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Tom
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   Posted 9/14/2002 12:47 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Hi all-

Our local church here in Beirut just held funeral services for a four year old girl, Sol (named after the musical note "Sol" I think), who died this past week after struggling for a couple of years with Lukemia.

Hundreds, thousands of people around the world were praying for her. No lack there.

There were lots of prophecies and visions declaring God's intention to heal Sol. Her healing would be a great blessing to the churches here and God would use it to save lots of people.

The day she died, there was an African pastor in Africa who--we had heard--had a vision of a girl rising from the dead. He heard about Sol and requested a faxed picture. It was sent. When he saw the picture he said, "That's the girls. She's gonna rise!"

The family prayed for three days and then had to bury her.

On the way home from the funeral my kids (ages 17, 13, and 12; the 8 year old was playing G.I. Joe) asked me, "Dad, why didn't God heal Sol? I can't be because there was no prayer or faith. Did he not want to? Did he want to but couldn't?"

After more than two years of studying the open view and dialoging here about evil, providence, and God's will in the world, I was able to tell them, "I really don't know."

I mean, would God's healing Sol have broken some "rule" or infringed upon somebody's frew will? Or was the faith perfectly sufficient but God required Sol's death for some higher purpose. Would the universe have been that much worse off if God had healed her?

Are there ANY answers out there?

Tom

"Every saint has a history and every sinner a future." Oscar Wilde

Edited by - TGB on 09/14/2002 05:51:35 AM
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selah
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   Posted 9/14/2002 1:53 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Hey Tom,

I hear ya.


Maranatha!
selah

Then He showed me the river whose waters give life, sparkling like crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Rev. 22:1
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Starkman
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   Posted 9/14/2002 2:12 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Hey Tom,

Nice to see you're back!

You know, the ONE thing that always comes to my mind and bothers me when these sensitive issues come here on the board--either hypothetical or real situations--is this: if God wanted to, He could have healed. I believe He wants to BUT the reason He doesn't sometimes is not just because it serves a greater good not to, but that it may simply be that the rules of engagement in the war between God and Satan--the unseen rules which only snippits, such as the book of Job hint toward--prohibit God from doing something.

It just doesn't seem that every time God doesn't heal that it's because of a greater good. And I don't adhere to the idea that God just doesn't want to heal; Christ exemplifies the heart of God at its best, and He was always willing to heal. So . . . is there something else going on behind the scenes which simply prohibit God from moving in some directions though He wants to. Perhaps lack of prayer on our part, lack of faith . . . take your choice on the many variables and there goes the mind's gears in to find-and-grind again!

It bothers me, this does.

Starkman

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Mephi2K
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   Posted 9/14/2002 2:34 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
THANK YOU, TOM!

Episodes like this condition my theologizing on this matter strongly?

Uncertainty. Ambiguity. "I don't know."


God heals one person almost instantly, another dies a long painful death. Sucks. In the end, what ELSE can be said about stuff like this? What "easy answer" can be given? NONE of the potential answers you gave can be ruled out of hand...but none of them can be confirmed either (outside of God's revelation). A harsh truth, but one we must accept.

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PotOnWheel
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   Posted 9/14/2002 4:59 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
I've learned recently that the familiar phrase "now and not yet" is contemporary, and owed to an Oscar Cullman. I've found that expression borrowed to express truth long since embedded in Reformed and Orthodox theology.

YES, Christ healed. And Yes, that healing is for this little girl too. And in part she did receive. But we should not be faint of heart, because she shall, IN CHRIST, participate in it wholly.

Christ trampled down death by death, and to those in the tombs He bestowed life.

Do you believe that?

quote:
Let the heavens rejoice!
Let the earth be glad!
For the Lord has shown strength with His aart!
He has trampled down death by death!
He has become the first born of the dead!
He has delivered us from the depths of hell,
and has granted to the world great mercy.



You all continue to suffer. But for that little girl, this is only the beginning.


My mother, we think, wrote the following (that was posted at her funeral):


quote:

"THERE IS NO DEATH"
There is no death.
Death is just the light
being turned off,
Because the day has come.
(J.A.R.W.J.)




