AFTERWARDS

"For neither did his brethren believe in him."  (John 7:5)

It may be that some of you would like to hear how the healing service went.

While I'm certainly a very ordinary and very fallible person (who gets sick!) and I have never claimed to have "the Gift of Healing", I have seen God do mighty things in my life regarding healing.  In 2001, my sister Dianne and I laid hands on our accountant who was very ill with cancer. We were meeting with him regarding the settlement of my parents' Estate at the time.  Jim, the accountant, told us he was not doing well and in fact, that as soon as our appointment was done, he was checking himself into the Norwood Hospital. Dianne and I laid hands on him right in his office and prayed for a miraculous healing. A few months later I called his office to set up my regular tax appointment.  I guess my faith had been weak, because I was amazed that he was perfectly well and had been MIRACULOUSLY HEALED OF CANCER!  My wife and I just had our tax appointment with him this past Saturday, and he brought up the subject of having been miraculously healed of cancer.  He is still fine.

A few weeks ago, as I was driving along the MassPike in western Massachusetts, God spoke to me and called me to have a healing service in which I would pray for the sick.  It was not an audible voice, but it might as well have been.  It was SO clear.

This involved a LOT of perparation work because when you are planning a special healing service and opening things up to family, friends, and the community at large,  there's a lot to do.  As many of you know, I put out several e-mails about it.  We also put out (for us) a pretty high quality "hard copy" mailing to our mailing list.  There was fasting and prayer that went into preparing for the service.  No kidding.

I will say that several leaders of our church (including me) experienced TREMENDOUS spiritual oppression and opposition over the past couple of weeks.  It would take much too much space to describe all of the problems, difficulties, and just plain spiritual oppression that took place-  I believe this opposition and oppression was from the spiritual powers of darkness.

Over the past few years, our church has endeavored to "put on" several special services and events with mostly very poor results.  I began to struggle with fear that this would be just one more of those events.   I suspected there would be a "challenging" weather forecast for Sunday, and there was.

Even so, I KNEW (and I still know) that God absolutely called for this service.

Sunday morning, I was experiencing a myriad of emotions...joy, fear, anticipation, excitement, worry, plus bursts of energy and fatigue at the same time.  The attendance for Sunday morning was considerably DOWN.  I could easily have become discouraged about that.  I had to really FIGHT it.  I taught a very good adult Sunday School class.  We had several good sessions of prayer...first with the Board early in the day, and then with some of the men just  before the service.  Yes, the attendance for the service WAS way down, but the musicians sang and played their hearts out and I preached my heart out.  The offering was low and really put us in a "financial situation".  I was kind of nervous about that, but I figured we'd make things up on Sunday night.

Sunday afternoon's weather was "wild".  Sun, drizzle, and intense snow squalls INTERMITTENTLY!  Like Sunday morning, I was experiencing a myriad of emotions: joy, fear, anticipation, excitement, worry, plus bursts of energy and fatigue at the same time...sounds familiar, doesn't it...although the intensity was triple what it was in the morning.  I spent a good deal of time in prayer on Sunday afternoon.

In the past, our very small group of church people has often worked their hearts out to put on special events, and then been emotionally crushed when they did not go well. With all of my heart I did not want to see that happen!  I was determined that no matter how many or how few people showed up on Sunday night, I was going to give the service my all.  Fifteen minutes before the service, I don't think 10 people had even showed up.  Five minutes before the service there might have been 14 present.  In a private room before the service I was trying to muster up all the courage and strength I could, but I was battling disappointment in people and anger.  I had to remind myself that God called me to have the service, and that I needed to give it my very best. 

We had a total of 17 people show up.  Honestly, in one way or another, at least 110 people had been invited.  When I prayed for the service, I had pictured 50 or 60 people being present.  There was only one visitor.  The visior was a female friend of mine and Mary Ann's from Norwood.  I was SO grateful that she came!  The music was good.  I think I preached an outstanding sermon.  I anointed with oil and prayed over and prophesied over around 8 people.  Not everyone who reads this may understand it but I was under an mighty anointing when I prayed over at least 2 of the people.  There was a powerful sense of God's presence over at least those 2.  I have no doubt that God touched several people in special ways, and I'm looking forward to hearing special testimonies about what was done!

What was difficult is that one of our leaders looked cold, distant, and angry throughout the entire service.  I wondered if I was misreading that person, but that's how the person looked, and that's what I was feeling.  After the service, someone tried to greet that person and did not get a very friendly response. 

I don't want to reveal a lot of information about who the angry person was, but again, it was a LEADER in our church.  Later on, someone told me the person had angrily, cynically, and disgustedly said, "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M DOING HERE!!  THERE'S NO SENSE IN ME EVEN BEING HERE!"

After the service, a few of us compared notes.  (NOT that angry person...others.)  Several said they felt that God DID move in a powerful way in the service, BUT that there was TREMENDOUS spiritual opposition and it was like we were up against a wall.

We were.

I will say, ministry in this church in Framingham has always been difficult.  In the 21 years of pastoring this church, nothing has been easy.  Spiritual oppression and opposition have been the norm.  There have been little victories here and there, after enormous labor.  One of the reasons I admire John McCain so much (and YES for my political friends, I know he is on the "wrong" side of many issues) is that I feel in a SPIRITUAL sense I have experienced in Framingham the kind of torture he experienced in Hanoi.  McCain was a guy who just never gave up, and I don't give up, either.

I am grateful for the presence of God on Sunday night.  I am grateful for the anointing.   I am devastated by the negative comments and attitude of the person I mentioned because I genuinely care about that person.

Initially, I was angry immediately after the service.  I felt like the church needed lots of prayer support and moral support tonight from friends of the church and friends of mine from OUTSIDE of our congregation that we (mostly) didn't get.  I believe there were supposed to be at LEAST another 15 people present. 

On a mercenary note, because of the financial situation I did not get paid on Sunday.

I kind of vented and got depressed for a half hour after the service, but then I pulled myself together and calmed down.  As my wife pointed out, "WHO called you to have this service?" And, it's true, God did.  I will be interested to see and hear testimonies of healing and other things God did as a result of the service.   At times I've been told I'm crazy to stay at this church...that I'm an outstanding and dymanic speaker and teacher and that at 53-years-old I deserve better.  Well, I do deserve better, but I'm not going anyplace. 

In my depressed half hour I said, "Well, I'm not having any more healing services because after tonight  nobody will come!".  NO, I take that back.  I'm having more.  LOTS more.   There is NO way I am ceding this church or my ministry or even this community to the powers of darkness.  NO WAY!

I'd love to hear from you!