Grace-Based Pastors Conference in India and Donating Grace-Based Books to a Seminary (and Pastors)

by stillhaventfound on January 20, 2012 · 4 comments

Grace-Based Pastors Conference in India

Hello guys, some members in my cell group are organizing a Pastor’s conference in India in February 2012. My cell group is made up of Christians from different Churches, though most or all of us have been impacted by the message of grace – and most attend New Creation. We are all just ordinary Christians who have been impacted by the revelation of grace and the love of God. We also believe the days of the “big men of God” – specially anointed and holy servants of God that Christians ought to look up to because they have something special that we don’t have – are dying and instead all the saints are called to do the work of the ministry. The grace message has often been accused of producing passive Christians and to a certain extent that has been true. However, for us as a cell, we don’t believe in being passive, but in demonstrating the love of God to this world in an active manner. The grace and love of God empowers us to live for Him and bless people and our heart is to go out into the world and make an impact on peoples’ lives. I think two ministries / churches that we really identify with in terms of getting that message and ministry balance is Andrew Wommack and Bill Johnson.

Therefore, though many of us in the cell are not pastors or big leaders in Churches (none of us are actually) – and we still face many challenges in our own lives and are definitely “not there” yet (as Andrew Wommack would say, “I haven’t arrived yet, but I’ve left”) -, we challenge ourselves to step out and share and minister.  So with this Pastor’s conference, we are collaborating with a good Indian pastor friend of ours who is doing a lot of good work in one part of India.

We are holding this conference in a Seminary and targeting over 100 pastors from all over India (though mainly the Southern part). The focus of the conference is going to be on the gospel of grace and the love of Daddy God. All of us are united on this, having had our lives transformed, and thus this is the message we want to share to impact the lives of many pastors and their congregation.

This is going to be an exciting conference. I’m in charge of the curriculum and making sure all the messages are in line and flow from one to another. About 8 people from my cell group are going and 5 of us are going to share about 8 messages in total. We’re going to share on interpreting and preaching the Bible from a New Covenant perspective, righteousness-consciousness, grace, Sonship, union (identification) in relation to overcoming sin and ministry and the practical message of Spirit, Soul and Body and living it out from our spirit. Some of our influences have been people like Pastor Joseph Prince, Andrew Wommack and Bill Johnson.

Three of the 8 of us are pretty new to sharing – two of us only shared our first message in 2011 and one I think hasn’t really shared before. Some may be thinking how we can organize a pastor’s conference when many of us are so inexperienced. Perhaps that’s so. But I hope we’re not going into India thinking that India is a developing country and Singapore is a developed country and therefore we can do this because we’re somehow superior to them and they would respect us because of the fact that we’re out of town and thus know more. Definitely not! I don’t think we presume to go there thinking that we’re somehow better or know better than them. Both sides will learn from one another. For us, we have a very personal message and revelation that we want to share – something that has transformed our lives and we believe will transform the lives of the pastors and their congregation. And we really believe in getting to know the pastors there and not acting like we’re some big shots from out of town. In fact, most pastors would be traveling from afar off and will be sleeping on mattresses  in the Seminary. Our cell group wanted to live with them rather than stay in a hotel – because we truly want to interact and get to know the people and we don’t see ourselves as different or on a higher level than them – but for some security and other reasons this could not be arranged.

Donating Grace-Based Books to the Seminary (and maybe the Pastors too?)

Anyway, so this is what’s happening in February 2012. Actually the main reason for this post is to appeal to people who want to contribute books to the Seminary there in India. The Seminary is new and so they have need for books. I’ve given about 100 or so of my Christian books to the Seminary. They are a portion of the books I’ve bought since 15 years ago. But most of them are not very grace-based. The reason why my cell group is very passionate about organizing this conference is because it’s about teaching and transforming the thinking and hearts of pastors. If the pastors catch the loving and gracious heart of Daddy God and the message of the New Covenant, they will share this message to their congregation. The potential for impact is thus enormous. And that’s why I also believe in investing in books for the Seminary students to read.

So for those who want to be part of donating grace-based books to the Seminary, you can donate through me through the Paypal button below. I will use the money to purchase a list of different grace-based books I know (I haven’t read all of them, but I know they are good). Below is my compilation of various life-transforming grace-based books which I will get with your donation – feel free to comment below and point out some books I’ve missed. And if you want to donate to purchase a specific book, then let me know too. For those in Singapore, you can contact me if you want to physically pass me one of your books. If there’s enough money, I’ll think of purchasing one good grace-based book to give also to the pastors at the conference (maybe 100+). That’s only if we have enough money because we want to be fair and give all of the pastors the book and not just some of them.

Donation amount


PS: There seems to be a problem with the donation amount. If it shows US$5 on the next screen, just change the QUANTITY to make it add up to the amount you want to donate.