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Springs
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   Posted 9/14/2002 6:45 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Perhaps we are so used to the good life, any suffering has become evil. Like Iconoclast said, pain isn’t always evil nor is good always pleasure.

I don’t know if Leukemia is painful. I don’t know the extent to which she suffered. I know that it can’t be compared to the glory she entered. I wonder if the child’s relatives suffered more than she did?

Sickness is a trial, and Christ said we would suffer in this world. I’m not saying we shouldn’t pray against suffering, but I think praying for salvation is more important. I would have prayed for the physical preservation of the life of the child but also prayed fervently for the salvation of the family as they passed through the trial.

I wonder how big a following the African preacher had. He obviously did not hear from God. I wonder how many people have been released from the deception of this false prophet. I wonder how many other false prophets were humbled. Perhaps many lives have been saved.

Springs




Edited by - Springs on 09/14/2002 11:45:58 PM
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writerdad
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   Posted 9/14/2002 7:53 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
The simple fact is that all those who said (had prophecies, etc.) she was going to be healed, lied and should be shamed for the heartache they brought to others. They should not be trusted.
The simple fact is people will state "God heals one but not the other," as if it were a one to one ratio, which it is not. The vast majority of the world (both Christian and non-christian) are not healed by God. Christians should learn to deal with this and help kids to realize this fundamental fact. Christians err by ASSUMING God will heal, because they assume they can have the same power that Jesus had. WRONG!
We are followers of Jesus, we are not Jesus. Instead of letting kids down by building them up into believing God will heal someone when the chances are good he will not, we should be (gently) help them to realize that God loves us through this fallen world and that the world to come is much more wonderful than this. The problem is Christians assume God will always heal. Or he should always heal. Wrong.

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Tom
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   Posted 9/14/2002 8:36 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Thanks all! You're a nice family!

Al, I love the poem from your Mom's funeral.

Tom

"Every saint has a history and every sinner a future." Oscar Wilde
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brandi
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   Posted 9/14/2002 9:10 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Tom,
I want to share some words I kept hearing back when we had been praying for someone who had cancer. We were praying for a healing but deep inside I felt that this physical healing was not meant to be. I kept hearing this small voice within me saying "Sometimes God heals but people do die." The healing I believe this person received before they died was a spiritual/emotional healing. They died at peace with death whereas at the beginning of their diagnosis of cancer they had been petrified to die.

We will never fully understand the reason God chooses to take an innocent child's life but we know that death is not the end but only the beginning of the promise.


My prayers will be with the family.
~Brandi~

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timlings
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   Posted 9/15/2002 7:02 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Hey Tom and everyone

This is a really tough issue. There aren't any easy answers, and the easy ones are usually the wrong ones.

My feeling about it all is that we are stuck within a tension of 'now and not yet.' I believe that Jesus can heal people, and even though we are only followers of Jesus, he did make the crazy promise that we will do greater things than he did. After all, Jesus could only heal because he was filled with Spirit to the fullness. And so we see healing through the same Spirit. Hurrah!

Yet, there's also loads of stuff going on in the spiritual realm that we can't see and don't know about. There's a war going on, and so people get hurt. God may be being restricted in our lives and in our nations, due to lack of faith, demonic strongholds, that sort of thing.

But there are 2 responses that I don't think are helpful. If we set our sights too low, we won't see much. "After all, we don't see much healings, so let's not get our hopes up." I've heard a story about a church who put on healing services. A speaker came to visit them, and started seeing amazing healings all over the place. But everyone, even the church, were really surprised, as nothing like this had happened before. Yet they were persevering with praying for the sick because they wanted "the bible to be our experience, not experience our bible". It's like in a battle; if you go in assuming you're not going to see a victory, chances are you won't.

BUT... I'm also really wary of prophecies about healing. I want to see the proof! Sometimes they can be an encouragement to keep on pushing through prayer, but mostly they lead to complacency, that healing will be innevitable. If they don't get healed, and die, it wreakes havok on people's faith.

