THE UNEXPECTED!

Blog 122
June 24, 2019

faith

A NEW BLOG IS HERE!

MIRACLES NEVER CEASE!

You might also want to look at the widely read blog on the MIDDLE EAST from Robert L. Wise, Ph.D. features weekly updates on little known facts about Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, countries where Wise has traveled and worked. In an unbiased and politically neutral manner, he reports an objective view of what’s happening.

EXPLORE DIVINE INTERVENTIONS

Each week Robert Wise talks with, interviews, and follows everyday people who encountered miraculous interventions in their lives. Their amazing stories are described and explored to understand how these encounters occurred. No one theological view or denominational perspective is involved. Wise is open to what transpired regardless of the individual’s persuasion.

You will be challenged, inspired, and intrigued by these interviews. For over three years, Wise spoke with a wide range of people. Some were Christians; some were not. Many stayed outside the church while others were devout attenders. Wherever people had encounters, he discussed with them about what they saw, felt and experienced.

THE UNEXPECTED!

For three years Robert Wise explored the divine interventions that had taken place in individual lives. To his surprise, he discovered that many people had virtually never told anyone what wondrous fact occurred. They worried were concerned that people would think them crazy. The experience of divine intervention has been that unusual with many people and churches. Some denominations concluded that the miraculous age ended with the Apostles and that consequently after 100 A.D. there were no more such occurrences. Sorry. History doesn’t support that idea.

Another group’s practices were considered emotionalism. The unusual was explained away as being only rampant hysteria. The conclusion was that after the excessive sensation wore off, the so-called miracle disappeared and the person was left with the same problem as before. Clearly, there have been many cases where hype in mass meetings manipulated suffering people. However, the events that Wise encountered had nothing to do with emotion, jazzed up mass meetings, or people being controlled in a volatile environment. We will explore this scene in depth!

WE WANT YOUR STORY

Robert Wise also wants to know your history. Do you have an experience that you’ve never shared but know is important? Don’t worry about explaining or justifying the facts. Just let Robert Wise know. In the weeks that are before us, we will be considering many important happenings that demonstrate God is still at work in today’s world. You’ll be amazed and inspired by each of the blogs that explore a divine intervention.

EACH WEEK WE WILL BE HERE. TUNE IN. MIRACLES NEVER CEASE!

WHEN THERE IS NO HOPE

Blog 121
June 17, 2019

healings (1)

MIRACLES NEVER CEASE!

Robert Wise explores the world of divine intervention from an objective point of view. Can 21st Century people believe that the hand of God touches people in today’s world? Read and you’ll find new insights.

WHEN THERE IS NO HOPE

Three years ago, I found Patty Sill’s story and thought we ought to revisit what happened to her. I think you’ll find this fascinating.

Patty Sills’s condition was diagnosed as Tirdive Dystoma which meant her neck muscles continually contracted and pulled her head to one side. Patty had no control over her neck and was in constant pain. The condition made her spine bulge. She could be medicated but not cured. Doctors told Patty she would have this condition the rest of her life.

Patty told me that she didn’t want to live anymore. She couldn’t work or pursue any hobbies because she was so uncomfortable. Patty was certain she would be better off dead. Her voice sounded desperate as she described her deteriorating emotional condition. Patty had struggled with mental illness and attempted suicide. She had been in and out of mental institutions.

Having grown up in the Roman Catholic Church, Patty had lots of problems with church procedures. For one, she thought women should be able to be clergy. Organized religion only imparted other issues. Consequently, she was particularly skeptical about TV healers and churches in general.

Leslie, a young woman who had a reputation for talking with angels and praying for hurting people, was introduced to Patty. The whole idea seemed absurd, but Patty was desperate. She said, “yes, help me.”

Leslie asked Patty to lay flat on a table and she began to pray. Leslie’s hands became so hot that heat radiated through Patty’s body. When Leslie moved to her neck, Patty went into a convulsion and felt outside herself. She had to have help to stand.

The next day everything changed. With time, her incurable condition completely disappeared. If you ask her if she believes in miracles, she will tell you that she is living proof they still happen.

