Tag: laying on hands

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Forming (in) Community: Practicing Healing (2)

To listen to the audio teaching of these notes, click on:
http://followingjesus.org.za/sermons/being-the-beloved-being-formed-in-community-by-practicing-healing-2-part-26/

Recap Forming (in) community: the Second Practice of Healing

We “do community” (forming and being formed in community) through the practice and discipine, firstly of healthy relationships, and secondly of healing. Last week I focussed on healthy relationships/community as the primary means of receiving healing and growth to wholeness and maturity. The discipline of healing has two sides: the practice of receiving healing, and that of ministering healing. Here I focus on how we minister healing to one another in Jesus’ name – though we practice both at the same time as ‘wounded healers’ as taught in last week’s notes and my qualifying comments!

First let me paint three pictures of God’s church. The local church is a hospital for sinners that practices healing for wholeness. It’s NOT a hotel for saints – some churches are hotels and cost you dearly depending on how many stars they have! Church is not only a hospital, it’s a family for God’s children, practicing loving relationships for growth to maturity. If there’s not a critical mass of wholeness and maturity as family to absorb and heal the broken as hospital, the family will be overwhelmed and become dysfunctional. Thirdly, the local church is also God’s army at war with evil in all its forms, advancing God’s rule and reign of love in society. So, we’re all wounded healers – both patients and healers – and we’re all spiritual siblings and parents. But this is all with a view to being trained soldiers fighting the good fight of faith in society (1Tim 1:18 cf. 2Tim 4:7). We’ll come to the last one when I teach on our third value: fishing the world for God. Continue reading Forming (in) Community: Practicing Healing (2)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Report on Cape Town Ministry Trip

Gill and I returned home on Sunday night tired but filled with gratitude to God for the great time of ministry in Christian Life Camps Bay, Cape Town. I must confess: I did not take photos of the church and/or leadership meetings, or even the Saturday quiet retreat! I just took pics of beautiful Camps Bay itself! Forgive my carnality! Camps Bay with Lions Head mountain

On the first Sunday (15 April), and during the week, I taught on the call for every follower of Jesus to minister healing to others in the name of Jesus – what we call “equipping the saints.” This included me teaching the practical 5 step model of healing ministry. All those who came to this session practiced it with excitement and good feedback. For many, if not most in the congregation, it was a first to lay hands on people, and to see God work through them in ministering some measure of healing to others. Hopefully some will become really “hooked” on the joy and adventure of doing this Kingdom stuff … laying hands on anything that moves, speaking God’s words of healing by the power of the Holy Spirit!A room with a view!

This past Sunday morning (22 April) was a blast! I spoke on receiving healing in one or more of the six dimensions of human personality: spiritual healing, psycho-emotional healing from past hurts and bad memories, healing from demonizations, physical healing, relational healing, and healing of death and dying.  Many people responded all over the congregation in both the 0800 and 0930 morning services. All we could do was general ministry to those who responded, with everyone else standing up and laying hands on them to impart God’s healing presence. It was really wonderful. There is NOTHING like the quiet moving of the Spirit, the pregnant presence of God that fills the atmosphere, with people crying softly, others trembling, and many being touched and freed up in all sorts of ways. There is NO substitute for God’s manifest presence. It cannot be engineered, manufactured, hyped, or pretended, just invited. My beautiful wife on the rocks (don't tell her I said this, she doesn't read my blog!)

Continue reading Report on Cape Town Ministry Trip