healing

“God Wants You Well” by Andrew Wommack

May 31, 2011 // 117 Comments

Back in the 1970s, Andrew Wommack prayed for a four year old boy who was sick. The boy died. At the funeral, Wommack was tempted to comfort the parents with religious clichés like, “God allowed this,” “He works in mysterious ways,” and “God needed your son in heaven.” But he couldn’t do it. He [...]

Who Can Take Communion?

April 13, 2011 // 119 Comments

And now as we turn to the communion table, I would like to invite all those who love Jesus and call him ‘Lord’ to join with us in partaking of the elements. If you’re visiting with us today and you don’t know Jesus, feel free to spend this time in quiet reflection. Communion is something that [...]

1 Corinthians 11:26-32

April 12, 2011 // 20 Comments

A big part of the communion-confusion stems from a misreading of Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians. As I have not found a good translation of 1 Corinthians 11:26-32, I have provided my own paraphrase below. (I looked at the meaning of the original Greek behind some of the words in an earlier post.) Take [...]

Taking Communion in an Unworthy Manner

April 10, 2011 // 169 Comments

I remember as a 10 year old boy watching in terror as the communion plate came closer and closer. Why was I afraid? Because there was unresolved sin in my life – I had argued with my sister before church! I knew that those who took communion in an unworthy manner risked condemnation, even death, for the Bible [...]

A Better Way to Pray

March 6, 2011 // 43 Comments

When Camilla and I started leading a church in 1999, we didn’t have a clue. We loved God with all our hearts and prayed with faith, but our prayers seldom moved mountains. There was this one time when there was a lot of sickness going around so we organized a healing meeting. We laid hands on the sick, prayed [...]

James 2:24

September 20, 2010 // 29 Comments

In this study on James chapter 2, we have been comparing works done under law with works done under grace. Understanding this distinction is essential if we are to reconcile Paul, the preacher of grace, with James, who said this… You see then that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (Jas [...]

What Do You Think? Two Must-Read Books about Transformed Minds

May 6, 2010 // 11 Comments

What you think has a great bearing on who you are and what you do. “For as a man thinks, so he is,” (Pro 23:7). Yet an outsider looking at the church would find there are some who don’t seem to think much at all. I’m talking about those who hold to a mindless form of religion, characterized by [...]