The Journey 221
Read: Psalms 34
We all are called by God, and we have been entrusted different duties and ministries that reveal the plan and purpose of God in our life and also through our ministry bring glory to God and in the process work for the extension of God’s kingdom on the earth. But there are preachers and church leaders who sometimes goes beyond the level of human understanding on the kind of ministry that they do to “to bring glory to God”. What caught my attention in the news is the controversy that has been created in a preachers' forthcoming visit to England. The name of the preacher and pastor is Todd Bentley who leads a church named the Fresh Fire Ministries. Todd is involved in healing ministry, but what is strange about his ministry is the way he does his healing ministry. He kicks people hard to cure them of desiese like cancer. Todd claims that once he healed a man suffering from colon cancer by kicking him hard on his stomach and in another instance Todd says that Holy Spirit inspired him to kick the face of the lady and as soon as he kicked her she fell under the power of God. Todd claims that he has brought 33 people back from the dead, removed tumors and cured polio by kicking on the leg. Moreover Todd claims that he was a All this has led one of the MP’s in the British Parliament to seek a ban on Todd performing his kind of healing ministry in England. That has not borne fruit and now Todd will be having his healing ministry in England starting on August 30th. Though one cannot fully ascertain the genuiness of this healing ministry, what I am not able to comprehend is the tool that Todd uses for healing– Kicking. But more than Todd what makes me think, is how come there are people who are willing to go to preacher and is also ready and willing to get kicked on the stomach or face or any other part of the body, so that they get healed or be a part of a worshipping community that believes that these are the ways by which we worship God?. This also brings to light the desperation that people sometimes are when faced with crisis and sickness, resulting into seeking help that comes in the most weirdest form. That raises the question as whether our faith perception forces us to do the most strange things just to get healing?
The theme for our meditation is “Transformed Living”. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is a well know Psalms 34. This is psalms that praises the goodness of God even when we all go through different experiences of life. Each of the verses in this psalms instills hope and confidence in the Lord. Psalmist testifies that when we pray to the Lord he will answer to our prayer, when the helpless call on the Lord, the Lord will hear their cry and save them from all their trouble. Later in v: 18, the psalmist says that the Lord is near to those who are discouraged and he gives them hope, the good people will have troubles but the Lord will save them from all. Thus every verse in this Psalms is a verse that tells us that we need to trust in the providence of God and in his goodness. What the Psalmist teaches us is that even the righteous people will go through suffering and pain, but what matters at the time of these crisis and suffering is how steadfast we are in our trust and in our faith in our God who is all powerful and gracious to save us from all troubles. It is when we loose this focus and perspective, it is then that we are willing to sometimes go to the most weirdest extent and to anyone who claims that they will deliver us from all trouble. Hence the phenomena in our church where people migrate from one church to another church seeking health and healing from their sickness and crisis. We need to understand it is not the preacher nor the church that guarantees hope and healing in our pain and our crisis, but the faith and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. Willing to get kicked or willing to totally trust in the Lord.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
We all are called by God, and we have been entrusted different duties and ministries that reveal the plan and purpose of God in our life and also through our ministry bring glory to God and in the process work for the extension of God’s kingdom on the earth. But there are preachers and church leaders who sometimes goes beyond the level of human understanding on the kind of ministry that they do to “to bring glory to God”. What caught my attention in the news is the controversy that has been created in a preachers' forthcoming visit to England. The name of the preacher and pastor is Todd Bentley who leads a church named the Fresh Fire Ministries. Todd is involved in healing ministry, but what is strange about his ministry is the way he does his healing ministry. He kicks people hard to cure them of desiese like cancer. Todd claims that once he healed a man suffering from colon cancer by kicking him hard on his stomach and in another instance Todd says that Holy Spirit inspired him to kick the face of the lady and as soon as he kicked her she fell under the power of God. Todd claims that he has brought 33 people back from the dead, removed tumors and cured polio by kicking on the leg. Moreover Todd claims that he was a All this has led one of the MP’s in the British Parliament to seek a ban on Todd performing his kind of healing ministry in England. That has not borne fruit and now Todd will be having his healing ministry in England starting on August 30th. Though one cannot fully ascertain the genuiness of this healing ministry, what I am not able to comprehend is the tool that Todd uses for healing– Kicking. But more than Todd what makes me think, is how come there are people who are willing to go to preacher and is also ready and willing to get kicked on the stomach or face or any other part of the body, so that they get healed or be a part of a worshipping community that believes that these are the ways by which we worship God?. This also brings to light the desperation that people sometimes are when faced with crisis and sickness, resulting into seeking help that comes in the most weirdest form. That raises the question as whether our faith perception forces us to do the most strange things just to get healing?
The theme for our meditation is “Transformed Living”. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is a well know Psalms 34. This is psalms that praises the goodness of God even when we all go through different experiences of life. Each of the verses in this psalms instills hope and confidence in the Lord. Psalmist testifies that when we pray to the Lord he will answer to our prayer, when the helpless call on the Lord, the Lord will hear their cry and save them from all their trouble. Later in v: 18, the psalmist says that the Lord is near to those who are discouraged and he gives them hope, the good people will have troubles but the Lord will save them from all. Thus every verse in this Psalms is a verse that tells us that we need to trust in the providence of God and in his goodness. What the Psalmist teaches us is that even the righteous people will go through suffering and pain, but what matters at the time of these crisis and suffering is how steadfast we are in our trust and in our faith in our God who is all powerful and gracious to save us from all troubles. It is when we loose this focus and perspective, it is then that we are willing to sometimes go to the most weirdest extent and to anyone who claims that they will deliver us from all trouble. Hence the phenomena in our church where people migrate from one church to another church seeking health and healing from their sickness and crisis. We need to understand it is not the preacher nor the church that guarantees hope and healing in our pain and our crisis, but the faith and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. Willing to get kicked or willing to totally trust in the Lord.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla