Tag Archives: miraculous

A Call for the Miraculous

02 Sunday Nov 2025

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“And these signs will accompany those who believe:
In my name they will drive out demons; 
they will speak in new tongues; 
they will pick up snakes with their hands;
and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all;
they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
(Mark 16:17-18, NIV)

More Autumn glory — photo by David Kitz

What will it take to turn this nation and the world to faith in Jesus Christ? That question should set us on a Holy Spirit driven quest to see a world-changing, Book-of-Acts revival take place in our time.

There are those within the church who argue the age of miracles ended with the death of the original apostles. But those who hold such a view are not being true to the Scriptures, or the historical record of the church down through the ages.

Have you noticed that most revivals in the last hundred years involved a renewed emphasis on the healing ministry? Many denominations have functionally delegated the healing ministry to the wastebin of New Testament history. Sorry, they might say, this is the wrong dispensation to get healed. Jesus does not do that anymore. Spiritual gifts like prophecy, tongues, and healing have all ceased since the publishing of the New Testament. If you are sick, all that is left is to go to your medical doctor and hope for the best. “If it be your will” prayers have become the dominant way of praying for the sick. Perhaps God nowadays wants us sick rather than whole.

Aimee Semple McPherson and AB Simpson were two Ontario-raised Canadians who challenged that assumption. Both asserted that spiritual gifts are still available today, including the gifts of healing. While both valued the role of medical doctors, they helped many discover that Jesus Christ our healer is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Both asserted that this is not the wrong dispensation to get healed by Jesus. He is still willing and able to heal the sick in body, mind, and spirit.

Both Semple McPherson and AB Simpson helped people rediscover the prayer of faith in James 5:15 where we read that if anyone is sick, they are to call the elders who will lay hands on them, anoint them with oil, and exercising the prayer of faith will heal the sick. They will be restored to health. By confessing their sins one to another and praying for each other (sins like rage, unforgiveness, bitterness, self-hatred), many were healed. In the healing revival, it was noticed that people were often healed first spiritually and emotionally. The outer physical healings often naturally followed the inner healings.

Albert Benjamin Simpson was born on Prince Edward Island on December 15th, 1843, of Scottish Covenanter heritage.  His family had emigrated from Morayshire, Scotland to Bayview, P.E.I. After the collapse of his father’s shipbuilding business in the 1840’s depression, his family moved from P.E.I. to a farm in western Ontario.

Fresh out of seminary in 1865, Simpson had accepted the call to pastor Knox Church in Hamilton, a congregation with the second largest Presbyterian church building in Canada. Over the next eight years, 750 new people joined the congregation.

But AB Simpson had been such a workaholic that he destroyed his health.  In 1881, his medical doctor gave him just three months to live.  But upon meeting an Episcopalian (Anglican) physician, Dr. Charles Cullis, at Old Orchard Camp in Maine, he experienced a remarkable healing of his near-fatal heart condition. His restoration to health was so complete that the next day, Simpson was able to climb a 3,000-foot mountain, and then successfully pray for his daughter Margaret’s healing from diphtheria. This was the very disease which had earlier killed his son Melville.

Simpson believed that Jesus Christ is still healing people today (Hebrew 13:8). His first of many books was fittingly called The Gospel of Healing.

Word spread fast regarding these healings. He was inundated by many with pleas for help. By others, he was vilified and ridiculed as another quack miracle worker. Simpson started Friday afternoon healing & holiness meetings, which quickly became New York City’s largest attended spiritual weekday meeting, with 500 to 1,000 in attendance. He even turned his own house into a healing home where people could come for prayer ministry.

Simpson, as founder of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, brought together four separate movements into one alliance (1) missions and evangelism (2) healing (3) holiness, and (4) Jesus’ Second Coming. His four-fold gospel emphasized “Christ our Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King.”  Simpson saw that the healing ministry as vital in the fulfillment of the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.

Few people nowadays realize that Aimee Semple McPherson[i] was the most famous North American woman in the1920s. How is it a Canadian farm girl came to have a lasting impact on the lives of millions around the world?

Aimee Semple McPherson

Growing up on a farm near Salford, Ontario, Aimee was raised in the Salvation Army by her mother.

At age 17, Aimee said, “Lord, I’ll never eat or sleep again until you fill me with the Spirit of power.”

Having been touched by the Spirit, she married the visiting evangelist, Robert Semple. They promptly went to China as missionaries. But within months of their arrival in Hong Kong, her husband died after they both contracted malaria. Aimee came back to North America in 1912 as a broken woman, a widow, and a single mother of a daughter from her brief marriage.

She wrote: “I had come home from China like a wounded little bird, and my bleeding heart was constantly pierced with curious questions from well-meaning people.”[ii]

Remarrying on the rebound to the practical Harold McPherson, she tried unsuccessfully to be the traditional stay-at-home housewife her new husband wanted. It almost killed her. After ending up in hospital, and near death, God told her to go back preaching. She said yes to her calling and was instantly healed.

Leaving that night with her two children, she began preaching in Canada. At her first meetings, only two men and a boy turned up for the first four days. Then, after miraculous healings broke out, the curious crowds appeared.

“My healings?” said Aimee, “I do nothing. If the eyes of the people are on me, nothing will happen. I pray and believe with others, who pray and believe, and the power of Christ works the miracle.”

The next step was travel to the West Coast. Aimee and her mom, Minnie Kennedy, became the first women to drive alone across North America on uncharted roads. After relocating to Los Angeles, Aimee became as well-known as Charlie Chaplain, Harry Houdini, and even President Teddy Roosevelt.