1) Books by Bill Johnson of Bethel Church (I put Bill Johnson’s books first because for those who are wary of the grace message, he’s probably the least controversial, and most influential, leader of all names here. While his books don’t address the message of grace directly, I believe his theology and his books, like that of the Vineyard (at least in the past), ASSUMES the foundation of the message of the love and grace of God. He uses a different language and doesn’t get caught up in all the controversies, but he’s definitely grace-based in most senses and his Church even sells Pastor Joseph Prince’s books. I first heard of the message of the Father heart of God through Vineyard and the Toronto Blessing was mostly about that message, which to me is a message of grace using different terms)
2) Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince
3) Books by Andrew Wommack
4) Books by New Nature Publications
5) It is Finished by Nerida Walker (just got this book and it looks interesting)
6) Books by Elyse Fitzpatrick (Elyse is a good Reformed author. My background is in the Reformed tradition and even though I don’t agree with a lot of beliefs in that tradition now (and I think it’s too legalistic for me in general), one section of the Reformed tradition has a very strong “gospel-centered” focus which is very grace-based and which I think a lot of grace-based Christians can learn a lot from.
7) Books by Mark Hankins (good identity in Christ stuff)
8) Books by EW Kenyon (good identity in Christ stuff)

[I don't have time to complete my list, but I will keep adding books when I have time and will continue to welcome donation for these books even after this upcoming trip because the team may plan to go there regularly in future and work with the Seminary and pastors there and the Singaporean pastor we work with goes there quite regularly]

{ 4 comments }

2011 is finished!

by stillhaventfound on December 31, 2011 · 0 comments

It’s the end of the year again! This year, I’ve written very little – only 7 posts before this one. But there’s been a lot of stuff that’s been brewing in my mind that I will share a bit here, but will do so more hopefully next year in longer posts.

Street Healing in Singapore

I started to get serious about healing early 2010 after listening to Curry Blake’s Divine Healing Technican (DHT) course (go to my Healing Resources to get the course) – and having read Bill Johnson for a few years previously. Most of my posts have been about healing since then. A group of us Singaporeans passionate about healing soon got together (we’re now on the Singapore Healing Room Facebook Group) to meet from occasionally to regularly. We met pretty regularly the 2nd half of 2010 (up to weekly in some months) but slowed down starting from 2011. In April, we invited Roger Sapp to Singapore, Malaysia and Batam early this year. Before that in March, some of us attended Randy Clarks’ mini School of Healing and Impartation at Cornerstone Community Church. By the way, Randy Clark and Bill Johnson will be in Singapore for a full School of Healing and Impartation next March (2012) – find out details here at Kingdom Invasion and many of us are excitedly looking forward to it.

As mentioned here on a post Street Healing in Singapore, a group of South African youths came to Singapore to visit New Creation Church in January. We met up with them and also spent time doing a treasure hunt at night in Geylang. This led to contact with some migrant workers we prayed for who got healed there. They contacted me July this year to pray for their friend and we went to a square in Little India to pray for them and saw literally dozens of people flock to us for prayer for healing.  Since August, the group has met about 8 times from August to December to minister to these migrant workers in Little India and organized a BBQ for about 20-30 migrant workers on Deepavali. You can find out more about this ministry at Singapore Healing Forum.

In 2012, we’re planning to meet alternate weeks: one week to minister healing in Little India and the other at a member’s home to discuss healing, study the Bible on healing, pray for people’s healing and just grow in our ministry of healing. This group consist of Christians from various Churches and some of them are helping out in different “Healing Rooms” in Singapore. You are definitely welcome to join us.

I know at least two other groups who go to the streets of Singapore to minister healing and also prophesy. God is indeed doing something new these past few years and it’s wonderful to see the Church go out into the world and the streets to demonstrate the love of God as Jesus did.

Preaching and Teaching

I wrote last year that I hope to start preaching and teaching to young people this year. I specifically said “young people” because I’m not that old and I guess I feel more comfortable relating to young people and also because of my relative lack of experience. Well, I actually preached a total of 4 times this year – ranging from 10 minutes to about an hour to between 15 to 100+ people – but the crowd was a normal crowd, not specifically a younger crowd.

It was definitely a challenge for me to preach – but a challenge I gladly took because I love to challenge myself and I know this is something I want to do more of in future and something I do believe God has called me to. I prepared a lot and was definitely a bit nervous as anyone would be! But I do enjoy sharing what I’ve been learning – I have received a lot over the years throgh many people’s teaching and preaching and I want to give out through the same way. While I still have so much to learn in terms of how to preach and share, I am happy to have gotten started.

