Crammed with Heaven is a monthly column in which Jenni Pretorius Hill shares stories of hope which bring Heaven’s perspective to Earth
Jesus conquered death when He rose on that glorious Easter morning! Resurrection power belongs to him, and he has shared it with his followers. It’s not a suggestion that we pray for the dead to be raised; Jesus commanded it. In Matthew 10:8 He states, Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. (NIV)
Here are two recent resurrection stories that will stir your faith.
Our friends, Stoffel and Linda Fourie, lead Heaven & Earth Church in Hermanus. About five months ago, they began holding their Sunday morning services in a local primary school hall. The principal had to unlock the venue and since he was already there, decided to stay for the service. Deeply impacted by the tangible presence of God, he began attending regularly and soon two of his teachers joined him.
Later, they all joined a Tuesday Equipping Night. Here, Linda introduced him to her book, The Sacred Way, which chronicles her journey and testimonies in the miraculous. Her stories stirred his hunger and strengthened his faith. One night, Linda challenged them to start believing to raise the dead, and took them through some fun practice scenarios where she taught them how to pray for resurrection life. Little did they anticipate that this prayer of faith would operate in a real situation two days later!
The following Thursday morning, a young learner collapsed in class. The teacher tried CPR, but to no avail, and called the first aid team. The boy showed no signs of life; they could detect neither pulse nor heartbeat, and every attempt at resuscitation failed.
By then, the principal had been summoned and was told the child was dead. But instead of panic and fear, faith rose in him. He instructed someone to call an ambulance, then urgently called the two teachers who had been attending church with him. Together, they would pray for God to raise the boy from the dead.
But first, he phoned the child’s mother: “Your son has collapsed and is showing no signs of life, but don’t worry because we are going to pray!”
The three of them gathered around the boy. In the 10 to 15 minutes it took the ambulance to arrive, they rebuked death and called him back to life; and the boy breathed.
By the time the ambulance pulled in, and his mother reached the school, the boy was on his feet. Later, at the hospital, after extensive testing, doctors found nothing wrong with him.
This all happened about two weeks ago. The boy is back at school and doing well.
The second story comes from another pastor in our global church network, Don Sturiano, who leads Kingdom Life Christian Church in Bradenton, USA. On November 13 last year, he invited his friend and fellow minister, Dr Joe Pecoraro, to share this testimony.
The doctor had just returned home from a mission trip, and was still buzzing with the anointing and power of God, when he received a call from a fellow surgeon. A patient with a ruptured aneurysm needed him urgently. (For those who reach hospital, mortality is about 50%; for those who don’t, it’s 100%.) His colleague wanted his expertise as a vascular surgeon.
When he arrived and stepped into the operating theatre, the surgeon informed him the patient had just died. Dr Pecoraro checked the monitors and confirmed the flatline. Offering to help close the abdomen, he exited to put on gloves and gown. Once back in theatre, he reached into the patient’s abdomen to assess the size of aneurysm. Just as he did so, the anaesthesiologist exclaimed: “What did you just do?! His heart is beating again!”
Dr Pecoraro knew he hadn’t done anything – it was the resurrection life of Jesus, like the power surge of jumper cables to a flat battery, that had started up the patient’s heart. His colleague, aware (and sceptical) of his faith, stared at him and said: “This is a little bit creepy.” In Pecoraro’s words: “Creepy or not… God reinforced His power in that operating theatre, to a lot of people.”
These are the stories we will never read in the local news. (Our rational minds have no explanation for them, so unless we believe in a supernatural God who operates beyond the natural laws, we dismiss them as lies, exaggerations or the product of mental instability.) Instead, we are inundated with everything that is wrong with the world; our perspective becomes jaded, and our hearts cynical. But the truth is, there is more of God around us than there is any force of darkness. The earth is crammed with the life-giving, hope-infusing, joy-permeating, love-releasing power of God.
(PS: if you would like to read Linda’s book, you can email her at linfourie@gmail.com)
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