In the 1920s, the sheer numbers of medically verified healings at her services was astounding. This included the wheelchair-bound being able to walk, the blind able to see, the deaf hearing, and tumors disappearing.

Angeles Temple

On January 1st, 1923, Aimee Semple McPherson opened her headquarters church in Los Angeles, the 5,300 seat Angeles Temple. A typical Sunday would see Aimee preaching three services to a full house, while tens of thousands more listened on radio. Her influence on the culture of southern California was so profound that linguists attribute the present-day southern California accent to the impact she had on the language. In those formative years, so many heard her voice in person and via radio that she shaped the pronunciation and syntax of daily speech of that region.

One month after opening Angeles Temple, Aimee started L.I.F.E Bible College which soon attracted 1,000 students. Many of those students became Foursquare pastors and missionaries who spread the Foursquare Gospel around the globe.

Like AB Simpson, Aimee proclaimed a fourfold gospel message centered on Jesus—Jesus as Savior, Healer, Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and coming King. She called this the Foursquare Gospel and founded the denomination by that name.

Her legacy remains and flourishes. Today, there are 44,000 Foursquare Gospel churches in 143 countries around the world, and through the ministry of those churches, a million new believers committed their lives to Christ in the last calendar year.

But as we know, each new generation needs to discover the scope and power of the gospel for themselves. We cannot live on our parents’ faith. We must experience God’s grace firsthand. Undoubtedly, it was for this reason that Jude begins his epistle with these words:

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people (Jude 1:3, NIV).

Are we contending for the faith that was entrusted to us by the apostles? It is a faith that moved mountains of doubt, fear, and disability and cast them into the sea. It is a faith that healed the sick, restored the crippled, and raised the widow Tabatha from her deathbed.[iii] Are we contending for that kind of world-shaking, bondage-breaking faith?

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com

The following testimony from evangelist R. W. Shambach illustrates the power of supernatural healing in bringing the lost to faith in Christ. Shambach made his first trip to India in 1956. He was gripped by the poverty and misery he saw in the marketplaces, and by the many he saw who were sick, crippled, and blind.

On that opening day, I preached for two hours, and my interpreter translated for two hours—for a total of four hours. They wanted me to go on. When I gave the altar call, I was so disappointed. I had preached to 50,000 people, and not one soul had come to accept Jesus.

Although no one came forward to accept Christ, and the crowd was obviously ready for the benediction, I said, “I am not done now. God says that signs follow His Word. I did what God called me to do. Now I am going to let God do what He said He was going to do.”

I invited three people from the audience to come forward—they were beggars. I knew who they were. One was blind, one was deaf and dumb, and the other was a crippled woman who had never walked upright.

Fifty thousand people were watching.

They were all healed.

Do you know what happened? The people in that crowd started jumping out of trees, and a mob came running towards me… I never saw such an onslaught of people. They were yelling something at the top of their voice. I asked my interpreter, “What are they saying?”

He said, “They are hollering, ‘Jesus is alive. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is God.’ They are coming to get saved.”
What a thrill! Not one of them came when I preached, but when they saw the demonstration of the Gospel, they came.

God has called the Church to demonstrate His power. Aren’t you glad He is alive today?[iv]

What will it take to turn this nation and the world to faith in Jesus Christ? Many are blind and hostile to God and the message of the gospel. The only thing that will open their eyes to the reality of Christ’s love is a demonstration of the Lord’s supernatural healing power.

Paul knew the importance of the miraculous in his ministry to the lost of his time.

 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power (1 Corinthians 2:3-5, NIV).

Is the gospel message we are presenting just wise and persuasive words? To be truly biblical our message needs to be rooted in a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.

Healing and the miraculous are an integral part of the Elisha Code. Let’s not miss out on this key to future revivals.

[i] For a complete picture of the life and ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson see Sister Aimee by Daniel Mark Epstein, Harcourt Brace & Company.

[ii] “The Story of My Life”, Aimee Semple McPherson, Foursquare Crusader, September 7, 1927, Page 6.

[iii] Acts 28:8-9, Acts 3:1-10, Acts 9:32-43

[iv] Excerpt From “Miracles: Eyewitness to the Miraculous” by R. W. Schambach, 1969.

This is the eighth weekly excerpt from the award-winning book 
The Elisha Code & the Coming Revival 

A soul-gripping read.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.
For details click here.

Saving the Best till Last

26 Sunday Oct 2025

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Up from the grave he arose;
with a mighty triumph o’er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose![i]

[i] Robert Lowry, Christ Arose, 1874, Public Domain

Photo by L. Kranz

Thus far in our examination of the ministry of Elisha and Jesus, we can see there are striking parallels in the miracles they worked:  

  • Their first public miracle was the transformation of water. Elisha turned a spring of foul water into good water at Jericho (2 Kings 2:19-22). Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-12).
  • Elisha healed Naaman the Syrian leper (2 Kings 5:1-19). Jesus healed a leper after delivering his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 8:1-4).
  • Elisha brought the Shunammite’s son back to life (2 Kings 4:8-37), and Jesus brought the synagogue leader’s daughter back to life (Matthew 9:18-26).
  • Elisha miraculously fed a hundred men (2 Kings 4:42-44). Jesus miraculously fed a crowd of five thousand men (Matthew 14:13-21), and then a crowd of four thousand (Matthew 15:29-39).
  • Both prophets demonstrated miracles of supernatural buoyancy. Elisha caused an iron axe-head to float (2 Kings 6:5-7), and Jesus walked on water (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:15-21).
  • Both men worked miracles of provision. A widow’s jar of olive oil kept pouring and filled dozens of containers (2 Kings 4:1-7), and at Jesus’ command Peter caught a fish with a gold coin in its mouth (Matthew 17:24-27).
  • Both demonstrated power over nature. Elisha prophesied the arrival of water in the desert without wind or rain (2 Kings 3:15-18). Jesus stilled the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27).
  • Elisha opened the spiritual eyes of his servant (2 Kings 6:16-17), and Jesus opened the eyes of the blindman at the Pool of Siloam (John 9:5-7), as well as numerous others.