I know I have my own unique way of approaching preaching and teaching. My Christian journey has allowed me to appreciate very good solid theology because of my non-charismatic Reformed background. I’m also an Arts and Social Science graduate who loves to do research and understand different perspectives and who  has written lots of argumentative essays. In other words, I’m very left-brain dominant and a perfect candidate for membership in any non-charismatic church whose messages are comparatively more theoretical, intellectual and theological than sermons in charismatic churches. But I’m not like that.While I do find a lot of charismatic teaching and preaching too shallow for my liking, I also find a lot of non-charismatic and Reformed teachings too theoretical. So I’m very much in between, appreciating the strengths of the charismatic and non-charismatic worlds of Christianity. And I’ve been like that for 15 years and many times I’ve felt like a misfit where I am. But I’m already used to that.

While I can’t stand a lot of charismatic teaching and preaching, that’s not to say I don’t listen to them. I listen to all kinds of charismatic teachers and preachers (although I’m selective) because I think I can learn from everyone and everybody has different gifts. And I also don’t think the way I like to learn (as a left-brain dominant person) is a holistic way. We all need to be balanced in terms of functioning in the left and right brain. Because I’m left-brain dominant, I’ve been trying to be more open to functioning with my right-brain. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere (Hearing God’s Voice Again), I believe prophetic people and those who flow more in the Spirit tend to be right-brain dominant. And that’s why I want to be open to tap on the right-brain. Prophets and prophetic people, because of their inclination to being right-brain dominant, also tend to be really bad teachers and preachers. This is of course not always true – I think Kris Vallotton is a good preacher.

I’m also more postmodern (or maybe more accurately critical-realist) in outlook in that while I believe in absolute truth, I also believe we human beings interpret the Word through our own biased lenses. I don’t just accept anything taught by anyone (even my favourite preachers/teachers). I find many Christians (especially charismatics because of their bent to the anti-intellectual and anti-theoretical) too accepting of teachings they’re taught by their pastors or favourite teachers. Because of my background in Reformed theology and my reading of many different Christian traditions, I tend to be more critical and I would acknowledge different perspectives and views and the fact that I don’t know many things. God’s truth is absolute but our interpretation can easily be flawed. I find no place for a lot of dogmatism I see in the Church today, which to me has sparked the growth of the emerging Church movement and the anti-institutionalism of many modern Christian movements. However, in relation to preaching, while I understand a lot of it is our interpretation (and I don’t want to mistake my view of things for gospel truth), I know many times in teaching and preaching (especially) you sometimes have to speak in absolutes if not you don’t really get anywhere.

Anyway, out of all the ministers who have influenced me in recent years and who hold on to beliefs that are similar, I think Andrew Wommack is one of the best teachers of the Word. He’s charismatic (in beliefs), yet teaches in a very solid, logical and organized way that has benefited many people around the world. I think the organization of his teaching is one of his great strengths and the reason why so many have benefited from his ministry. I think Joseph Prince is one of the best preachers. His teaching is also very good, although many times it tends to be very disorganized. However, when he preaches a message that is more or less organized, he’s one of the best preachers in the world. Joseph Prince is probably more holistic in his balance of preaching/teaching skills, though I think Andrew Wommack is more holistic in his message (he touches on many important topics and not just focus on grace). By the way, I’m defining ‘teaching’ here as something that’s slightly more left-brain oriented that appeals more to the mind and logic and ‘preaching’ as slightly more right-brain oriented that appeals more to the emotions.

I’m still very new in teaching and preaching but I do want to improve. My strength is more on the teaching and left-brain organization and logic (as people can see from this blog and my writings) and I want to improve more on the right-brain aspects to sharing – appealing to emotions, using stories, being led by the Spirit, prophetic preaching, etc.

My heart has always been doing ministry full-time. And I do intend to move into that in future after prospering in my businesses. I don’t want to work for a Church or ministry and be beholden to the politics of institutional Christianity. I want the financial freedom to be able to minister where I feel God wants me to go – and to minister freely especially to the marginalized and the poor and disciple them in their identity in Christ. Now is the time of learning and applying what I’ve learned. The essential message that’s been brewing in my heart these few years is “identity in Christ”. Topics like grace, new creation, new covenant, finished work, sonship, Daddy’s love, etc., is all related to that. And this message of a new identity in Christ ought to be applied in all areas. I want to focus on the healing ministry in future. But right now, I want to apply that message in my life especially to prosperity and my businesses. Eventually I will do more preaching and teaching and I can’t wait for that to happen, but I’m enjoying my time right now too.

On Dr. James B. Richards

I’ve learned many things this year. I continue to encounter new ministers to learn from. Before 2011, the people who have had the biggest impact upon my theology and Christian life in recent years have been Joseph Prince, Bill Johnson, Curry Blake, Andrew Wommack, Roger Sapp and Dave Roberson. Probably the person who has had the biggest impact upon my Christian life and theology this year is Dr. James B. Richards of Impact Ministries. I’d seen his book Grace: The Power To Change around in various bookstores for a few years but never picked it up. I knew he was a grace-based preacher, but I thought he was probably like others and maybe didn’t add anything radically new to what I’ve already learned from others so I resisted getting into his teachings. Actually, right now, though I love his teachings, I still haven’t read that particular book. But I’ve read and listened to dozens of hours of his teachings and interviews and have gone through his Heart Physics program.

