come to pass, respecting which I have the word of God as the ground to rest upon, and, therefore, the not doing it, or the not believing it would be sin. For instance, the gift of faith would be needed, to believe that a sick person should be restored again, though there is no human probability: for there is no promise to that effect; the grace of faith is needed to believe that the Lord will give me the necessaries of life, if I first seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness: for there is a promise to that effect. (Matt. vi. 33.)"
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26522/26522-h/26522-h.htm

“I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about, when I lie down and when I rise up. And the answers are always coming. Thousands and tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered. When once I am persuaded that a thing is right and for the glory of God, I go on praying for it until the answer comes. ” – An Hour With George Müller, The Man of Faith to Whom God Gave Millions, by Charles R. Parsons
https://www.georgemuller.org/quotes/i-live-in-the-spirit-of-prayer

To one who asked him the secret of his service he said: "There was a day when I died, utterly died;" and, as he spoke, he bent lower and lower until he almost touched the floor—"died to George Müller, his opinions, preferences, tastes and will—died to the world, its approval or censure—died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends—and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God."
George Muller of Bristol His Witness to a Prayer-Hearing God by Arthur T. Pierson

"Remember, also, that God delights to bestow blessing, but, generally, as the result of earnest, believing prayer."
- George Mueller

Basil Miller's Biography George Muller: The Man of Faith
http://servantofmessiah.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/01/George-Muller-Man-of-Faith-and-Miracles.pdf
or
http://issuu.com/fernandoramosdecarvalho/docs/georgemuller_the_man_of_faith

God is pleased continually to vary His mode of dealing with us, in order that we may not be tempted to trust in donors, or in circumstances, but in Him alone, and to keep our eyes fixed upon Him. This, by His grace, we are enabled to do, and our hearts are kept in peace.- George Mueller

"Would the believer, therefore, have his faith strengthened, he must especially, give time to God, who tries his faith in order to prove to His child, in the end, how willing He is to help and deliver him, the moment it is good for him."- George Mueller

"I never remember, in all my Christian course, a period now (in March, 1895) of sixty-nine years and four months, that I ever SINCERELY and PATIENTLY sought to know the will of God by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, through the instrumentality of the Word of God, but I have been ALWAYS directed rightly. But if honesty of heart and uprightness before God were lacking, or if I did not patiently wait upon God for instruction, or if I preferred the counsel of my fellow men to the declarations of the Word of the living God, I made great mistakes."

GEORGE MÜLLER.

"The primary object I had in view in carrying on this work...that it might be seen that now, in the nineteenth century, God is still the Living God, and that now as well as thousands of years ago, He listens to the prayers of His children and helps those who trust Him." -George Muller

"When thou cannot sleep at night, say to Christ, "My precious heavenly Friend, wilt Thou give me a little sleep?" When in pain, say, "My precious heavenly Friend, if it may please Thee, wilt Thou take away this pain? But if not, if Thou sees better that it should continue, sustain, help, and strengthen me, my precious heavenly Friend!" When we feel lonely and tired, turn to the precious Lord Jesus; He is willing to be our Friend in our loneliness."- George Mueller

"Often it may appear that we wait upon the Lord in vain; but in His own time God will abundantly prove that it was not in vain. Go on to wait upon the Lord. Continue to make known your requests to Him; but do expect help from Him. You honor God by believing that He does hear your prayers, and that He will answer them."- George Mueller

"There is none, in this whole city, who can say that I ever asked them for a penny; there is none, in the whole of England, who can say that I ever asked them for a penny; there is none under heaven, in the whole wide world, who can say that I ever asked them for a penny. To God, and to God alone, I went; and I did this because I knew ever since my conversion that one of the greatest necessities for the Church of God at large was an increase of faith. Therefore, I determined to dedicate my whole life to this one great lesson, for the Church of God to learn, and the world at large to learn: real, true, lasting dependence on God." George Muller

Often it may appear that we wait upon the Lord in vain; but in His own time God will abundantly prove that it was not in vain. God on to wait upon the Lord. Continue to make known your requests to Him; but do expect help from Him. You honor God by believing that He does hear your prayers, and that He will answer them."- George Muller