Since I began working on this subject, I have been amazed at how many stories I have turned up. They often come from people I know who have been reluctant to talk about their experiences that powerfully reordered their lives. In the contemporary world immersed in scientism and secularization, the idea that Divinity still reaches into everyday life and radically changes physical problems is considered nonsense. Television evangelists who claim to have such ministries are thought to be frauds, picking the pockets of desperate people– and some do. In the average mainline church, no one has seen a miracle or expects to encounter one. The subject remains closed.

But so were a number of other practices that are now totally accepted.

In the late ‘60s when I came out of seminary, people who claimed such cures were considered mentally ill. Consequently, talk of miracles has been off the table for a long time. So long, that it is now time to take a hard second look. In these blogs we will be exploring many stories like Patty’s and will hopefully help you discover how to become a part of this new revolution that the Holy Spirit is bringing to the world.

EACH WEEK HAVE WE GOT A STORY FOR YOU! STAY TUNED IN!

HOW DO MIRACLES OCCUR? Part 5

Blog 118 April 22, 2019

divine-guidance

MIRACLES NEVER CEASE ~ DO YOU HAVE AN EXPERIENCE TO SHARE? Robert Wise would be delighted to learn about your divine intervention. If you have a story to share, please contact him at revwise@att.net. He’s looking forward to hearing from you.

You met Quinton Moore in an earlier blog. I shared an incident in his ministry, but I didn’t go into details about his personal history. I think you will find more insight into his life and ministry instructive. Let me tell you a little more about his personal story.

Quinton Moore grew up in Pentecostal land. His grandmother had been the baby sitter for Oral Roberts while the cotton pickers worked in the fields. Today, Lottie Moore would be thought of as an old time Pentecostal. She lived in a world that assumed miracles came with the Christian faith. Quinton grew up in rural Oklahoma where Pentecostalism was a major religious force.

Grandmother Jessie Hargrove, a full blood Cherokee-Osage Indian, remains as one of his early memories. Quinton watched her pace back and forth praying in the Indian language and in tongues. Suddenly, she stopped. “Yes!” Jessie cried out. “I sees him!”

Eight-year old Quinton wasn’t sure what was going on, but watched his grandmother grab a shawl and ran to the door.

“Come on, Quinton,” she demanded. “We got to get to your uncle quick. He’s in real trouble. I now knows where he is now.”

Quinton piled into the pickup and they went flying down the road. He had no idea where they were going or where they were. Grandma Jessie seemed to have a map in her head and only she knew what was ahead. After a number of 90 degree turns on dirt roads he had never been on before, Quinton looked up and saw what was ahead.

“Hey!” he shouted. “That’s the cab to my uncle’s truck turned over!”

“Yes, son,” Grandma Jessie said. “That’s what the Holy Spirit showed me.”

They pulled up alongside the semi-trailer cab laying on its side. Jessie leaped out and climbed up the underside of the cab. “Just as the Spirit said! Your uncle’s down there out cold. He’s hurt. I’ll try to shake him loose. You run to that house over yonder and have them call an ambulance. Git with it!”

Quinton went running down the road to the nearest farm house. They were able to get his uncle to the hospital and saved his life. But Quinton couldn’t ever forget that experience. Without any knowledge of an accident, through her prayers, his grandmother Jessie had been able to discover the disaster and locate her son. She considered divine interventions to be simply part of her journey.

Her anticipation of the miraculous prepared her to receive special guidance that probably saved her son’s life. From the point of view of Grandmother Lottie Moore, it was all just part of the journey of faith.

Gives you something to think about.

HOW DO MIRACLES OCCUR? Part 3

Blog 116 April 8, 2019

don-rita-houston

MIRACLES NEVER CEASE ~ DO YOU HAVE AN EXPERIENCE TO SHARE? Robert Wise would be delighted to learn about your divine intervention. If you have a story to share, please contact him at revwise@att.net. He’s looking forward to hearing from you.

While reading The Oklahoman daily newspaper, I found the story of Don Houston’s near-death ordeal. Because Don’s experience intrigued me, I found the Houston’s and spent time with them. Don told me what happened.

Congestive heart failure ran in his family, taking his father at 58 and his brother at 56. Don is in the 2% who survive this condition. Because bronchitis made Don snore, Rita often slept in another room, but on this night she didn’t. In the middle of the night, she heard a “death rattle” and panicked. When she rolled Don over, there was no movement and nothing would wake him up. His tongue began to hang out. Rita called 911 and called for an ambulance as well as receiving instructions on performing CPR.

When the ambulance arrived, the attendants stuck needles in Don’s feet and received no response. By the time he got to the hospital, the only things keeping him alive were machines. The doctors gave Rita no hope that he would regain consciousness. She was told he probably wouldn’t recognize her if he ever woke up. The best they could hope for was a nursing home.

Rita asked the ER doctor if they could go into his secluded room and pray. With Don’s two daughters, she made a prayer circle around the bed and began to pray fervently. Rita kept praying over and over, “Jesus help us.”

The hospital put Don in an induced comma called the “Arctic Sun” where his body temperature was reduced down to around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. For four day he was the “frozen man” with his arms tied down to the bed.

And what was happening with Don?

Don became aware and looked around. He was in a totally white room with no windows and two distinct doors. The voice of God said, “Don, you had a heart attack.” The room suddenly lit up and arch-shaped widows appeared. Don saw figures walking by. They all had the same features, and the same colored hair. Each wore a white robe. He realized they were angels.

Don felt totally peaceful with no worries. Finally, one of the angels said, “Come with me.”  The angel escorted him through what Don calls “the door of second chances.” Suddenly, he was back in his body.

His daughter had been holding his hand and felt a squeeze. The doctor thought the tug was only a reflex. He took Don’s hand and abruptly there was another squeeze. The doctor nearly fainted. He rushed out and brought in other doctors to observe Don.

Rita leaned over the bed. “Do you know what’s happened?”
Yes,” he said. “I had a heart attack.”
“How do you know?” Rita asked.
“God told me,” Don said.

Rita stared. Don’s eyes had always been a greenish brown. Now, they were the prettiest bright blue eyes, she had even seen.

Today Don is inspired to tell everyone that there is life after death. He says, “I do know for a fact, there is something out there and you’re not alone. There is something there to comfort you and help you along the way and they’ll lead you. You need to get God in your heart because you never know when you’re going to pass.”

Can we call the results a miracle? Even a skeptic has to throw in the towel on such a phenomenon. For all practical purposes, Don was dead and the medical profession did not expect a recovery. However, we define life, Don Houston came back because he was filled with renewed life that only heaven can give.

HOW DO MIRACLES OCCUR? Part 2

Blog 115 March 24, 2019

jesus-healing-the-sick

MIRACLES NEVER CEASE ~ DO YOU HAVE AN EXPERIENCE TO SHARE? Robert Wise would be delighted to learn about your divine intervention. If you have a story to share, please contact him at revwise@att.net. He’s looking forward to hearing from you.

Medical science cannot explain life because it is far more that a heart beating and a brain functioning. The scripture suggests life begins in eternity and finally ends there. Its essence is transcendent. This life came in the historical presence of Jesus, but ζωη (zoe’ life) is in fact supra-historical. We experience life in time even though the nature of life is eternal. No test tube can measure this transcendent dimension. Unfortunately, society most often fails to grasp this fact. Like the concept of love, life comes from another dimension that is not calculable with a computer.

Jesus identified himself as “Life.” (John 14:6, 11:25) My experience has led me to the conclusion that when we intercede for illness and brokenness, we are literally calling for a new surge of life to enter the person. When the name Jesus is invoked, the name focuses on the reality that releases empowerment, bringing change in the body and mind of needy people. The addition of new life brings the healing. Even when the body remains the same, new vitality touches the mind, the emotions, and the soul. I began to see that this transfer of vitality occurred in many of the people I interviewed. This means that when intercessors invoke the name of Jesus, life is released whether they realize it or not.

Another dimension for healings can be found in the Book of Genesis. The creation story makes it clear that humanity is to have dominion over the earth. We are part of a divine partnership which means we have a responsibility for what happens in this world. For example, we can pray for a nice lawn, but we don’t get Bermuda grass until we plant the seed. When we are struggling with illness and pain, it is important to make a connection with the heavenly Father for Him to release life in and through us. A process, a connection, exists between human need and the life God wants to pour into us when we are praying.