I think the first teaching of his I got into was his Anatomy of a Miracle which touches on Quantum Physics. I had been interested in Quantum Physics and its relation to faith and miracles and his book was all about that. I’ve become interested in recent years in the relationship between science and the Bible and Quantum Physics has a lot to say about this. So I read that and went on to his other materials. James Richards is definitely very different from many grace-based preachers. He has degrees in theology, human behaviour and medicine and thus he brings  different perspectives to things and that sets him apart. I’m someone who reads widely myself and thus I love it when people brings in the perspectives of other disciplines as I think it makes things more holistic and it gives us greater insight to the workings of the world and humans.

I do plan to write more fully (and also do an email interview) with James Richards in 2012 so I won’t write much here except to say that I think he’s brought in a missing piece to the faith message and that is the importance of meditation, which to him consist of physical relaxation and using of imagination. Anyway, I can’t say I agree with everything he advocates (I’m not sure yet) and some of his stuff is pretty controversial. But generally I like what he teaches and I think what he specializes in (his essential message is about the heart and the use of meditation to persuade one’s heart) is something that would really bless many Christians.

Other teachers

Having a similar message (on meditation and persuading the heart) to James Richards is Dave Martin. I’ve listened to a lot of his stuff and also do his meditations. I started to read the books of Jay Snell this year after having known of him for a while but not having the motivation to finish reading any of his books. I don’t know much about him but his first book on Abraham’s Blessings is a book to re-read and study. His other books are quite hard to follow. I’ve started to read E.W. Kenyon and listen to Charles Capps’ stuff. Both are from the faith tradition. I actually got more into Kenyon’s stuff after I read Donald Mann of Covenant Peace Ministries.

Donald Mann is one interesting guy. As James Richards majors on meditation (imagination) and really believes in that, Donald majors on meditation in the form of confession/affirmations and really believes in that too such that he advocates confessing Scriptures at least 2 hours a day. Like James, Donald also brings in the science of the mind. I got to know him recently and communicated a bit with him through email. I want to follow up with him to get to know him more and also read his 3 books which look really good. He’s been influenced by Curry Blake I believe and his books are full of mainly Scriptural confessions. All about good identity in Christ stuff. He also seems to have ministering healing working well in his life.

The Exchanged Life tradition

One Christian tradition that I found this year which is very grace-based is the Exchanged Life tradition. This tradition is all about union with Christ and is very grace-based. It is a pretty non-charismatic Christian tradition, but I’m interested to learn more from it because unlike the many grace teachers that’s been impacting the world recently, this is a tradition that’s been established longer and consist of non-charismatics – which generally means they handle the Word of God better. As a more established tradition/movement, there’s a lot to learn from them. For example, Steve McVey, who is a big name in the grace movement, I believe has benefited a lot from that tradition. I really like the writings of John Best of Abundant Living Resources. He’s written a lot of solid theological books that relate to many topics related to grace. While I do appreciate a lot of the new grace-based authors that having been writing good books, I’m a big believer in also drawing from the Christian tradition and understanding the perspectives of the past and building on them. To ignore how much we can learn from the past is being really stupid – because truly there’s nothing new under the sun. I learned a lot about grace from the Reformed and Lutheran tradition (there’s a lot of mixture there too) and also the Redemptive-Historical Biblical-Theology tradition. The important thing is to draw from as many people and be aware of the different arguments because all this has actually been around for a long time. There’s a lot of good stuff in the newer authors and preachers and they bring their unique gifts and interpretation of things. But it’s best to combine the new with the old – building on the foundation of the past, yet not letting it restrict you.

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Helping Fahkram Church after the floods in Thailand

by stillhaventfound on December 19, 2011 · 0 comments

Fahkram Church after the floods in Thailand

Hi to all who read my blog (not that I’ve been writing much lately!) or who have stumbled upon this blog. I wrote a post a while back on Fahkram Church which I’ve gotten to know over the past year plus. If you read the post, you’ll know why I think this is a very unique and amazing church – I encourage you all to read that post if you haven’t.

I’ve gotten to know some people there pretty well. I’ve visited the Church about 3 times over the past year or so and twice I stayed within the Church compound (they put me up in a nice air-con room for free). They are a church that has services every day because maybe 50 or so people live within the Church compound. The pastor has helped many people to get jobs and make money. He preaches a message of God’s grace and love and God’s desire to prosper His people. Yet he also lives the message of generosity out by helping and blessing his people. I know his sheep come before him. Even though he teaches his people to give to God and he could become pretty rich through the church tithes / offerings, he actually lives within the church compound with some of the members. He doesn’t live a better lifestyle than them. I think a person who truly understands our God of love and grace will not focus on his own self, but on other people and helping and blessing them. Demonstrating the love of God to others will become (effortlessly) more important to us than just focusing on ourselves and our wants as we conform more and more to the image of our Saviour. While I believe in prosperity and God prospering us, I’ve seen too many who preach such a message for themselves and not understand that God desires to use them to be a blessing to other people too. That’s why I admire someone like Andrew Wommack who I believe truly lives that message out. I know the pastor of this Church and I know he’s someone too that lives out such a lifestyle.