            When seen in tandem, this string of eight parallel miracles points to the arrival of the great Messianic prophet that Israel was longing for. Elisha’s double anointing was being doubled yet again through the ministry of Jesus. The New Testament Elisha had arrived, and his name was Jesus of Nazareth.
            Matthew deliberately framed his Gospel narrative so his Jewish readers could easily discern how Jesus duplicated and fulfilled the pattern established by the Old Testament miracle-working prophets.
            When the disciples of John the Baptist arrived to inquire if Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, how did he respond? He listed a string of miracles:

            Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me” (Matthew 11:4-6, NIV).

           Why did Jesus respond in this somewhat indirect enigmatic way? With his answer, he was drawing the link between his current ministry and the miracle-working prophetic ministry of the Old Testament duo of Elijah and Elisha. When John’s disciples leave, Jesus makes this abundantly clear to the crowd gathered around him by explicitly stating that John “is the Elijah who is to come” (Matthew 11:14).
            For those who have ears to hear, the implications are clear. If the new Elijah is already here in the person of John, then the miracles of Jesus herald his arrival as the new Elisha. Furthermore, Jesus’ answer implies that he is John the Baptist’s successor just as Elisha was Elijah’s successor. With John imprisoned, the double anointing now rests on Jesus, and in his conversation with John’s disciples he offers up his accomplishments as a miracle-worker as full proof of this prophetic transition.
            The hallmark of Elisha’s ministry was his double anointing (2 Kings 2:9). Elisha performed twice as many miracles as Elijah—more than thrice as many by some calculations. In his Gospel, Matthew signals that this double anointing resting on Jesus in a most unusual way. Generations of Bible scholars and apologists have puzzled over Matthew’s double vision. Repeatedly, Matthew reports on two men receiving miraculous help when the other Gospel writers report only one person receiving help.
            The first example of this is found in Matthew’s report on the restoration of two demon possessed men in the region of the Gadarenes (Matthew 8:28-34). This corresponds closely with the report of what appears to be the same event in Mark’s Gospel (Mark 5:1-20) and Luke’s Gospel (Luke 8:26-39). Mark’s account goes into considerably more detail, but Mark and Luke make no mention of a second man.
            The second occurrence is found in Matthew’s healing of two blindmen (Matthew 9:27-31). Again, for the perceptive, this double healing serves as a sign of the double anointing now resting on Jesus.
            The third example of Matthew’s double vision occurs as Jesus is leaving Jericho on his last Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

           Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 20:30, NIV).

          Similar accounts appear in Mark’s Gospel (Mark 10:46-52) and Luke’s Gospel (Luke 18:35-43). Again, Mark provides more detail by identifying the blindman as Bartimaeus. And yet again, Mark and Luke make no mention of a second man.
            Finally, all four Gospel writers report on the feeding of the 5,000, but only Matthew and Mark include the feeding of the 4,000. Again, Matthew reports a double miracle, while Luke and John remain silent on the second miraculous feeding.
            Bible scholars and apologists have come up with some sound reasons for these discrepancies in the four Gospels, which for the sake of brevity we will not explore here. But the following is one possible explanation:
            We tend to see what we are looking for, and undoubtedly, this principle applies to Matthew as well. When we are watching for something, we will pick out the item or event we are searching for against a busy backdrop of other sights and events. We see it because we are watching for it. The words of Jesus ring true, “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7).
            A recent experience David Kitz had serves to illustrate this point. While walking along the shoreline of a marsh, he came upon a muskrat lodge protruding above the ice. He was fascinated by this discovery. After continuing further, he returned and then retraced his steps and found five more muskrat lodges. He had passed by these lodges minutes earlier but had noticed none of them. He saw them now because he was looking for them.

Petrie Island — photo by David Kitz

            So, why did Matthew see and record his list of double miracles? Could it be because he was actively watching for evidence of a double anointing resting on Jesus, whereas the other Gospel writers had their attention fixed elsewhere? Matthew was expecting to see miracles in duplicate because he was keenly aware of the Old Testament dynamic duo and their prophetic narrative. He was familiar with Elisha’s miracles, and now he was watching the same pattern of miracles repeated with a twofold impact. Yes, Elisha’s double anointing was being doubled yet again.
            Furthermore, Matthew was writing with his Jewish audience in mind—an audience that was familiar with and watching for the return of the voice and power of the Old Covenant prophets. He was writing to his people in a code they could readily decipher because they were steeped in Old Testament lore and primed to expect the arrival of their Messiah. Matthew was declaring to his countrymen that the prophetic power and anointing had returned first in the person of John the Baptist, and now through the ministry of Jesus. For this reason, his Gospel narrative directly sites more than forty Old Testament references and alludes to many others.[i]
            Like any great storyteller, Matthew saves the climax of the story until the end—just before the conclusion of his Gospel. And there is no greater climax to any story than the resurrection of Jesus. Again, in Matthew’s account, there is a discernable link to resurrection and the end-of-life experiences of both Elisha and Jesus.

