Since 1998 I have been part of a prayer ministry at the Center for Prayer Mobilization founded by American Baptist pastor Paul Cox (now with www.aslansplace) in the mountain community of Idyllwild, California. I have found nothing in the Bible to refute the reality and legitimacy of what we have seen God do--in fact, the Gospels and the book of Acts would have us believe they represent the normal Christian life.
Since I began ministering at CPM, I have gone through formal training in spiritual warfare, power encounters, generational deliverance and inner healing with John Wimber, Dr. Neil Anderson, Dr. Charles Kraft, Paul Cox and Tim Price (current director of the Center) plus Restoring Shattered Lives (of DID and SRA survivors, by Dr. Tom and Diane Hawkins) and Theophostic ministry (Dr. Ed M. Smith) as well as learning from books by Cindy Jacobs, Rick Joyner, Frank and Ida Mae Hammond. I have been through Beth Moore's Breaking Free video series--twice. I have served on prayer teams, heading many of them, in nearly 40 intensive ministry weekends at the center.
But when we intercessors come together before a ministry weekend begins, we come with an empty toolbox. Every person we pray for is unique and even if their symptoms are similar, God's healing is custom-designed for each one. We have to depend on Him minute by minute for guidance, listening to Him with one ear and to the hurting person with the other. We seek, as Jesus did, to "go only where we see the Father going, do only what we see the Father doing, say only what we hear the Father saying."
I have noticed when I need it for ministry, God gives me a level of spiritual discernment I do not normally have. The gifts are His, after all, not ours, and He can give them to us for a lifetime--or loan us those we need for a particular occasion.
I've also noticed God's healing is not like man's. When I used to go to psychologists, I would get a "professional hour" (i.e., 50 minutes) of their time and when the hour was up I would have to climb off the operating table in the middle of surgery, exposed, bleeding, raw, and try to stay alive until the same time the following week.
By contrast, when God operates, He almost always does a complete healing in whatever time is available. He won't heal everything in an hour or an afternoon or a weekend--but He will heal and give closure to something, even if we only have ten minutes.
And, as Ed Smith, who founded Theophostic ministry, points out, even when we are learning healing ministry and "trying out" a method for the first time, experimenting with it, God works. He heals. He doesn't experiment.
*The first wave was the Pentecostal movement itself, swelling out of the Azusa Street Revival at the beginning of the 20th century. It had its roots in the holiness movement and revivalism of the 2nd Great Awakening in America during the 19th century. Modern Pentecostals are distinguished by three main doctrines: the baptism of the Holy Spirit following conversion, with the manifestations of speaking in tongues and divine healing.
The second wave was the Charismatic Renewal movement in the 1960s with the movement of the Holy Spirit through such manifestations, producing increased faith, hope and joy in a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ within Roman Catholic and some mainline Protestant churches. While Charismatics believe in the doctrine of Tongues, they do not place as much of an emphasis on this doctrine as Pentecostals do. In other words, it is possible to receive the baptism and not speak in tongues. Charismatics teach that you can get more of the Holy Spirit by being filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
The term "third wave" originated at Fuller Theological Seminary in 1981 under the classroom ministry of John Wimber, founder of the Association of Vineyard Churches. Church-growth specialist C. Peter Wagner first used the term, “Third Wave Movement” in his book "The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit: Encountering the Power of Signs and Wonders Today." Those associated with this movement do not wish to be labeled “Pentecostal” or “charismatic” despite sharing Pentecostal-like experiences and doctrines. They--we--simply wish to be known as evangelicals who are open to the Holy Spirit. Tongues may be part of an individual's experience but are downplayed.
We believe God can and does communicate outside of the Scripture and directly to His children, giving revelation apart from Scripture. All such "revelation" must be tested against written revelation and rejected if it contradicts the Bible.
We cite passages in the Old Testament regarding the last days, in which God promises to do "a new thing" (Isaiah 43:19), to give "latter rain" (Deuteronomy 11:13-14) and the gifts of prophecy, dreams and visions spreading to "all mankind: your sons and daughters, old men, young men, male and female servants" along with "signs and wonders." (Joel 2:28-30)
We believe individuals can be demonized; that is, a demon can live within a part of the body. Even a Christian can be demonized. A demon cannot inhabit the spirit of a Christian, but a demon can live in the body of a Christian.
We believe in Power Evangelism and Power Encounters. Jesus and the apostles met the needs of people by healing, casting out demons, and even raising the dead. A Power Encounter happens when the Kingdom of God encounters the Kingdom of Satan. It is here when God shows his power over Satan and gives enslaved people freedom and victory. We believe individuals can be demonized; that is, a demon can live within a part of the body. Even a Christian can be demonized. A demon cannot inhabit the spirit of a Christian, but a demon can live in the body of a Christian.
We also believe in Truth Encounters.
In this book I do not want to dispute doctrine. I just want to share what I watched God do during my first year of this ministry. To God be all the glory.
Today on BONUS FEATURES: PHOENIX MEMORABILIA: My journals