The Bible calls this bridge, this point of contact, “the laying on of hands.” As we have already noted, the palm of everyone’s hands naturally eludes a release of energy. You can feel this reality by bringing your palms together slowly until you sense the flow of warmth and energy. My conclusion is that the hands are a natural connection place for healing to be released. When we pray and intercede for a need and then put our hands on the other person, what Jesus called “the life” is transmitted to and through the person in some form.

Let’s go back to an analogy I used in an earlier blog. A large power line brings electricity to a transformer that brings electricity to our houses. The hook up is small compared to the power line but without the smaller wire, no lights would turn on in my home. Unfortunately, when there is no one to pray and intercede, many people are left to struggle with their painful condition. They lack the connection. Why does the system of life work this way? Because we are born with free will and our Creator waits for us to use that capacity to invite His intervention.  I found intercession and the laying on of hands to be part of the divine plan to bring connection for empowerment.

Sorry! I’ll be out of the country next week. My following blog will be in April.

HOW DO MIRACLES OCCUR?

Blog 114 March 17, 2019

Healing-Prayer

MIRACLES NEVER CEASE DO YOU HAVE AN EXPERIENCE TO SHARE? Robert Wise would be delighted to learn about your divine intervention. If you have a story to share, please contact him at revwise@att.net. He’s looking forward to hearing from you.

This week I want to return to the question of what actually happens when a divine intervention occurs. My conversations with a multitude of people suggest that the power of new life is added to a person’s struggling condition. Let’s look further.

The New Testament had a more expansive understanding of life than we generally recognize today. The Greek word zoe’ (ζωη) implies natural life or normal existence. (I Corinthians 15:45-48) The word implies living in health. (Mark 5:23). Consequently, life is a supreme good. (Mark 8:36-37) ) St. Paul was clear this bodily container of ζωη comes to end when we die.

Jesus’ miracles restored life as it was intended to be. All of this is true and possible because God is the only One who is the creator of life. All life originates in Him. (John 5:26) Whether we recognize it or not, a healthy vibrant life remains a gift from God. The Gospels tell us Jesus bestowed this gift on people in need. We can conclude that when the sick are prayed for, this supreme form of life is to some degree imparted to them.

Hidden in the folds of the scripture’s use of the word ζωη is the recognition that life implies a dependency on God. Whether understood or not, such remains true. As Jesus came preaching, both his words and his example made it clear that we should not live for ourselves but for God. (Romans 14:7-8) The scripture indicates that a cosmic event happened when Jesus was crucified that was for the good of the human race. Rather than only another Jew dying under the heavy hand of Rome, Christians contend that this death reached beyond history and effected every generation that followed. By giving up his life on the cross, Jesus broke the power of death and released new life that has never stopped flowing into this world. His wounds can heal our brokenness. Consequently, Christians believe they should live righteously for the good of the world because they have received ζωη from him. They are to live life with the awareness that every day is an anticipation of eternal life after they die. Paul expressed this insight when he wroteh that his life was not his own, but that of Christ living in him. (Galatians 2:19-20) Our present life is sustained by the certainty of that future. Ζωη offers this promise to us. When we pray for healing, we are calling for this reality of life to be increased in the person.

For the first three hundred years, believers struggled to completely define Jesus’ identity. Part of this struggle involved avoiding death from the Romans. During this time, the first church endeavored to clarify Jesus nature. Interestingly enough, this lack of precision and definition did not stop the flow of healing and restoration. I believe we can gather from that period that we don’t have to be dogmatic or 100% certain in how we define our beliefs to be able to reach for the hand of God to bring divine interventions. The people I interviewed would tell you the issue is not in theological precision, but in humbling ourselves and reaching out to receive.

We have a new website you might enjoy ~ THE EARLY CHURCH FOR TODAY. Surveying the first 3 centuries, we are examining the ancient Christian faith for today. The focus is practical, relevant, and inspirational. TUNE IN ~ Join us at earlyfaithfortoday.com

 

WHAT EMPOWERMENT ACCOMPLISHES!