The reason for writing this post is that I want to provide an opportunity for my readers to help this Church. As you know, floods in Thailand have caused a lot of damage to the country. And it has caused a lot of damage to Fahkram Church too as you can see from the above picture. You can also see more pictures of damage here (their facebook account). Also, a list of damage done to the Church provided by Anne is listed below this post.

During the floods, the Church actually went on one of their mission trips to the north of Thailand. I think they stayed away from their Church for a month or more as the Church was flooded about 40 days. You can find out more about what happened to the Church and how to help them out here: Fahkram Church. There you’ll be able to see some pictures and get the contact numbers and email of the Pastor and one translator who speaks English. You’ll also get the bank information if you desire to transfer some money over.

I’ve set up a PayPal (you can use credit card) donate button (actually it’s a PAY NOW button coz it’s not easy to get a PayPal Donate button as I’m in Singapore) for those who want to contribute a bit of money to the Church. You can contribute as little (even $5) or as much as you want. The little donations add up. Do note that the money will go directly to my PayPal account, not theirs.  The reason I’m doing so is because I know a lot of people will probably not go through the trouble of Telegraphic Transferring (TT) money over to the Church. PayPal and using one’s Credit/Debit Card is so much easier and quicker – especially if you want to donate just a small amount. For big amounts, I’d encourage you to contact the Church directly. For small amounts, you can use the PayPal button below. Of course, this will be based on trust – for those of you who know me or are familiar with my blog, it’s your judgement to make if you want to go through me.

I will be TTing some money over this month or next month so I’ll transfer your money along with mine. You can also email the Pastor or Anne (the translator who speaks English) at the above email address to make sure they get the money from me if you’re concerned about it – in fact, I encourage you to do so. I’ll also get them to email you an acknowledgement of your donation when I send the money over. Please note that it is NOT their idea that I help them raise money through my PayPal account. It is my idea because I know how easy it is to transfer money using PayPal. It’s actually more of a hassle for me to organize this, but I think it’ll encourage people to give small donations they may not give if they had to TT the money (the cost of TTing is probably around US$5-10 or more per transfer which is a lot if you want to transfer a small amount).

Donation amount

PS: There seems to be a problem with the donation amount. If it shows US$5 on the next screen, just change the QUANTITY to make it add up to the amount you want to donate.
PPS: Thanks to those who have already donated very generously through PayPal. I’m pleasantly surprised yet very encouraged. And the Church will be too! :)

A list of damage (and cost) caused by the floods provided by Anne, the translator (note that US$1 = 32 Thai Baht)

1 A fence are damaged now we brought corrugated iron to make the fence temporary from now on.
2 The motortri-cycle for the need peoples in our church 68 motortri-cycle have to fix it because stay in the water for 40 days
it’s cost to repair per motortri-cycle is 3,500 bath total 238,000 bath
3 The water main,pipe it’s break down water can’t run down.
4 The wall must painting new again inside and outside door 15,000 bath
And other rooms inside the church is
5 The kitchen room
5.1 A refrigerator 1 = 16,990 bath
5.2 Machine cold water 3,500*2 = 7,000 bath
5.3 The Kitchen cabinet 5,000*4 = 20,000 bath
5.5 The Gas and Gas tank 2,750*2 = 5,500 bath
5.6 A bowl,cup,pot,pan,glass total =30,000 bath,P.S The stain of the oil can’t remove.
6. Storage room
6.1 Cabinet device performance 5000*2 = 10,000 bath
6.2 Equipment performance 50,000 bath
6.3 Instrument 12,000 bath
7 Praying room
7.1 Clothes closet 4000+5000 = 9,000 bath
7.2 T.V.cabinet 3,500 bath
7.3 Sofa 15,000 bath
7.4 The Table and chair 4000 bath
8 The worship room and office room
8.1 The table computer 2900*2 = 5,800 bath
8.2 Steel filling cabinet 5,000 bath
8.3 Table Mixer 3,500 bath
8.4 The carpet on the stage in worship room 7.50 * 3.20
8.5 The curtain in worship room
8.6 The books cabinet 5000*3 = 15,000 bath
9 The Audio mixer rooms
9.1 sound proot wall lining
9.2 Microphone condenser
9.3 Speaker mix down
9.4 Cutting computer
9.5 table mixer
9.6 Equipment mixer cabinet
9.7 Ground
10.The Toilet
10.1 The door for PVC 1,500*2 = 3,000 bath
11. Air condition repair and change equipment,clean up =11,500 bath