The promise of resurrection — photo by David Kitz

            Elisha has his own post-death resurrection story. Like many of Elisha’s miracles, it is an event without precedent in the Old Testament. Elisha’s final miracle happened months or possibly years after his death.

             Elisha died and was buried.
             Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet (2 Kings 13:20-21, NIV).

            In his death Elisha brought forth life. How miraculous—how Christ like!
            In the same way Jesus, the New Testament Elisha, brought forth resurrection life when he died.

             And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
            At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (Matthew 27:50-53, NIV)

                Again, Matthew is the only Gospel writer who reports this phenomenal event. Perhaps Matthew met with residents of Jerusalem who told him of their encounters with these resurrected holy people. Perhaps, he or some of the other apostles had such an encounter.
                Once more, we see a striking parallel between this final resurrection miracle of Jesus’ earthly ministry, and the final resurrection miracle of Elisha. Of course, Christ’s miracle in death is an amplified version of Elisha’s posthumous resurrection miracle. Elisha brought only one man back to life, while Jesus brought many holy people up from their graves. Jesus was, after all, more than a prophet. He was and is the only begotten Son of God, and this resurrection miracle acts as a token or sign pointing to the final resurrection that will come at the end of the age when Jesus returns.
                This then is the nineth and final miracle of Jesus that reflects a direct parallel miracle from the life and ministry of Elisha. It is a miracle that is found exclusively in Matthew’s Gospel. It is recorded there because Matthew was painting a portrait of Jesus for a Jewish audience. For the perceptive, it is a portrait of a prophet who came in the miracle-working power of Elisha. And like any great storyteller, Matthew saved the most power-packed event until the end.
                Will you and I be sparking a revival after our death just as Elisha did?

[i] Matthew’s use of the Old Testament — Wednesday in the Word

This is the seventh weekly excerpt from the award-winning book 
The Elisha Code & the Coming Revival 

A soul-gripping read.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.
For details click here.

Introduction to “The Elisha Code”

14 Sunday Sep 2025

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Discovering Jesus Blueprint for Renewal

By
David Kitz & Dr. Ed Hird

Is there a hidden code to the Bible? Is there some secret interpretation—hidden in plain sight—that we have been missing for generations? If so, what is it, and what are the implications for Christians today?

The book you are holding cracks the code—the code Jesus revealed to his disciples. Furthermore, it signals the pattern for the coming global revival—revivals that may well be marked by miraculous signs and wonders on an unprecedented scale.

We live in dark times—times of fear, pestilence, national and international intrigue, and political turmoil. Many are in despair. But into this darkness, the prophet Isaiah speaks:

         “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, 
           By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
           Galilee of the Gentiles:
           The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
           And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
           Light has dawned” (Matthew 4:15-16, NKJV).

At the darkest time, in the darkest region, Jesus appeared on the scene. There he began his ministry. In these dark and divided times, as the truth of the Elisha Code is brought to light, we too will see Jesus revealing his grace and power among us.

Throughout the centuries-long history of the church, biblical truths have been lost—lost through sin, unbelief, and neglect—later to be rediscovered by thirsty souls searching for transformative change in dark times. Martin Luther triggered the reformation with his rediscovery of the truth of salvation by faith through grace. The truth of sanctification triggered the Great Awakening and the Methodist renewal with revival-fire starters such as the Wesley brothers, George Whitefield, and John Newton. The twentieth century began with a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit as the truths of Pentecost were brought to the fore through the globe-spanning Welsh revival and the Azusa Street outpouring.

When biblical truth is restored, revival often follows. A harvest of souls is swept into the Kingdom of God, as surely as the morning dawns on a new day.

Sydney Missionary Bible College (Flickr CC).

Let’s return to his Holy Word and uncover the foundation Jesus has already laid. Let’s return to truths we have overlooked for far too long. Jesus is the Master Builder of the church. By studying his earthly ministry, we can discover the blueprint he was following to launch and establish the church of the first century. It is a blueprint that is patterned after the prophetic Old Testament ministries of Elijah and Elisha.

Within this volume, there are chapters that explore this neglected connection to these two prophets of the old covenant. Often, these chapters are then followed by biographical snapshots of individuals in church history who have tapped into key truths. These principles have catapulted the gospel message forward to powerfully impact the world of their time.

To fulfill its divine mission, the church of the twenty-first century does not need to discover new and different truths for this current age. It needs to return to, and rediscover lived truths taught by Jesus and the apostles of the first century church and put into practise by leading men and women of God down through the ages.     

Together, let’s crack the Elisha Code and become participants in the next great end-times revival—a revival marked by a double portion of Christ’s miraculous anointing.

Let the quest begin!

This is the second weekly excerpt from the award-winning book 
The Elisha Code & the Coming Revival 

A soul-gripping read.
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
This book points the way forward.
For details click here.

Scar Tissue by Danny Covey

24 Tuesday Oct 2023

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I love this book by Danny Covey. I found it to be truly inspirational. Perhaps this is so because I have my very own scar tissue from triple-valve-repair-open-heart surgery in July 2020. But what I endured is minor when I consider Danny’s suffering.

pxl_20231023_153928398

My personal copy of Scar Tissue

This is a stunning story of survival and miraculously overcoming insurmountable obstacles. The author Danny Covey endured eight bouts of lifesaving heart surgery. Born with a defective heart, from infancy, this pastor’s son experienced unimaginable suffering and learned to rise above it all in triumph, ultimately earning a black belt in jiu-jitsu.

Above all Danny is not a victim of his circumstances. He is a victor. This is a story of conquest through determined faith “believing there is purpose in your suffering,” so we too can “live each day with gratitude.”

