The True Healing Power of God

With all the writing I've been doing about the Lakeland meetings with Todd Bentley, I wanted to take a moment to exalt the name of Jesus Christ for His true healing power!

In the first two pictures to the right, you can see various scars I used to have on my face. The most obvious ones are there on my chin. It's a little hard to tell, but there are also big scars on my cheeks, nose, and forehead--they're just sunburned, so they show up pink (click the images for a larger picture).

I received these scars from borderline third-degree burns (technically classified as second-degree) when I was 16 years old. The doctor said they would never go away, and my dermitologist said that in the slim chance that they would disappear, it would take 7 years because that's how long it takes a skin cell to replace itself. In the first picture, I was 17, and in the second picture, I was 18. Shortly after that, though, was the healing I'm about to share with you, which resulted in the third picture, taken when I was 19.

Three years into having the scars, I got upset with God--I don't recommend that, but it's just where I was at the time. I said, "God, what's the point? You're not getting any glory from these scars! Children are afraid of me. It's embarassing. Why would you make me live with these scars?"

Suddenly, a picture popped into my mind of Jesus after the resurrection when he told Thomas to put his fingers where the nails were and touch where the spear entered His side. I sensed the Lord saying, "I didn't just take the punishment for your sin so that you wouldn't have to face it, but I also--even now--bear the scars so that you don't have to!"

I quickly put my hands on my face and said, "Jesus, take the scars!" Nothing happened.

But I held onto that word from God and did the same thing every morning. Within three weeks, they disappeared completely--four years before the dermitologist said it was humanly possible! To this day, the only evidence I have of those scars is a little patch of white hair that grows in my beard (and I technically shouldn't be able to grow a beard because of the dead cells that once formed the scars!). And any time someone points out the white, I get to share this testimony with them! God is so awesome!

That's not the only time I've been healed, though. As a baby, I was diagnosed with a heart murmer, but my parents had our church pray for me and I was miraculously healed. As a matter of fact, my medical record still shows the heart murmer even though the doctors agree that I no longer have one!

Then there was my broken back that was healed about six months ago. Long story short, I dislocated some vertebrae and pinched some discs, which rendered me unable to walk or even move without excruciating pain. I spent two weeks sleeping on a mattress on the floor of our living room before I begged to be taken to my church. There, during the morning prayer time, I was laying on the floor in pain. My pastor prayed one of the simplest prayers: "Father, I hate seeing Art hurt like this! Would You please do something?" Immediately, I felt and heard a series of pops as my spine went perfectly into place! I returned to the physical therapist on Monday walking perfectly upright (only a slight limp from a pulled muscle in my hip). I got to share the Gospel with the therapist and his assistant, and the assistant rededicated her life to the Lord! She had not been to church since she was married about a decade prior, but now she could see the power of God!

I could go on for hours with these stories. I've been healed of tendonitis in my right shoulder, Attention Deficit Disorder, a degenerative tooth disease that was making my teeth fall apart, stomach ulcers, chronic sinusitis, and more. I KNOW God's healing power and the TRUTH that by the lashings Christ endured, we are healed! I can say with confidence that you too can be healed supernaturally in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

Jesus Christ has all power and authority in heaven and on earth, and I feel it is important to testify to it--especially in the midst of so much speculation surrounding the physical healings taking place in Lakeland, Florida with Todd Bentley. I still do not endorse those meetings (you can read the other articles here at www.SupernaturalTruth.com to find out why), but I certainly do not deny the power of God to heal people physically!

Feel free to e-mail these pictures and testimony to your friends to show proof of God's healing power. I would like to open up the "comments" section of this blog post to people who have testimonies of their own healing or prayer requests for physical healing; and then I would like for us to praise God, rejoice with one another, and pray for the afflicted in Jesus' name. Let's get a true online "healing revival" going, and let's do it in the name of Jesus Christ with a clear presentation of the Gospel!

Blessings,
--Art--