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Updates on Street Healing in Singapore

by stillhaventfound on August 24, 2011 · 2 comments

A group of Singaporeans before embarking on a night of Street Healing (6th August 2011)

Introduction

I thought I’d provide a little update on what’s been happening over the past 6 months regarding Street Healing in Singapore. For those not familiar with all this Street Healing business, the Street Healing movement has exploded all around the world in the past year or so – about the same time I started to get involved. I, along with many people in Singapore and around the world, took a huge leap into practicing Street Healing after listening to Curry Blake of John G. Lake Ministries (JGLM), whose teachings I’ve written quite a bit about on this blog. Since the middle of last year, a group of Singaporeans from different churches have gotten to know each other through mutual appreciation for Curry Blake’s teachings and our desire to pursue and grow in the healing ministry. We’ve met to discuss and practice healing (i.e. pray for each other and our friends who need healing). We’ve also attended healing events in Singapore like Randy Clark’s School of Healing and Impartation at Cornerstone Community Church in March 2011 and The Elijah Challenge in October 2010. We’ve brought some friends over to Singapore to minister and learn from like Jessie Campbell of Australia in November last year and Roger Sapp in April this year.

South Africans ministering healing in the streets of Geylang

South Africans and Singaporeans in a restaurant in Geylang before our Street Healing / Treasure Hunt adventure (January 2011)

In January this year, a group of about 20 young Christians from South Africa came to Singapore and we had a great time of fellowship with them too. I’m going to share a bit of what happened here because I haven’t done so in this blog before and the testimony below is sure to encourage many. In addition, what we did with this group of South Africans that day eventually led to what the group of us are doing in Singapore now, which I’ll share later on.

Anyway, it started when I got to know James Preston, a pastor in a South African Church, last year. Both of us are bloggers and we have similar beliefs, having been impacted by Christian leaders like Bill Johnson, Andrew Wommack, Rob/Ryan Rufus, Joseph Prince and Curry Blake. We were (are) grace-based and into the supernatural (healing and the prophetic) and believed in Street Healing. We also had a mutual appreciation for a theologian called Michael Eaton. That was how I got to know about him: he wrote about Michael Eaton on his blog and I wrote him about it. I read Michael Eaton’s book No Condemnation about 13 years ago and it impacted me a bit. The book is a very scholarly take on some important aspects of the grace message – the doctrine of assurance and also the role of the 10 Commandments in the Christian life. Michael Eaton is the kind of theologian I like a lot as just like his good friend RT Kendall, he’s scholarly and yet charismatic – combining the best of Word and Spirit.

It’s amazing how God connected us. James was planning to bring a group of about 20 young Christians from his church to Singapore for the primary purpose of visiting New Creation Church. So we arranged for the South African and Singaporean group to meet up together for fellowship and some ministry. So in January this year, a group of us Singaporeans met up with their group and had a good time of fellowship, discussion and prayer one night. We thought of bringing them to Geylang the next night to eat and do some Street Healing. So the following night we all met up again and did some Treasure Hunting / Street Healing after dinner.

I want to share this testimony provided by James, who partnered with one of our Singaporean friends Joseph when walking the streets in Geylang:

Did Joseph tell you what happened at the Massage Parlour with him and I? It was amazing, and actually one of the most powerful encounters I have had doing such ministry! I hope you don’t mind, I will get into some detail here…

We saw the wavey blue neon lights Graham had prophesied about earlier, and we hovered around waiting because we knew God wanted to do something.  Nothing happened.

So we walked around the block again, and on our second time coming up to the restaurant with the wavey neon blue lights, Joseph spotted a lady sitting at the counter of a massage parlour wearing a pink shirt and with black hair and a pony tail. With 4 of the words of knowledge confirmed (Blue lights, pink shirt, black hair, pony tail) we knew God had an appointment.

So we stepped inside saying we had a “message from God”. We were immediately greeted with a cold response saying “massage only” as obviously Western men have a bad reputation around there. With a big smile we assured her we didn’t want her services, but wanted to bless her with a message. (At this point I had no idea what the message was, but I knew for sure God had one, as He set this up, so I spoke as though I did have a message, because God did.)

She was still very reserved, and then her boss walked in, a Chinese doctor. He took a seat behind the counter, and she moved over to a smaller chair. We said we had a message of blessing for him and his business. (This was the first thing that came to mind, and I know that as a Son of God a business should naturally experience blessing if I speak it out over it. Whether this is conditional on what type of business it is, I don’t know. I was going with what I was feeling.)

The doctor asked how much we would charge, or what we wanted in return. I assured him we wanted absolutely nothing, and that we were messengers from God with a message of blessing for him and his business. At this point the lady in the pink shirt (who was completely switched off) started looking a lot more interested. Let me just say everything was being translated through Joseph. Without him I doubt we would have seen the same results. I was blessed to be partnered with him.