Blog 113 March 10, 2019

it-is-well

MIRACLES NEVER CEASE ~ DO YOU HAVE AN EXPERIENCE TO SHARE? Robert Wise would be delighted to learn about your divine intervention. If you have a story to share, please contact him at revwise@att.net. He’s looking forward to hearing from you.

While dramatic empowerment is exciting, sometimes the more subtle work of the Holy Spirit touches us equally deeply. Such is the case with the story of Horatio G. Spafford, a successful lawyer and businessman in Chicago in a past century.

While his wife and four children were crossing the Atlantic, their ship collided with another vessel. Understanding the grave danger, Anna knelt with her four daughters and prayed as the ship was sinking. The daughters perished and only Anna survived. A sailor in a small rowboat saw her floating on a piece of debris and saved her.

Nine days later Anna Spafford landed in Cardiff, Wales. One of the survivors, Pastor Weiss remembers Anna saying, “God gave me four daughters. Now they are taken from me. Someday I will understand why.”

Anna immediately wired her husband. “Saved alone, what shall I do?”

Horatio Spafford immediately booked passage and sailed to join his wife. In four days, the ship approached the exact place where the four daughters had gone down. Horatio had the Captain awaken him when they sailed over that exact place. As he stood there on the deck in the cold wind, at that moment he prayed and then with tears rolling down his cheeks, he wrote these words in his journal.

When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like the sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot. Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well with my soul.

A Chorus came to mind:
It is well with my soul. It is well with my soul.

Spafford’s lines were put to music and over the following decades, millions of people have been moved by the power of those words without knowing where they came from or the circumstances that produced the hymn. Without understanding, they were moved by the same power that enabled Horatio Spafford to go on with his life after such an overwhelming loss.

He was sustained by the promise in Philippians 4:7. “And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, shall keep your heart and your mind through Christ Jesus.”

Anyone who has lost a child, much less four, will understand how the words of that beloved hymn reflect a divine intervention that sustained during the worst experience possible.

We have a new website you might enjoy ~ THE EARLY CHURCH FOR TODAY. Surveying the first 3 centuries, we are examining the ancient Christian faith for today. The focus is practical, relevant, and inspirational. TUNE IN Join us at earlyfaithfortoday.com

WHAT FORGIVENESS ACCOMPLISHES!

Blog 112 March 3, 2019

forgiveness

MIRACLES NEVER CEASE ~ DO YOU HAVE AN EXPERIENCE TO SHARE? Robert Wise would be delighted to learn about your divine intervention. If you have a story to share, please contact him at revwise@att.net. He’s looking forward to hearing from you.

Recently a former colleague shared the story of what happened in an Ash Wednesday Service several years ago. Church members were asked to write on a piece of paper some issue they needed to deal with during this season of the year. After they wrote their need, the paper was taken to the front of the church and dropped in a bowl of fire. One particular woman in the congregation had been sexually and physically abused by her father and couldn’t forgive him. She had not seen her father for two decades yet she knew she needed to forgive him and release  the hostility she held in her heart. With her hand trembling, she wrote “I forgive.”

Standing before the flame, she finally knew her anger was resolved and she dropped the piece of paper into the fire. As she watched the paper burn, the woman knew her hostility was resolved.

A week later the letter came to her house.

Her father had written that on that same night he was in a hospital miles away and was dying. He wrote that so many times he had sought forgiveness for how he treated her, but he couldn’t get over feeling guilty and remorseful. Knowing that he didn’t have much time left, he prayed for forgiveness once more.

With tears running down his cheeks, he looked up and saw a far-off light began to appear in the window. The glow became brighter and larger until the light filled the entire window frame. The radiance kept increasing in size. Finally, the man recognized a face in the midst of the splendor of light. He could barely speak as he looked at the divine countenance,. “Forgive me,” was all he could say.

A voice spoke and a hand extended toward him. “Here is your forgiveness,” the voice said and handed him a burnt piece of paper.

We have a new website you might enjoy ~ THE EARLY CHURCH FOR TODAY Surveying the first 3 centuries, we are examining the ancient Christian faith for today. The focus is practical, relevant, and inspirational. TUNE IN Join us at earlyfaithfortoday.com