When a wheelchair user walks

It’s not often that we get to witness multiple miracles within a short time span. But that’s what happened to me, over the course of two evenings, about a month ago.

I have already alluded to it elsewhere on my blog – here – where I shared the incredible testimony story of Mark Hemans, the man behind the two evenings that I attended. If you haven’t taken time to read / watch / listen to it, then I commend it to you.

Suffice to say, having been miraculously healed and delivered from an aggressive late stage skin cancer, God has given Mark a remarkable ministry of healing and deliverance. So I want to share some of what I observed when he came to visit a city not too far from my home …

***

It is tipping down with rain when my friend and I walk into the venue. It used to be a cinema, but it now houses a Black Majority Pentecostal Church, and the room is packed to capacity with people from many nations.

The atmosphere is ‘thick’ with the presence of the Holy Spirit, in a way that isn’t easy to explain. It means I’m immediately aware of my sinfulness – and God’s holiness.

I don’t dwell on it for long, as we are led into a time of Jesus-centred praise and worship. The band are standing to the side of the stage, facilitating rather than dominating, and they have chosen a set of songs that focuses on God and all his glorious attributes. There is no sense of performance, only humility.

We are led in corporate confession, forgiveness, repentance of sin, and a time of getting into right relationship before the Lord – whether for the first time or the umpteenth time. This isn’t rushed, and there is much weeping and wailing, as people grieve over their sin in the presence of Almighty God.

By the time Mark Hemans opens his Bible to preach the Good News of Jesus, everyone is ready to receive it. It is an anointed sermon – in stark contrast to the powerlessness that so often emanates from our pulpits – and what follows is an outpouring of miraculous signs and wonders in the name of Jesus.

Over to my right, a middle-aged man pushes himself out of his wheelchair and into a standing position, takes a step and falteringly starts to walk. He has been using the wheelchair for 19 years. Yet the more he circles the auditorium, the more the strength surges into his legs.

“You won’t be needing that anymore,” Mark tells the man, pointing to the wheelchair. The man grins, carries on walking and then jumps for joy. “Jesus has healed me,” he declares.

Just behind me, another middle-aged man leaps to his feet, out of his walker. I hear him gasp and turn around, as he leaps high into the air.

“I’ve had arthritis in my knees for more than a decade, but it’s just gone,” he says, “Jesus has healed me.”

“You won’t be wanting your walker now then,” his sister, sitting next to him, pronounces, grinning from ear to ear.

A young boy, aged three or four, speaks for the first time under the power of Jesus. His mother comes to the front to testify into the microphone, weeping as she holds her son. “Until this evening, he has always been non-verbal,” she tells us, through her tears, “but Jesus has healed him.”

Another young boy, also pre-school age, has been walking on the inside of his feet. But his legs become straight. He, too, has been non-verbal. Yet he starts to speak. His mother is overcome with tears of joy, as she comes to the microphone, her son hugging her waist. “Look at what Jesus has done for him,” she says, showing us his legs.

A slightly older boy, aged about nine or ten, also comes to the microphone. “Jesus just healed me of autism,” he declares, oozing with confidence in front of such a large crowd.

Both evenings, the same pattern is followed, and it is hard to keep track of all that is happening across the auditorium … Several people are delivered from demons. Another is released from chronic pain caused by endometriosis. Another straightens her spine as its curvature vanishes. Broken relationships are reconciled. Blind eyes are opened. Deaf ears are unstopped.

I can feel my faith rising …

***

As I recall and record these recent events, I can’t help but wonder how Jesus’ first followers felt, when they witnessed the signs and wonders he performed, helpfully recorded for us in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  

I also find myself reflecting on the pattern that God intended for His church: First the preaching of His word, then the demonstration of His power, the latter always designed to follow on from the former:

“Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:20)

“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,” writes Paul, “but with a demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)

How much has this been lost in modern-day church? What if it became a pattern that were to return? Would we be ready?

As ever, constructive comments would be welcome below.

Photo from StevePB via Pixabay