"Be careful for nothing"; that is, "BE ANXIOUS ABOUT NOTHING"; no anxiety ought to be found in the believer. Great, many, and varied, may be our trials, our afflictions, our difficulties, and yet there should be no anxiety under any circumstances, because we have a Father in heaven who is almighty, who loves His children as He loves His only begotten Son, and whose joy and delight it is to succour and help them at all times and under all circumstances.- George Mueller

Though all believers in the Lord Jesus are not called upon to establish orphan houses, schools for poor children, etc., and trust in God for means; yet all believers, according to the will of God concerning them in Christ Jesus, may cast, and ought to cast, all their care upon Him who careth for them, and need not be anxiously concerned about anything, as is plainly to be seen from 1 Peter v. 7; Philippians iv. 6; Matthew vi. 25-34.- George Muller

Scripture Texts that Moulded George Muller

More resources on or by George Mueller

J.P. Moreland on the Continuation of the Revelatory Gifts [and Wonder Working Gifts]

J.P. Moreland is a Christian philosopher who believes in and experiences the revelatory gifts of prophecy, word of wisdom and word of knowledge. He holds to a more Arminian-like theology.

I post the following videos/resources because J.P. Moreland is another great example of a very rational, intelligent and theologically knowledgeable Christian who believes in the modern continuation of the charismatic gifts.

https://youtu.be/Da-WMdu3qd4

J.P. Moreland: Discerning God's Voice - When God Seems Silent

Here is a link to very informative interviews of J.P. Moreland by Robert Lawrence Kuhn on his PBS show Closer to Truth:

http://misclane.blogspot.com/2013/06/jp-moreland-interviewed-by-robert.html

Here's a link to J.P. Moreland being asked whether he believed in the existence of Angels and Demons:

(original video can be viewed HERE at the Closer To Truth website)

J.P. Moreland's testimonies of supernatural occurrences in his own local church:

1. From his closing statement in his debate against atheist Clancy Martin

http://youtu.be/sdwXpFv-uRM?t=1h39m59s

2. From his rebuttal in his debate against atheist Clancy Martin

http://youtu.be/sdwXpFv-uRM?t=50m39s

If the above links eventually don't work, you can download the debate at the links HERE.

3. J.P. Moreland recounting being healed of a viral infection that caused him to have the worst case of laryngitis in the 35 years since college. He said it hurt to speak and his "throat felt as if it had broken glass in it, and I was reduced to whispering." He was healed by two elders in his church praying for him for about 3 minutes.

www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2007/november/1112607.html

4. C. Michael Patton recounting a story told him by J.P. Moreland when he asked him why more amputees aren't healed. Moreland's answer includes a testimony of the healing of an ear.

http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2013/11/j-p-morelands-story-about-god-healing-an-amputee/

Patton wrote:

For example (and this was not part of Keener’s presentation), J. P. Moreland once told me, when I asked him why God does not heal amputees, a story that is continually in my mind when these kind of things are on the table. He said he once witnessed a guy who was missing an ear (there was just skin where the ear should be) and saw it grow back as people (including Moreland) prayed for him. He said they watched as there was a break in his skin, blood came out, and a slight “ear” formed. What is interesting about this story is that the ear did not grow completely back. When the miracle was over, he just had a hole there, a bit of an ear, and could hear out of it.

5. As a Calvinist, I have some disagreements with Moreland's theology of prayer, but here's another link to an audio file where ,Moreland shares more examples of answered prayer in his own life.
http://youtu.be/c-2v6R9BU78

6. J.P. Moreland gave the following testimony of healing in his book, Kingdom Triangle (Zondervan, 2007)

The Sunday evening service on February 20, 2005, had just ended and I wanted to get home. I was frustrated. …The previous Thursday a virus landed in my chest and throat, and in a period of less than three hours I went from being normal to having the worst case of laryngitis in the 35 years since college. On Friday I went to our walk-in clinic and received the bad news. The doctor warned that this virus was going around, she had seen several cases of it in the last few weeks, and there was nothing that could be done about it. I just had to wait it out. The laryngitis would last 7–10 days.