Anyway… so the Chinese Doctor was quite surprised we wanted nothing in return, and openly received prayer for his business from us. I asked if we could all hold hands, which him and his pink shirted assistant agreed to. We held hands and I started praying over the business (without translation if I recall correctly). As I started drawing the prayer to a close, I had a word of knowledge (by way of impression on my heart) that the assistant had pain in her left leg in her thigh area. She looked totally healthy and around 20 something yrs old, so it certainly wasn’t by looks. She said she did have pain and that she had a sort of rheumatoid arthritis which caused her pain down her left leg, so this opened her up. It’s amazing how the prophetic does that. I guess that’s what the gifts of the Spirit are for!

I then felt to pray for her legs, to see if one was shorter than the other. Which was interesting for me, because I have never done that in ministry before! But did it, and it seemed like one was just slightly shorter than the other. So we prayed, and when we opened our eyes, it looked as though they were completely in line! Even the “DR” inspected it and seemed amazed! So this naturally built faith for her leg. So I asked her to lay hands on her leg where the pain was, and I would lay hands on her hand. I didn’t want to lay hands directly onto her leg (even though she was wearing jeans) our of respect.

So we prayed, and declared the pain to go and the life and power of Jesus to flow through into her body. She started giggling and saying she could feel heat going through her body and tingling! We told her that was the Power of God flowing through her and healing her. By now she was smiling and laughing, and full of faith. So much so that she asked us to pray for her left arm, because she had injured it and she couldn’t move it above half way behind her back. She had seen and felt God heal her already, and so wanted full healing in all her body!

So Joseph and I laid hands on her left arm and prayed again. Very simple, declarative, authoritative, loving prayers, and she felt the same thing. Heat and tingling. She tried to do something she couldn’t do with her arm, and she was completely healed! Praise God!

By this time, the DR had seen all this and was stunned. He then mentioned Joseph that he had had a stroke 2 years ago and the right side of his body had become lazy. So we sat him down, and we prayed with him, Joseph taking the lead here, and again just declaring all pain to go and life and healing to flow into his body. We asked him to stand up and walk around a bit, which he tried to, but he said he was only “a bit” better, so we prayed again. Short and sweet, and he started walking again, this time better but saying he was about 50% better. So we prayed again and he tried to walk again and this time he said he felt much better and stronger!

I don’t always make a call or suggestion to receive Jesus, but we both felt like Jesus had something further to do, and so Joseph asked them if they knew who healed them. He told them it was Jesus, and he asked if they wanted to receive Jesus into their lives. With big smiles on their faces they both agreed! It was such a privilege to lead them right there and then through a prayer of accepting Jesus as their Saviour, and then praying for them to both be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

We left it at that.  By then it was half an hour over time to meet back, so had to get going, but took their card to hopefully stay in touch with them in the future. What a testimony of God’s goodness! God loved these two so much, and he had a plan to meet with them that night. And they were both so ready to receive the Love of God!  For me, this is what it is all about!

Street Healing in Little India

There were other testimonies also of healing and God’s love being poured out in Geylang that January night. Esther and I ministered to many Bangladeshi migrant workers on the streets of Geylang. We approached a couple of people sitting down and asked if they had any pain. As they had pain in various parts of their bodies, we laid hands on them and prayed for them. Pain started to go away and other Bangladeshis walking by who saw this unusual sight of Chinese Singaporeans laying hands on their fellow countrymen started standing still and observing what was happening. When the Bangladeshis told of their healing, more people asked for prayer and we managed to pray for others and see quite a few healed.

We kept in touch with these people and told them to call us if they have any problems or need any healing. In June, one Bangladeshi called us and invited us to his apartment in Geylang to pray for his friend’s sickness. And then another Bangladeshi called us in July and we met up with him in Little India. We ended up praying for his friend for a long time as the pain wasn’t going away. Gradually, many migrant workers started observing us close by and we asked if they had any pain in their bodies. Many of them had pain because a lot of them were involved in physical labor jobs. For the next 45 minutes or so, Esther and I prayed for between 20 to 30 migrant workers and the majority of them had their pain healed. As it was getting late and we didn’t prepare to pray for so many people, we had to leave with dozens still left not prayed for but we promised to come back the following week.

Since that time, we’ve been to little India three times in the past two months, bringing other Singaporeans. Each time, it’s been very exciting and we’ve gotten to see many migrant workers healed. We’ve also been able to make friends with many migrant workers and thank them for their services and work in Singapore. Some Singaporeans in the group came for the very first time to see what it’s all about and they went beyond observation and got into the act of praying for the sick and actually saw God use them to heal people in the streets for the very first time in their lives – and that’s been exciting for them. We believe that every Christian is called to heal the sick and resurrection power is already within them (Ephesians 1:18-19) to do so. A lot of us (all ordinary Christians and not pastors) have gone through this journey of ministering healing for the past year. We’ve still got a lot to learn and grow in this area, but we are glad to come alongside other Christians in Singapore to encourage and empower them to begin this journey of healing.