The book is professionally written, suspenseful, and engaging throughout with plenty of thought-provoking quotes. Overall, a five-star effort with a five-star outcome. Furthermore, it’s an incredible testimony to the grace of God at work in the heart of someone who has come through life-threatening storm, after storm, after storm.

Yes, Scar Tissue by Danny Covet is available on Amazon. It’s well worth reading, and an ideal therapy for those who experienced a life-altering trauma.

A Call for the Miraculous

15 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by in Books by David Kitz

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The following post is a chapter-length excerpt from the manuscript for The Elisha Code & the Coming Revival by Ed Hird and David Kitz.

“And these signs will accompany those who believe:
In my name they will drive out demons;
they will speak in new tongues;
they will pick up snakes with their hands;
and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all;
they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
(Mark 16:17-18, NIV)

What will it take to turn this nation and the world to faith in Jesus Christ? That question should set us on a Holy Spirit driven quest to see a world-changing, Book-of-Acts revival take place in our time.

There are those within the church who argue the age of miracles ended with the death of the original apostles. But those who hold such a view are not being true to the Scriptures, or the historical record of the church down through the ages.

Have you noticed that most revivals in the last hundred years involved a renewed emphasis on the healing ministry? Many denominations have functionally delegated the healing ministry to the wastebin of New Testament history. Sorry, they might say, this is the wrong dispensation to get healed. Jesus does not do that anymore. Spiritual gifts like prophecy, tongues, and healing have all ceased since the publishing of the New Testament. If you are sick, all that is left is to go to your medical doctor and hope for the best. “If it be your will” prayers have become the dominant way of praying for the sick. Perhaps God nowadays wants us sick rather than whole.

Aimee Semple McPherson and AB Simpson were two Ontario-raised Canadians who challenged that assumption. Both asserted that spiritual gifts are still available today, including the gifts of healing. While both valued the role of medical doctors, they helped many discover that Jesus Christ our healer is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Both asserted that this is not the wrong dispensation to get healed by Jesus. He is still willing and able to heal the sick in body, mind, and spirit.

Both Aimee and AB Simpson helped people rediscover the prayer of faith in James 5:15 where we read that if anyone is sick, they are to call the elders who will lay hands on them, anoint them with oil, and exercising the prayer of faith will heal the sick. They will be restored to health. By confessing their sins one to another and praying for each other (sins like unforgiveness, bitter, rage, self-hatred), many were healed. In the healing revival, it was noticed that people were often healed first spiritually and emotionally. The outer physical healings often naturally followed the inner healings.

Albert Benjamin Simpson was born on Prince Edward Island on December 15th, 1843, of Scottish Covenanter heritage. A B Simpson His family had emigrated from Morayshire, Scotland to Bayview, P.E.I. After the collapse of his father’s shipbuilding business in the 1840’s depression, his family moved from P.E.I. to a farm in western Ontario.

Fresh out of seminary in 1865, Simpson had accepted the call to pastor Knox Church in Hamilton, a congregation with the second largest Presbyterian church building in Canada. Over the next eight years, 750 new people joined the congregation.

But AB Simpson had been such a workaholic that he destroyed his health.  In 1881, his medical doctor gave him just three months to live.  But upon meeting an Episcopalian (Anglican) physician, Dr. Charles Cullis, at Old Orchard Camp in Maine, he experienced a remarkable healing of his near-fatal heart condition. His restoration to health was so complete that the next day, Simpson was able to climb a 3,000-foot mountain, and then successfully pray for his daughter Margaret’s healing from diphtheria. This was the very disease which had earlier killed his son Melville.

Simpson believed that Jesus Christ is still healing people today (Hebrew 13:8). His first of many books was fittingly called The Gospel of Healing.

Word spread fast regarding these healings. He was inundated by many with pleas for help. By others, he was vilified and ridiculed as another quack miracle worker. Simpson started Friday afternoon healing & holiness meetings, which quickly became New York City’s largest attended spiritual weekday meeting, with 500 to 1,000 in attendance. He even turned his own house into a healing home where people could come for prayer ministry.

Simpson, as founder of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, brought together four separate movements into one alliance (1) missions and evangelism (2) healing (3) holiness, and (4) Jesus’ Second Coming. His four-fold gospel emphasized “Christ our Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King.”  Simpson saw that the healing ministry as vital in the fulfillment of the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.

AimeeSempleMcPherson_lg.250w.tnFew people nowadays realize that Aimee Semple McPherson was the most famous North American woman in the1920s. How is it a Canadian farm girl had such a lasting impact on the lives of millions around the world?

Growing up on a farm near Salford, Ontario, Aimee was raised in the Salvation Army by her mother. At age 17, Aimee said, “Lord, I’ll never eat or sleep again until you fill me with the Spirit of power.”

Having been touched by the Spirit, she married the visiting evangelist, Robert Semple. They promptly went to China as missionaries. But within months of their arrival in Hong Kong, her husband died after they both contracted malaria. Aimee came back to North America in 1912 as a broken woman, a widow, and a single mother of a daughter from her brief marriage.

She wrote: “I had come home from China like a wounded little bird, and my bleeding heart was constantly pierced with curious questions from well-meaning people.”

Remarrying on the rebound to the practical Harold McPherson, she tried unsuccessfully to be the traditional stay-at-home housewife her new husband wanted. It almost killed her. After ending up in hospital, and near death, God told her to go back preaching. She said yes to her calling and was instantly healed.

