Miracles

  By Rev. Gary Hogan 

It is easy to observe our secular culture's drift away from Christianity. And the more pronounced this becomes, the greater the effect this has on the pulpits of our nation. In churches where the New Birth is not preached, making the Bible "relevant" is seen as the greatest responsibility of the church. Often this is done by explaining the miracles of Jesus as a purely natural phenomenon or to allegorize them. Therefore, Jesus was not actually walking on water, but he was walking above his problems through the storms of life. This appeals to the secular mind because it eliminates the need for faith. It sounds reasonable.

But, it wouldn't be a "miracle" if it could be explained in human terms. To remove divine intervention from the miracles of Jesus would be to reduce all the works of Jesus to the status of moral men. Perhaps that was the intent all along.

Apostolics view the miracles from a supernatural perspective. Because we believe Jesus is God, we have no trouble accepting them as unexplainable.

While our culture often claims they don't accept the possibility of turning water into wine, not many would reject a "miracle" as unacceptable, if there was no other answer to their need.

When all is well, they "must" reject the miracles of Jesus to be consistent in their humanistic logic, but when faced with life or death, their opinions are not nearly as important as their life. In the end, these opinions are not true "convictions" but only arguments to relieve them of the responsibility of obedience to a just God.

In the church, miracles are not intended to be a ministry in themselves. Miracles were used by Jesus to create faith in Him and the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection. Skeptics may have their mind provoked to change by the observation of the divine in action. The saints are benefited by the care of God on their behalf by faith in Him through the miraculous.

Hardly anyone who has served God for long is without a testimony of the miraculous intervention of God in their life. It may not be as dramatic as being raised from the dead or healed of a life threatening disease, but the miraculous is still obvious to us. It was beyond what we could expect or do through human effort.

When the Psalmist David said, "O magnify the Lord with me," (Ps 34:3), he was not speaking of making God bigger - that would be impossible. What he meant was, "talk about, give praise" for the things the Lord has done. Some of the things the Lord does for us are bigger than others. Some are even, "miracles."

September 6-11, 2011

Michael and Dianna Tuttle, Holland/Netherlands

October 4-9, 2011

Crystal Reece, Tonga   

November 8-13, 2011

William and Ramona Schlege, INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY, Turkey

November 15-20, 2011

Ed and Mary Simmons, Thailand

Edward Simmons has served as: pastor, Christian school teacher and administrator, Bible school instructor and vice-chairman, and associate pastor. He was the senior associate pastor at Revival Tabernacle, San Diego, California, when he and his wife received their missionary appointment to Thailand in March 2004. The Simmonses went to Thailand in 2001 on the AIM program and preached at the general conference, in many churches, and at the youth conference; taught Bible studies; ministered in Cambodia and northern Thailand; and visited Laos and the Burmese border. They had some very interesting experiences while there: a Malaysian viper in the hotel lobby, a wasp attack, a shootout in Cambodia directly in front of their van, four-wheeling to mountain tribal villages, and listening to the Thai artillery shelling Burmese troops who had crossed the border. Best of all, they saw 38 souls receive the Holy Ghost and 30 baptized in Jesus' name.

December 6-11, 2011

Michael and Lisa Long,  Vanuatu

Mike and Lisa Long received their missionary appointment to Vanuatu in October 2001. He pastored a daughter work of Christian Outreach Center, Houston, Texas, before he and his wife went to Botswana in 1996 to labor as associates in missions with Tim and Carolyn Simoneaux. After completing his Bachelor of Science degree in 1999, another AIM assignment took the Longs to Vanuatu in the South Pacific. He stated, "Since we have been in Vanuatu, we have had the opportunity to go into areas that do not have churches and get the ball rolling to establish a church in their community. We have done this through crusades and home Bible Studies. In one area we have had over 30 in a Bible study. We have been asked to start three churches in different villages and are praying that God will send pastors to these areas."