So, we should pray expectantly, although aware that God's Kingdom hasn't come in all its fullness yet. But of course, no prayers are wasted. Who knows what God's doing because of all that prayer that's gone up? God may not answer as we expect, but wil still use our prayer. Hurrah!

love

Tim

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Electra
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   Posted 9/15/2002 9:23 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Tom,

So sorry to hear about Sol’s death.

There are very clear answers to questions raised by untimely death. But we need to ask the right question. When it comes to healing, the question is not “Can’t God?” or “Won’t God?” but rather, “When will God?” Sometimes the answer is “Here, now!” But when it isn’t, cling to the comfort that can come from visions like the African pastor’s: God can and will raise Sol. Until God does, we grieve her absence, comforting one another with the confidence that God can and will ensure that disease and death are not the end of her story.

Electra

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Matt. 10:8
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Pentemento
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   Posted 9/15/2002 1:56 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
So sorry about little Sol.
I have struggled with this question for years too. My mother was injured on our way to church 39 years ago, she was paralyzed from the neck down - with 3 little children and my dad a pastor. She lived for 9 more years and died despite thousands of people praying for her - never walked again either. All of that makes me sad, but we grew up with a warfare world view, and it did not seem 'unfair' to me.
I still find it interesting that a believer will even have any attachment to whether or not they are healed or if they die. I'm ready to leave this world -which holds no fascination for me! I know my loved ones would be sad, but they will see me again.
It is a sad and terrible thing to lose a child - I know. But for a believer it is NOT the end at all. I believe that I will raise my lost children in heaven - halleluia.
I get the same confusion when people are discussing using fetus tissue, or experimenting on animals to lengthen life here on earth. Why? It isn't such a great party here! I can't wait for Jesus to come back and for all of us to be reunited, where he will wipe all tears from our eyes. That is the one thing I cling to after many losses - Jesus feels my pain, and has promised to heal it.

Pentemento
"The artist repents"
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GregBoyd
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   Posted 9/16/2002 4:22 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Electra: we need to ask the right question. When it comes to healing, the question is not “Can’t God?” or “Won’t God?” but rather, “When will God?”

Doc: I think this is insightful Electra. It points us to the eschaton as the ultimate "healing." Still, I think the "can't/won't" question is unavoidable, especially in the light of Jesus' clear precedent of demonstrating the will of the Father by healing people.

One has one of two options, as I see it. Either the mystery of why this girl wasn't healed is located in God's will, or its located in the mystery of creation. This is equivalent to the "won't/can't" options. I think it important to land squarely in the latter category. Given the kind of the creation God brought about, he CAN'T always get his way. The world is a war zone, with many things happening against God's will and that grieve God's heart. Young children dying is certainly one of them.

Doc

"In Christ...the ONLY THING that matters is faith energized by love." Galatians 5:6
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Electra
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   Posted 9/16/2002 5:48 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Electra: we need to ask the right question. When it comes to healing, the question is not “Can’t God?” or “Won’t God?” but rather, “When will God?”

Doc: I think this is insightful Electra. It points us to the eschaton as the ultimate "healing." Still, I think the "can't/won't" question is unavoidable, especially in the light of Jesus' clear precedent of demonstrating the will of the Father by healing people.

One has one of two options, as I see it. Either the mystery of why this girl wasn't healed is located in God's will, or its located in the mystery of creation. This is equivalent to the "won't/can't" options. I think it important to land squarely in the latter category. Given the kind of the creation God brought about, he CAN'T always get his way. The world is a war zone, with many things happening against God's will and that grieve God's heart. Young children dying is certainly one of them.

Doc
Asking “why questions”—e.g. “why didn’t God heal Sol?” run us right into problematic answers like “God couldn’t” or “God wouldn’t” (just because I think they’re problematic doesn’t mean I don’t think they’re worth exploring—but perhaps a more appropriate format for such an exploration would be lament, like psalm 22). Asking “when questions” allow us to affirm with Scripture that when it comes to healing, God can and God will. In addition to the witness of Scripture, we have a foretaste of God’s healing whenever God heals in the here and now. Whenever we pray for healing, we hasten the day. These prayers are never in vain.