Leaving that night with her two children, she began preaching in Canada. At her first meetings, only two men and a boy turned up for the first four days. Then, after miraculous healings broke out, the curious crowds appeared.

“My healings?” said Aimee, “I do nothing. If the eyes of the people are on me, nothing will happen. I pray and believe with others, who pray and believe, and the power of Christ works the miracle.”

The next step was travel to the West Coast. Aimee and her mom Minnie Kennedy became the first women to drive alone across North America on uncharted roads. After relocating to Los Angeles, Aimee became as well-known as Charlie Chaplain, Harry Houdini, and even President Teddy Roosevelt.

In the 1920s, the sheer numbers healed during her services was astounding. This included the wheelchair-bound being able to walk, the blind able to see, the deaf hearing, and tumors disappearing.

On January 1st, 1923, Aimee Semple McPherson opened her headquarters church in Los Angeles, the 5,300 seat Angeles Temple. A typical Sunday would see Aimee preaching three services to a full house, while tens of thousands more listened on radio. Her influence on the culture of southern California was so profound that linguists attribute the present-day southern California accent to the impact she had on the language. In those formative years, so many heard her voice in person and via radio that she shaped the pronunciation and syntax of daily speech of that region.

Angelus_Temple

Angeles Temple

One month after opening Angeles Temple, Aimee started L.I.F.E Bible College which soon attracted 1,000 students. Many of those students became Foursquare pastors and missionaries who spread the Foursquare Gospel around the globe.

Like AB Simpson, Aimee proclaimed a fourfold gospel message centered on Jesus—Jesus as Savior, Healer, Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and coming King. She called this the Foursquare Gospel and founded the denomination by that name.

Her legacy remains and flourishes. Today, there are 44,000 Foursquare Gospel churches in 143 countries around the world, and through the ministry of those churches, a million new believers committed their lives to Christ in the last calendar year.

But as we know, each new generation needs to discover the scope and power of the gospel for themselves. We cannot live on our parent’s faith. We must experience God’s grace firsthand. Undoubtedly, it was for this reason that Jude begins his epistle with these words:

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people (Jude 1:3, NIV).

Are we contending for the faith that was entrusted to us by the apostles? It is a faith that moved mountains of doubt, fear, and disability and cast them into the sea. It is a faith that healed the sick, restored the crippled, and raised the widow Tabatha from her deathbed.[i] Are we contending for that kind of world-shaking, bondage-breaking faith?

The following testimony from evangelist R. W. Shambach illustrates the power of supernatural healing in bringing the lost to faith in Christ. Shambach made his first trip to India in 1956. He was gripped by the poverty and misery he saw in the marketplaces, and by the many he saw who were sick, crippled, and blind.

On that opening day, I preached for two hours, and my interpreter translated for two hours—for a total of four hours. They wanted me to go on. When I gave the altar call, I was so disappointed. I had preached to 50,000 people, and not one soul had come to accept Jesus.

Although no one came forward to accept Christ, and the crowd was obviously ready for the benediction, I said, “I am not done now. God says that signs follow His Word. I did what God called me to do. Now I am going to let God do what He said He was going to do.”

I invited three people from the audience to come forward—they were beggars. I knew who they were. One was blind, one was deaf and dumb, and the other was a crippled woman who had never walked upright.

Fifty thousand people were watching.

They were all healed.

Do you know what happened? The people in that crowd started jumping out of trees, and a mob came running towards me… I never saw such an onslaught of people. They were yelling something at the top of their voice. I asked my interpreter, “What are they saying?”

He said, “They are hollering, ‘Jesus is alive. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is God.’ They are coming to get saved.”

What a thrill! Not one of them came when I preached, but when they saw the demonstration of the Gospel, they came. God has called the Church to demonstrate His power.

Aren’t you glad He is alive today?[ii]

What will it take to turn this nation and the world to faith in Jesus Christ? Many are blind and hostile to God and the message of the gospel. The only thing that will open their eyes to the reality of Christ’s love is a demonstration of the Lord’s supernatural healing power.

Paul knew the importance of the miraculous in his ministry to the lost of his time.

I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power (1 Corinthians 2:3-5, NIV).

Is the gospel message we are presenting just wise and persuasive words? To be truly biblical our message needs to be rooted in a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.

Healing and the miraculous are an integral part of the Elisha Code. Let’s not miss out on this key to future revivals.

[i] Acts 28:8-9, Acts 3:1-10, Acts 9:32-43

[ii] Excerpt From “Miracles: Eyewitness to the Miraculous” by R. W. Schambach, 1969.

Why Should I praise God?

25 Monday Oct 2021

Posted by in Psalm 30, Psalms

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Reading: Psalm 30:1-5
A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.
I will exalt you, LORD,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
LORD my God, I called to you for help,
and you healed me.
You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
you spared me from going down to the pit.
Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning (NIV).*

IMG_20201017_0948029

The glory of an autumn morning — photo by David Kitz

Reflection
If you ever want an excuse to break out in praise, just read the opening lines of Psalm 30. There are plenty of excellent reasons to praise God, and David gives us several of them right here. I will exalt you, LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. 

The LORD has lifted me out of the depths of sin and the Slough of Despond on more than one occasion. Furthermore, the LORD provides more than just forgiveness. He also gives victory over the sin and the discouragement that entraps us. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, He has defeated the minions of hell. Praise the LORD!

LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. If you enjoy good health, praise the LORD. He is your healer. Whether through miraculous means or natural process God is our healer, and we can thank Him for the strength, energy and rejuvenation He brings into our lives. Praise the LORD!