This couldn't be, I whispered to her. My main day of teaching at the university was Monday, and I was looking at a full day of lecturing. I couldn't afford to cancel classes because I had already missed my limit of canceled classes for that semester. To make matters worse, I was scheduled to deliver a three-hour lecture at a nearby church that Tuesday evening, and I didn't want to let the church down.

It made no difference. The doctor said I wasn't going to be able to speak either day, so I had to make other plans. My throat felt as if it had broken glass in it, and I was reduced to whispering. On Sunday evening I whispered a few greetings to various church friends; I tried to speak normally, but it hurt too much. After the service I had to get home, try to contact our department secretary that night…and cancel my classes for Monday. I could cancel with the church the next day.

As I was walking out of the sanctuary, two lay elders intercepted me. "Hey, J. P.," one yelled, "you can't leave yet. Hope (my wife) just told us you have laryngitis, and we can't let you get outta here without loving on you a bit and praying for your throat!" So one elder laid hands on my shoulders and the other placed his hand on my lower throat area and started praying.

To be honest, I wasn't listening to a word they said. I had already left the church emotionally and wanted to get home to make my phone call. But something happened. As the two men prayed gently for me, I began to feel heat pour into my throat and chest from one elder's hand. After two or three minutes of prayer, I was completely and irreversibly healed! I started talking to the brothers normally with no pain, no effort, no trace that anything had been wrong. I never had to make that call to my secretary. The laryngitis never returned. [copy and paste source or Here] [The original source might be chapter 7 of J.P. Moreland's book Kingdom Triangle]

Vincent Cheung on Healing

Because he holds to a modified form of Clarkian presuppositionalism, Cheung is a controversial figure (just like other Clarkians) both in non-Calvinistic AND Calvinistic circles. Clarkians hold to Axiomatic (also called Dogmatic, or Deductive, or Rational) Presuppositionalism which includes the theological/philosophical/apologetical position of Scripturalism as well as the position of empirical skepticism. His views on Calvinism are considered by some to be hyper-Calvinistic or strongly leaning toward it. I myself am a Van Tillian Revelational Presuppositionalist rather than a Clarkian Axiomatic Presuppostionalist (though, I do appreciate some of the contributions and insights Clarkians have made in apologetics).

There are theological, apologetical, metaphysical and philosophical positions that Cheung holds to which some Calvinists will accept or reject (in part or in whole) depending on one's own variety of Calvinism. He has certain Calvinistic positions and distinctives which he brings to bear on the subject of continuationism. For example, he holds to Divine occasionalism and applies that to the issue of divine healing and God's activity in creation. Calvinists are free to hold to a Divine occasionalist understanding of causation and creaturely existence. But there are many other models that are compatible with Calvinism. Jonathan Edwards himself made statements that would sometimes imply Divine occasionalism, and at other times Divine idealism. Calvinists are also free to hold to either the A-theory or B-theory of time with respect to creation. For the record Cheung is a supralapsarian, rejects Common Grace, affirms Divine Command Theory and freely affirms the concept and accepts the term of Hard Determinism (see his book The Author of Sin for some of his distinctives). I also believe his doctrine regarding the Unpardonable/Unforgivable Sin is overly simplistic and can lead to people despairing needlessly.

I post the following links to some of Cheung's works because his writings will challenge cessationist Calvinists to reconsider their position. Also, because his teachings will encourage and enlighten his fellow continuationist Calvinists even if they don't agree with every minor point he makes. I'm in substantial agreement with Cheung on divine healing. Though, I don't necessarily hold to some of his dogmatic Calvinistic views and how he employs them in his doctrine of healing. For example, I'm open to the possible truth of occasionalism, but I don't see why it's the only consistent Calvinistic view of causation as he claims. There have been other views that Calvinists have argued for, and many of them are within the pale of Calvinistic orthodoxy.