I believe God is restoring the supernatural and healing to His Church as the end draws nearer. His Church was always meant to move in the supernatural and even do greater works than what Jesus did (John 14:12). The Church was always meant to go out into the world to demonstrate God’s love to the world and do the works of God, and not just rely on bringing the world into the Church. This Street Healing movement that’s been sprouting up all around the world in the past year or so is something no one could have fathomed 5 years ago. God is doing something powerful and we want to invite any Christian in Singapore reading this to join us. You’ll definitely be transformed by the experience of praying for these people. And you’ll realize how easy it is to see God heal many through your hands. By no means do we get everyone healed, but we have seen so many healed and we’ve begun an exciting journey.

Let me end with 3 testimonies from various ordinary Christians who have been praying for the sick in Little India the past month or two and seeing results:

Testimony from Esther:

…after i’ve prayed for a few people, i believe some got healed. i was honestly SURPRISED that they got healed. HAA! but that encouraged me and made me see that wow… if i can do it, ANYBODY CAN!

this sat i prayed for a girl with pain from her calf down. after prayer, she tested her leg out and without even speaking to me, she went straight out and spoke to her brother (who brought us to her). she was completely healed and was surprised that the pain would leave her completely ;)

there are still many who didn’t get healed and i know its a journey, to learn to have faith even when healing doesn’t happen, and to discover why they don’t.

and its only gonna get more exciting!

Testimony from Robert:

Hello, I wanted to share a little bit of my experience. As I began to pray, there was actually a feeling of unworthiness inside, but I just continued to see my righteousness in Jesus Christ. Anyway, it’s not about me, it’s about Jesus and His love for them.

I did not listen much from Curry Blake, but learning from Roger Sapp and Jon, I started the prayer with a reminder of Jesus’ work on the Cross not only for them but also for me, as it could be my faith also that will heal them. And then I started commanding the pain/sickness to be gone as what Jesus taught about commanding to the mountain. And then I ended with again a confirmation that healing belongs to the person.

About 90% whom I prayed said they are getting better/healed. Many answers not in a very convincing way,as if they are also unsure about it. But at least there were 2 instances where I really see a big smile after I prayed for, one when I prayed with Esther, and another when I prayed alone. The person even saying with a big smile, “It is good!”

The challenging one is when a person is asking for a prayer where there is a bone coming out a bit in his hand, while there is no pain at all. I am not so sure either, I was praying for something similar with my own hand, but did not see the result yet. So I just kept convincing myself that nothing is impossible in Christ. I even prayed that God’s power comes so that the people can see how great He is. Nothing happened, and after two to three times, the person’s friend asked him to leave.

I was not sure what to do when healing did not come, I saw how Jonathan did and I think it’s a good way to end with the faith that God is still working and the healing could happen tomorrow or the day after, so we should keep on believing for the healing to come!

It’s an awesome experience, more people should join us and experience it. God is working!

Lastly, a testimony from Michael:

Praise God Praise God! I am writing this to encourage all who had not turned up for the healing prayer at Little India. My wife Sandra came with me for the first time and nothing prepared us for the surprise God had for us… :D

… We prayed for a young man who complained with a toothache which to his surprise (and ours) left almost instantly! And he started to shared excitedly with his friends… :) There were many with back problems and GOD IS SO GOOD…….He healed them!

One had pain on both heels……Tony, Sandra and I took turns to pray for him. When the pain from one heel (foot) left he was quick for the other to be healed (by laying of hand). And we claimed healing for the other as well and Jesus healed that too! To make sure he did not politely fake it, I got him to walk briskly with me…

“Any pain? “……”No pain!” By which time I was over the moon! I was rejoicing and thanking God for His amazing love…..

There was one guy who in his broken English asked…..”What profit you to do…… this?” It is the love of God for them to see them free from pain…… we replied.

I am sharing this to testify of the goodness and awesome love for people….. For all we know, some of these workers may be living in sin….. our own lives may also be altogether with doubts and unbelief…… even.

Yet God in His love and sovereignty sees beyond all that.

HE IS FAITHFUL to what His Son Jesus Christ has done ! And he healed more than 90% of those who came forward to be prayed for.

Indeed the name of Jesus was magnified and glorified that night……All Glory to Him

I was so happy when the Holy Spirit turned up with so much love and power!

Just to encourage anyone who is wondering if God will use him/her. I was like that once. Remember this God IS good….and that is His glory….. Exodus 33:18-19.

…God heals not because we are good but because He is good. We obey by being available for His goodness to flow through……… with His love, His joy and His peace….. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches……. John 15:5

For those interested in coming alongside us, growing together in the healing ministry and loving and blessing the people in Singapore, we welcome you! Drop me an email at jonathan at stillhaventfound.org.

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