Carl Thomas dot net

The Full Gospel

No matter your theological bent it is hard to biblically separate the Great Commission and healing ministry.

Sending of the 12

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.  Luke 9:1

Sending of the 72

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ Luke 10:8-9

The Great Commission

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:15-18

The Disciples Ask for Help to Preach

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.  Acts 4:29-31

Paul Proclaiming Christ

And I, when I came to you, brothers,did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,  and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 1 Cor 2:1-4

Now, based on gifting, I can see a varying degree of importance placed on the healing of the sick. But it is really bad hermeneutics to say that half of the Great Commission is still valid. Or that we no longer need the things that the Apostles cried out to God for. It seems somewhat prideful to say that it is now God’s will that 1 Cor 2:1-4 would be so invalidated that the exact opposite of the Scripture is now true. I thought the canon was closed.

Regardless your stand on televangelists, I have an increasingly difficult time seeing people not healed when the Scriptures clearly state that we are to pray for the sick.

At The Mission, we are going after healing.  We are not ashamed about it.  WE are not going to hide it in a back room.  We don’t have it figured out, but we are getting closer than when we selectively ignored the Bible.

3 Comments
Tags: bible, healing

Making You Famous or Making Jesus Famous?

I have picked up the phrase “making Jesus famous” from other church leaders.  I use it like, “Lord, we want to make Jesus famous in Delray Beach!”  To be honest, I don’t even know what that means but it sounded different so I used it.  I now realize that God has a way of putting words in your mouth so He can have you prophesy His will.

I did a little study on fame in the New Testament.  The word fame or famous is used 5 times in the ESV.  Watch the pattern:

Matthew 4:24 – So His (Jesus’) fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and He healed them.

Matthew 9:31 – The fame of Jesus was spread by the people after He healed two blind men.

Matthew 14:1 Herod heard about the fame of Jesus because of  “these miraculous powers are at work in him.” v.2

Mark 1:28 – The fame of Jesus spreads after He healed a man with convulsions.

Every one of these Scriptures says that Jesus was made more famous after He healed people and did miraculous signs.

There is one place in the New Testament that uses the word famous.

In 2 Cor 8:18 there is a man who is was famous for preaching.  Now to be sure, this is spoken in a positive light but the fact remains that the man was famous for preaching, Jesus gained fame for healing.

I made an announcement recently that we are going to pray for the sick at The Mission at every single event we have until the Lord returns.  He has given us a mandate to seek to see the sick healed.  I don’t have a complete theology for it.  I don’t have the methodology worked out.  I do know how to pray, and I have read James 5.  Until the Holy Ghost reveals another method that is what we are going to do.

And in the process, we hope to make Jesus famous in Delray Beach.

Be the first to comment!
Tags: healing

The Church Marketing Strategy of The Mission

We have a fairly straight forward church marketing strategy at The Mission.  People who have their lives radically changed by Jesus have a burning passion to fulfill the Great Commission so they invite people to church.

That’s it.  You can co-op the strategy and clam it as your own.

Let me give you an example.

This past week I had a word of knowledge about migrains.  You can hear it at about the 58 minute mark on the podcast.  A young lady I had never seen before came forward in response to the word.  We prayed and Jesus ministered to her in a powerful way.

After service I asked her how she found out about us.  She told me how one of my spiritual sons named Kevin has invited her almost every day.  In facts she was talking to her husband when she realized she had almost 100 invitation cards that Kevn had given her.  She asked her husband if they could come to The Mission to appease him.

They came and sat in the very last row.  God saw her and called her out.  They said that they are now a part of what we are doing.

Just wanted to share with all the other church planters how we do what we do.  Let me know if you have any other strategies you are doing that you think might work for us.

1 Comment
Tags: evangelism, healing, The Mission