You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit. In Ephesians, chapter two, Paul tells us we were dead in trespasses and sins. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-7). Praise the LORD!

We serve a God of mercy, redemption and turn-a-rounds. He turns our mourning into dancing. See Psalm 30:11. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Praise the LORD!

Response: LORD God, I thank you for your mercy and grace. I praise you for being my healer. You are good to me in more ways than I can count. Thank you. You are worthy of continual praise. Amen.

Your Turn: What can you praise God for today? How numerous are your blessings?

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

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Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer has won the 2021 Best Book of the Year Award. For a closer look at Volumes II and III click here.

Why Did the Sea Flee?

23 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by in Psalm 114, Psalms

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Reading: Psalm 114
When Israel came out of Egypt,
Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
The sea looked and fled,
the Jordan turned back;
the mountains leaped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
Why was it, sea, that you fled?
Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
you hills, like lambs?
Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into a pool,
the hard rock into springs of water (NIV).*

wave rolling in pure clear sea

Photo by Lachlan Ross on Pexels.com

Reflection
“Why?” A four-year-old’s favorite question is, “Why?” Here in Psalm 114, the psalmist has some why questions as well. “Why did the sea flee? Why did the Jordan River turn back? Why did those mountains and hills seem to skip and dance? Why?”

The answer of course is because of the jaw-dropping, eye-popping, heart-stopping power of God. God caused the sea to flee. He caused the Jordan to turn back. He caused mountains and hills to skip about and frolic like yearling lambs set free from the stall. What an awesome display! What an awesome God!

Psalm 114 is all about the overwhelming power of God. It is a grand portrayal of the pivotal event in the Old Testament Scriptures. Here within a few short verses we catch a panoramic view of God’s might on display, starting with Israel’s escape from Egypt, to their arrival in the Promised Land.

Why did the miracle-working LORD make the sea flee? Was it simply to display His awe-inducing power? Was it simply to create excitement among the million or more mortals, who were eyewitnesses to this divine wonder? In the Exodus account, the reason for this miraculous intervention is stated clearly: That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant (Exodus 14:30-31).

This power display had one primary purpose. That purpose was salvation. The LORD wanted to save people—His covenant people—from the vicious clutches of oppression and a tyranny. In short, the LORD works wonders so He can save people—so He can bring them into His Kingdom—so they can escape the sin systems of this world, and come under His loving rule.

Response: Father God, thank you for going all out to save me through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus. What a display of your love and power! Help me to love, fear and trust you. Amen.

Your Turn: Why did God save you? Is there a reason for His mercy?

* New International Version, Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

The first volume of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer by award-winning author David Kitz is now available. For a closer look at this 262-page daily devotional book click here.

Reading 18 for Lent from The Soldier Who Killed a King

23 Saturday Mar 2019

Posted by in Lent, The Soldier Who Killed a King

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A journey to the cross is a journey to repentance. It’s a journey to deep personal change. Will you take this journey with me?

In today’s reading, Marcus, the centurion, rides back into Jerusalem on horseback. As he rides his mind turns over his thoughts about Jesus of Nazareth. Date: Near noon on Thursday, April 6th, 30 A.D.

We continued on to the fortress, but my mind was on the Northern Messiah. His penetrating eyes haunted my thoughts. There was a power there that I had no ability to fathom. I was reminded of Ruth’s words. Ruth was one of our household servants, a Jewish girl. When at the supper table I had told Zelda about Jesus and his miraculous powers, Ruth’s eyes brightened. I asked her if she knew anything about this man.
biblical-fiction-award-2017_orig“Oh, yes,” she’d said. “Almost a year ago he healed a blind beggar from the Lower City. Jesus made some mud, put it on the beggar’s eyes, and sent him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. When he washed, he could see. It was a miracle. I’ve seen this man myself. I know it’s true,” she earnestly avowed.
When I’d asked her about this power Jesus had and where it came from, she bowed her head and answered, “From God.”
But she seemed somehow uncomfortable with her answer. She added, “It must be from God. He does good things. But our leaders aren’t sure. They think it may be demon power. But demons don’t heal the sick.”
Maybe the religious leaders were right. Maybe it was demonic power that made the blind see. It seemed preposterous. But why had I heard this voice? Why did this man trouble me so? Thinking of him seemed to stir up nothing but torment within me, and I didn’t even know why. I felt strangely attracted to him, yet at the same time repelled.
Then there was this talk about the kingdom of God. Maybe Timaeus was right about this prophet. The words of the wealthy merchant came back to me: “You don’t talk about a kingdom in this place and get away with it. Rome will see to that!”
Maybe we would see to it. Maybe we should see to it soon. But Jesus’s enemies were the same pompous, self-serving leaders I despised. He had aligned himself with the common man, with the poor, the oppressed, the sick and suffering. And he didn’t just champion their cause for personal benefit like some crass politician lobbying for the emperor’s favor. No, he healed them. He fed them. He walked with them, ate with them. He was one of them. He was their king, whether he wore a crown or not. I saw that clearly when he entered on the donkey. He was the donkey king. A horse would have put him above the crowd. A horse would have meant elevating himself like all the other egotistical men who led in this upside-down world.
In his case others would have to do the elevating.
The meaning of his entry on Sunday came clear to me now. It was a perspective gained from my comfortable perch on the back of my own noble steed.
By the time I reached the fortress for the second time in the week, I resolved to shut this Messiah out of my mind. He didn’t fit any of my categories for human behavior or religious thought. He was beyond understanding, an unwelcome intruder into my city and my thought life.
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In the Battle You Shield my Head

31 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by in Bible, Devotionals, God's word, Psalm 140, Psalms

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Reading: Psalm 140
(Verses 6-8)
I say to the LORD, “You are my God.”
Hear, LORD, my cry for mercy.
Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer,
you shield my head in the day of battle.
Do not grant the wicked their desires, LORD;
do not let their plans succeed (NIV).