Electra

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Matt. 10:8
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Modes of Thought
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   Posted 9/16/2002 7:18 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Nice thoughts Electra. I think that this is a particularly profound and helpful insight. We may not like God's timing, but we dare not imply that God "can't" do something simply because we are not able to understand how it is that God has not done it (to our satisfaction) so far. Reminds me of Heb. 11:13-16, 39-40.:

"All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them....Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect."

We "first world folks" seem to have totally forgotten the biblical principle of suffering in relation to perfection and glorification. This is not suffering for suffering's sake, but suffering for perfection's sake (transformation into the likeness of Christ).

The theme is seen in passages such as:
Luke 24:26, 46.
Acts 3:18, 5:41, 9:16, 17:3, 26:23
Romans 5:3, 8:17, 12:12
2 Cor. 12:9, 13:9
Phil. 1:29
Heb. 2:10, 5:8-10 (Heb. 11:17-38 is key here as well)
2 Tim. 1:8, 2:3, 4:5
James 5:10
1 Pet. 1:3-12, 2:19, 3:17, 4:19
Rev. 2:10

Here's a taste of the idea: "They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented--of whom the world was not worthy."

And yet Paul has the audacity to say: "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us."

I don't know about anyone else, but I am deeply challenged by the faith present in people who can speak like this. Most of American Christianity is therpuetic in nature. And I am deeply sympathetic to that. I am all for healing and restoration, but it just strikes me somehow this American version is missing something deep in the framing of this whole problem of evil and how we respond to it. Or rather what posture we take with regard to God in terms of how we actually suffer it. I am not speaking from experience here, I am just mystified by the biblical pattern and its contrast with Christianity as I know it.

Just thinking out loud....It seems that Electra's eschatological emphasis is directly on point. It asks a different question. Not "why or why not God?" but "How long O' Lord?!?"

"Christianly understood, truth is obviously not to know the truth but to be the truth. Despite all modern philosophy, there is an infinite difference here..." SK
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Mephi2K
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   Posted 9/16/2002 7:26 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Excellent point, Modes. Quite. And not to be overly redundant, but, this definitely factors into the ambiguity of the whole thing. Definitely.

Holla,




Edited by - Mephi2K on 09/16/2002 12:26:52 PM
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Tom
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   Posted 9/16/2002 8:59 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
And let's allow the "When" question into theodicy at large too. It does come out in the wash in the end. Some of it gets settled here, but what's not settled here gets settled eschatologically. Psalm, eh, let's see, 73 maybe?..."Then I entered the house of God and understood their (the wicked who prosper in this life) end."

Tom

"Every saint has a history and every sinner a future." Oscar Wilde
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PotOnWheel
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   Posted 9/16/2002 11:05 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Good, Tom.

And the drum I'm going to beat is that of humanness (anthropology) and personhood. A saved body with a lost soul is no victory. The TRUE freedom to live the role God which created us and the cosmos to co-occupy is the only victory.


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PotOnWheel
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   Posted 7/28/2004 11:00 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by Al2Si2H4O9

quote:

"THERE IS NO DEATH"
There is no death.
Death is just the light
being turned off,
Because the day has come.
(J.A.R.W.J.)


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PotOnWheel
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   Posted 7/28/2004 11:02 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by Electra

Tom,

So sorry to hear about Sol’s death.

There are very clear answers to questions raised by untimely death. But we need to ask the right question. When it comes to healing, the question is not “Can’t God?” or “Won’t God?” but rather, “When will God?” Sometimes the answer is “Here, now!” But when it isn’t, cling to the comfort that can come from visions like the African pastor’s: God can and will raise Sol. Until God does, we grieve her absence, comforting one another with the confidence that God can and will ensure that disease and death are not the end of her story.