Here are links to three works by Cheung on the subject of Divine Healing which he wrote at different times 2001, 2003 and 2012. Take into consideration the fact that his views have developed throughout the years. They have matured and become more balanced. For example, compared to his earlier works the 2012 book is less radical on the issue of the use of natural remedies like medicine. In his latest edition of Biblical Healing (2012) he writes a less extreme and a more balanced view:

"An important difference is that the Bible makes healing through faith the standard instead of the exception (Matthew 8:17; James 5:14-15), so that it is unacceptable to consider it an optional aspect of Christian life and ministry. This is not to suggest that those who use medicine should feel condemned or that they should stop taking their medication. The point is that those who speak as if the Bible eagerly and explicitly supports the use of medicine are wrong – there is no such support in the Bible. Rather, it teaches us to increase in our faith for healing and in our dependence on God's power."- page 40 of Cheung's 2012 edition of the book Biblical Healing

Lectures on Biblical Healing by Vincent Cheung 2001 (or here)

Biblical Healing by Vincent Cheung 2003 (or here)

Biblical Healing by Vincent Cheung 2012 (or here, here)

Samson and His Faith by Vincent Cheung

Here's my blog page dedicated to resources on Divine Healing HERE.

Related works by Vincent Cheung

Prayer and Revelation by Vincent Cheung 2012

Invincible Faith by Vincent Cheung

Backstage by Vincent Cheung

Fulcrum by Vincent Cheung

Trace by Vincent Cheung

Contract by Vincent Cheung

Hero by Vincent Cheung

Blogposts by Vincent Cheung

Beginning in Healing Ministry by Vincent Cheung [audio]

Advancing in Healing Ministry by Vincent Cheung [audio]

Contending in Healing Ministry by Vincent Cheung [audio]

Healing and Ministry by Vincent Cheung

The Primacy of Healing Ministry by Vincent Cheung [audio]

Power Over Demons by Vincent Cheung

I agree with the general sentiments of the following blogposts by Cheung. However, I do think he's Wayyy too harsh on cessationists. His criticisms are like buckshot. Some of them hit, and hit HARD. While others completely miss the real target and hit strawmen.Many cessationists are doing their best to honor Christ in their teaching, but do so in ways that just aren't logical or Biblical. Their zeal to protect God's glory and reputation by disassociating themselves from extreme Charismatics and their extreme practices actually prevents God from being glorified in the ways He Himself has prescribed. Namely, by signs and wonders. Vincent Cheung's materials exposes much of that.

Faith Override by Vincent Cheung

All Things Are Yours by Vincent Cheung [audio]

The Extreme Faith Teacher by Vincent Cheung

The Absurd Idea of Need by Vincent Cheung [audio]

Healing: The Will of Man by Vincent Cheung

Persistence in Prayer by Vincent Cheung [audio]

Spotify podcast of Vincent Cheung: https://open.spotify.com/show/37qoev90ZcxyuYEu5SFSRk

Here's another related blog of mine:

List of Notable Calvinists who are also Continuationists

See especially Johanes Lilik Susanto's doctoral thesis:

A Practical Theological Evaluation of the Divine Healing Ministries of Smith Wigglesworth and John G. Lake: A Continuationist Reformed Perspective

Charismata Matters

Table Charismata Matters

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Examples of Prayer Warriors

D.L. Moody's Supernatural Experience

John Flavel's Supernatural Experience

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

My Blog Comments That Address the Supernatural

Evidence and Arguments Against Materialism and Naturalism
http://misclane.blogspot.com/2014/01/evidence-and-arguments-against.html

Christian Philosopher Alvin Plantinga's Experiences of God

Our Unclaimed Riches by A.W. Tozer

George Mueller Quotes

Scripture Texts that Moulded George Muller

J.P. Moreland on the Continuation of the Revelatory Gifts [and Wonder Working Gifts]

J.P. Moreland: Discerning God's Voice - When God Seems Silent

Vincent Cheung on Healing

List of Notable Calvinists who are also Continuationists

Table Charismata Matters

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Evidence and Arguments Against Materialism and Naturalismhttp://misclane.blogspot.com/2014/01/evidence-and-arguments-against.html

J.P. Moreland: Discerning God's Voice - When God Seems Silent

Evidence and Arguments Against Materialism and Naturalism
http://misclane.blogspot.com/2014/01/evidence-and-arguments-against.html