20180819_1806193

View of the Ottawa River — photo by David Kitz

Reflection
On a beautiful spring evening almost twenty years ago, I went for a bicycle ride with my fourteen-year-old son, Josh. At that time, there were some beautiful mountain bike trails on a forest-covered escarpment above our home. After exploring these trails for a while the time came for us to return home.

We crossed to the opposite side of the paved road and began our descent down the hill. Of course our bikes began to pick up speed—no pedaling needed. There was a traffic light at the bottom of the hill where we needed to make a right turn down our street. Soon Josh was well ahead of me. He went sailing around that corner at top speed and launched himself and his bike onto the sidewalk. What Josh could not see due to a tall hedge was the minivan pulling into the intersection directly ahead.

Boom! His bike collided with the back wheel and side of the minivan. Next, I see Josh’s body flying over the roof of the van. I expect to find him dead or disabled on the other side of the vehicle. Not so. Miraculously, not so! He was shaken but conscious. We rushed him to a hospital to have him checked. No signs of concussion were detected. Answered prayer and his bicycle helmet saved him. The minivan owner was not so fortunate. Josh’s head dented the rear roof column. Body shop repairs cost $1,600.

David voices this prayer in today’s reading from Psalm 140: Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle.

Is your head shielded? It’s your body’s most crucial asset. You can lose a limb—several limbs—and survive. But your head is essential. A lot of Christians are losing the battle for their heads these days. By that I mean we are filling our minds with the philosophical garbage and filth of this world. Many of the most active sites on the World Wide Web are porn sites. Christian men are particularly vulnerable.

Paul, the apostle, admonishes us: Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:11). One of the most important elements of that armor is the helmet of salvation. Are you certain of your salvation? Our salvation is as certain as the blood of Christ. It’s as certain as the empty tomb. But if we do not guard our minds and our eyes, which are the gateway to the mind, we can quickly find ourselves vulnerable. We need self-control and God’s help—His shielding. It doesn’t take long to pick up speed when your mind starts rolling downhill. Is your helmet on?

Response: Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle. Do not grant the wicked their desires, LORD; do not let their plans succeed. I put on the helmet of salvation. I commit my thoughts and ways to you. Amen.

Your Turn: How vulnerable are you to attacks from the enemy? Are you holding your ground?

Excerpt 18 for Lent from The Soldier Who Killed a King

14 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by in Books by David Kitz, Christ's Passion, Lent, Mid-Week Medtiation

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A journey to the cross is a journey to repentance. It’s a journey to deep personal change. Will you take this journey with me?

In today’s reading, Marcus, the centurion, rides back into Jerusalem on horseback. As he rides his mind turns over his thoughts about Jesus of Nazareth. Date: Near noon on Thursday, April 6th, 30 A.D.

We continued on to the fortress, but my mind was on the Northern Messiah. His penetrating eyes haunted my thoughts. There was a power there that I had no ability to fathom. I was reminded of Ruth’s words. Ruth was one of our household servants, a Jewish girl. When at the supper table I had told Zelda about Jesus and his miraculous powers, Ruth’s eyes brightened. I asked her if she knew anything about this man.
biblical-fiction-award-2017_orig“Oh, yes,” she’d said. “Almost a year ago he healed a blind beggar from the Lower City. Jesus made some mud, put it on the beggar’s eyes, and sent him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. When he washed, he could see. It was a miracle. I’ve seen this man myself. I know it’s true,” she earnestly avowed.
When I’d asked her about this power Jesus had and where it came from, she bowed her head and answered, “From God.”
But she seemed somehow uncomfortable with her answer. She added, “It must be from God. He does good things. But our leaders aren’t sure. They think it may be demon power. But demons don’t heal the sick.”
Maybe the religious leaders were right. Maybe it was demonic power that made the blind see. It seemed preposterous. But why had I heard this voice? Why did this man trouble me so? Thinking of him seemed to stir up nothing but torment within me, and I didn’t even know why. I felt strangely attracted to him, yet at the same time repelled.
Then there was this talk about the kingdom of God. Maybe Timaeus was right about this prophet. The words of the wealthy merchant came back to me: “You don’t talk about a kingdom in this place and get away with it. Rome will see to that!”
Maybe we would see to it. Maybe we should see to it soon. But Jesus’s enemies were the same pompous, self-serving leaders I despised. He had aligned himself with the common man, with the poor, the oppressed, the sick and suffering. And he didn’t just champion their cause for personal benefit like some crass politician lobbying for the emperor’s favor. No, he healed them. He fed them. He walked with them, ate with them. He was one of them. He was their king, whether he wore a crown or not. I saw that clearly when he entered on the donkey. He was the donkey king. A horse would have put him above the crowd. A horse would have meant elevating himself like all the other egotistical men who led in this upside-down world.
In his case others would have to do the elevating.
The meaning of his entry on Sunday came clear to me now. It was a perspective gained from my comfortable perch on the back of my own noble steed.
By the time I reached the fortress for the second time in the week, I resolved to shut this Messiah out of my mind. He didn’t fit any of my categories for human behavior or religious thought. He was beyond understanding, an unwelcome intruder into my city and my thought life.

American readers click this link to purchase The Soldier Who Killed a King.

Canadian readers click this link to purchase The Soldier Who Killed a King directly from the author.