Electra

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Matt. 10:8

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John Earp
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   Posted 7/28/2004 1:24 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Though I come from a tradition that emphatically believes in and prays for physical healing of the sick, and though I've seen some bona fide, medically documented miracles among my own family and friends, I think we are simply naive if we think that it is ALWAYS God's will to heal, and we are simply foolish if we think that somehow we can force God's hand by our prayers, our faith, our importunity, etc. God heals when he is so inclined. But He obviously chooses not to whenever he pleases. Physical healing of each and every sickness or disease in this life is never promised to us anywhere in Scripture. Deliverance from all pain, suffering, and sorrow in this world is never promised to anyone in Scripture.

Perhaps because we were the same age and we were good friends, one of the most deeply moving memories from my childhood is that of a little girl in the church my dad pastored. Her name was Tammy, and she was afflicted with cancer. After a horrendous struggle for a couple of years with chemo, loosing her hair, becoming emaciated, and suffering terribly, the following incident happened.

We were having a pot-luck dinner in the basement of our church (Central A/G in Chicago, IL). After we had all pretty much finished eating, Tammy's mom noticed Tammy had wandered off. A bit concerned, she went looking for her and finally found her upstairs in the sanctuary, sitting at the grand piano, as she often did. Tammy was quite an accomplished piano player. When her mom told her she had been looking for her and asked her what she had been doing, Tammy matter-of-factly replied, "Talking to Jesus."

She went on to explain that while she was playing the piano, Jesus had come into the room and sat next to her on the piano bench. He had told her how much he loved her and that in a few days she was going to get to come and stay with Him at his house. Tammy's mother pondered these things in her heart and told no one.

In a few days, Tammy's condition took a sharp turn for the worse, and she was again admitted to the hospital. Within three weeks of her being so graciously visited by Jesus, precious little Tammy breathed her last breath in this world and went home with the Jesus she so loved and who so loved her.

I have never once felt that when God doesn't heal someone such as Tammy that it in any way impugns the love of God, nor that it contradicts his omnipotence.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.



"The Discovery of new truth will modify old views and opinions, and there is perhaps no end to this process with finite minds in any world." Charles G. Finney, Systematic Theology.

revivaltheology.net

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Bobber
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   Posted 7/28/2004 1:57 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Hi Folks, Blush

I believe as far as God is concerned it's his will to heal everyone. The Bible states in Isaiah 53 that it is by his stripes that we are healed. Yes I know some will exclaim that's talking about spiritual healing but Mat 8:17 states Jesus used this scripture as a foundation to bring about physcial healing. Is Jesus not the same yesterday, today and forever? but what about times when Christians have prayed for people and they have not been healed? That must be a sign right that God didn't want to heal them? Well I know people preach that and declare that but as we study the gospels we see one certain time the disciples coulnd't get someone delivered but hold on now...Jesus still pointed out to them that God was willing but they themselves in how they approched the problem they failed.

Forgive me but it seems that we don't ever want to even hear it suggested that we may have failed on our part. I don't think the general problem is lack of faith but as we study the scriptures I think the general problem is not understanding how faith to receive from God works. If one doesn't receive healing for whatever reason are they to be condemned? Most certainly not. If a person doesn't see their healing manifested keep in mind it's a great victory to go to heaven, but lets not sweep under the rug the very possiblity that a person may not be understanding faith to receive properly. If we suggest there's no possible way we could be wrong in what we're doing never at any time I suggest that is somewhat of a pride statement .Sorry if I offend anyone by stating or suggesting these things but give it some thought. I do realize it's a sensitive issue with folks. Have A Nice Day Blush
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PotOnWheel
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   Posted 7/28/2004 2:15 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
One of my twin nieces didn't go to college. A week before moving back to America she was in a car/truck head-on and died instantly.

My sister prayed and asked God why if he had protected this dear child of hers all over Europe on missions trips, and to Africa and India HADN'T he protected her then too.

The answer came that God HAD PROTECTED HER RIGHT HOME.

Her funeral was one of the most victorious celbrations of faith that I have been to. She had written a song with the line "worship Jesus in me...", which is so incredably insightful. I'm of the opinion that my dear neice GRADUATED EARLY!!!

