A couple months ago, I spent a day having a little min-retreat with God. I went and hung out all day in this mother-in-law apartment at a friend’s house and sat, worshiped, prayed, read from a book that I’ve been reading, and read in my Bible. While I was in my bible, I came a across a section that really stuck out to me and has stuck with me since that time.

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. – 1 Corinthians 1:10-15

I think the reason that this has stuck with me so much is because of how much I’ve been noticing division in The Church. There’s so much distrust and bad blood between churches and denominations. We fight and argue over aspects of faith and focus on ways that we can separate ourselves from each other instead of what eternally binds us together, Christ. It breaks my heart when I hear the bashing that Christians do on one another, and I pray that we would be able to come back and unite as one Church in Jesus’ name.

What scripture is kicking your butt right now?

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What would happen if we as The Church took our eyes off of ourselves and put an end to all of this fighting, division, self-righteousness, and disunity? What would happen if The Church actually becomes the Body of Christ?

How would our world change?

Dustin

I’m reading a book right now called Healing by Francis MacNutt, and while reading it, MacNutt made a great statement that I wanted to share here.

Knowing that the synoptic gospels usually speak about Jesus’ healings as “acts of power” rather than as miracles helps us understand the basic theme of Acts, which is to show that the early church, the early Christians, had the same power to preach, to heal, and to cast out demons that Jesus had. The church is the continuation of Jesus’ saving power in history. The Jerusalem church (Peter) and the gentile churches (Paul) all carry on the same preaching and healing as Jesus himself did, because Jesus is the one who is still doing it. Only now he is multiplied in his apostles-and in us-who can be his witnesses to the end of the world.

Just as Jesus combined both preaching and healing in his presentation of the goespel, the early apostles carried on that tradition with no diminution of power. When these early Christians were persecuted, listen to how they prayed for help:

And now, Lord, take note of their threats and help your servants to proclaim your message with all boldness, by stretching out your hand to heal and to work miracles and marvels through the name of your holy servant Jesus (Acts 4:29-30)

Notice that they did not pray to preach and to heal, but to preach by healing. They preached the message of salvation by actually continuing the works of Jesus. A doctrine of God’s salvation without that salvation actually taking place, or a doctrine about healing without God’s power to make healing actually take place, is empty rhetoric. Perhaps this is why so much of today’s preaching impresses people as abstract and irrelevant.

Jesus and the early church didn’t put a separation between preaching and healing. Healing was preaching, and preaching was healing. Healing was so much a part of what Jesus did. Both physical and spiritual, men and women, young and old. Somewhere along the path in Church history though, the common occurrence of healing almost died out completely. But people need the same kind of healing today that was occurring in the gospels, and here’s the good news…

Jesus is still in the healing business!

That’s great news because I know that I’m still a jacked-up mess and the Holy Spirit is currently working in my heart to bring about healing from some woundedness I’ve endured. And when the power of the Holy Spirit comes into contact with our woundedness and brokenness, the result is restoration. Healing is making a come back in the Church and we are beginning to get a better awareness of the power of God and who He is.

This might be why the song Healer is so popular right now.

Dustin