Preceious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. (Even contemporary ones.)

- PoW
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John Earp
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   Posted 7/28/2004 2:23 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by Bobber

Hi Folks, Blush

I believe as far as God is concerned it's his will to heal everyone. The Bible states in Isaiah 53 that it is by his stripes that we are healed. Yes I know some will exclaim that's talking about spiritual healing but Mat 8:17 states Jesus used this scripture as a foundation to bring about physcial healing. Is Jesus not the same yesterday, today and forever? but what about times when Christians have prayed for people and they have not been healed? That must be a sign right that God didn't want to heal them? Well I know people preach that and declare that but as we study the gospels we see one certain time the disciples coulnd't get someone delivered but hold on now...Jesus still pointed out to them that God was willing but they themselves in how they approched the problem they failed.


No one is denying that God heals, or even that "by his stripes we are healed," is true. However, that fact by no means indicates that it is always God's will to heal, as you claim.

quote:
Forgive me but it seems that we don't ever want to even hear it suggested that we may have failed on our part.


Yes of course lack of faith can sometimes be the reason we don't receive healing; however, what about in cases where the individual's faith is unquestionable?



"The Discovery of new truth will modify old views and opinions, and there is perhaps no end to this process with finite minds in any world." Charles G. Finney, Systematic Theology.

revivaltheology.net

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1Heart
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   Posted 7/28/2004 8:18 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by TGB

Hi all-

Our local church here in Beirut just held funeral services for a four year old girl, Sol (named after the musical note "Sol" I think), who died this past week after struggling for a couple of years with Lukemia.

Hundreds, thousands of people around the world were praying for her. No lack there.

There were lots of prophecies and visions declaring God's intention to heal Sol. Her healing would be a great blessing to the churches here and God would use it to save lots of people.

The day she died, there was an African pastor in Africa who--we had heard--had a vision of a girl rising from the dead. He heard about Sol and requested a faxed picture. It was sent. When he saw the picture he said, "That's the girls. She's gonna rise!"

The family prayed for three days and then had to bury her.

On the way home from the funeral my kids (ages 17, 13, and 12; the 8 year old was playing G.I. Joe) asked me, "Dad, why didn't God heal Sol? I can't be because there was no prayer or faith. Did he not want to? Did he want to but couldn't?"

After more than two years of studying the open view and dialoging here about evil, providence, and God's will in the world, I was able to tell them, "I really don't know."

I mean, would God's healing Sol have broken some "rule" or infringed upon somebody's frew will? Or was the faith perfectly sufficient but God required Sol's death for some higher purpose. Would the universe have been that much worse off if God had healed her?

Are there ANY answers out there?

Tom

"Every saint has a history and every sinner a future." Oscar Wilde

Edited by - TGB on 09/14/2002 05:51:35 AM



I don't know if there is a right or wrong answer. Actually, that's not true Tom; you gave your children the right answer. You said, "I don't know". They will appreciate a dad who is gentle and compassionate and honest with them, and those are the characteristics that we see in Jesus; the character of the Father.

He is gentle. He is compassionate beyond our understanding. He is honest and trustworthy. All those things make me believe that there are other factors: free will of human and non-human agents, the complexity of creation, a fallen world where sickness and evil abound... And healing seems to be arbitrary, so "I don't know" is just the right answer. Then I guess we can focus on what we do know - the character of the Father, His love for us, His love for Sole, and her family.

In Daniel, the messenger of God was delayed for 21 days by the Prince of Persia; there is so much that we just can't figure in, because we can't see it; we don't know.

But His saints did battle for this little girl, with all their heart, and I can't help but believe that He was fighting for her too, and that it grieved Him to see her die, and to see her family hurt. I do know that He will bring good from this, because He is love. That's all I really do know. Sometimes it is enough to know that He is love, and rest in that. Sometimes it's all we can do.

God Bless you and bring peace and comfort to your heart, and to all those who loved Sol.

Jo-Anne


"Sometimes all we can do is go back to the character of God, and drop anchor there."

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