Could This Be Real?

[inquiringmind]

Could the laying on of the hands of secular ministers (without priesthood authority) have this kind of power (and could it really be of God)?

I will leave you with a short story on this manifestation occurring to someone I used to work with. I will never forget this testimony as long as I live. It was very touching and I felt like God allowed this story to come my way when it did to help confirm that this particular manifestation was really coming from Him.

About 20 years ago, I worked with a man who was a very devout Catholic. He was married with 2 girls, ages 8 and 11. There was a priest from Chicago who had come down for the Sunday service. I cannot recall the name of the priest, but he had a healing ministry and he did a lot of traveling with the healing gift that God had given him. He too found that people would fall backwards whenever he would lay hands on them.

On the Sunday this event occurred, this man, his wife and his two girls all went to see this priest. When this priest then made the call for anyone to come up and have hands laid on them, all four of them went up just to see if God would do anything with any of them.

My friend said that absolutely nothing happened to either him, his wife, or his older 11-year-old daughter. They felt no power come against them and none of them fell backwards in the Spirit.

However, his youngest daughter, who was 8 years of age, was hit hard! He said she went down like a ton of bricks. He said it looked like a cannonball or bowling ball hit her right in the stomach blowing her backwards with great force. There obviously was a catcher behind her when she fell backward.

He said the minute she hit the ground, she started bawling profusely. He said she was crying as hard as she could. My friend initially thought there was something wrong with her because she was crying so hard. He then started to go over to see what was wrong with her, but he received an immediate check from the Holy Spirit that he was not to go near her, that God was doing something very special with her.

He said that she laid on the ground crying as hard as she could for a good 10-15 minutes. After the 10-15 minutes, she all of a sudden quit crying and stood up. He immediately went over to her and started to walk with her outside. When they got outside, he turned to her and asked her why she had been crying so hard after she had been slain in the Spirit.

I will never forget these words as long as I live. This little 8-year-old girl turned to her daddy and said with a real big smile on her face:

“Daddy, Daddy, He felt so good, He felt so good!”

God was obviously manifesting His loving presence all over this little girl for the 10-15 minutes that she was “resting in the Spirit” to the point that she was crying as hard as she could. She obviously was in the manifest presence of God and He was allowing her to literally feel His love for her.

As I was driving home from work that day after hearing the above story, I then tapped in and asked God what had happened and was that really Him that did all of that.

These three words immediately came up out of my spirit and again, I will never forget these three words. The three words were – “I touched her” – with an emphasis on the word “touch.”

I then immediately started to laugh. He touched her, but she went down like a ton of bricks! I really felt like God was telling me two things with these three specific words:

1. That it was His manifest presence that blew her backwards causing her to fall like she did, and that it was His manifest presence stirring on the inside of her causing her to cry as hard as she did.
   
2. The fact that she told her dad that “He felt so good” – showed that God had to be literally manifesting His love to her where she could physically feel it all over her body.
   

You will each have to come to your own conclusions as to whether or not you feel this is a true manifestation from God. For those of you who do believe that this is a real manifestation from the Lord, the above Scripture verses, and arguments off those Scripture verses, can give you some ammunition should you ever find yourself in a heated debate with another Christian over this topic.

As for myself, I really do believe this phenomenon is a true and powerful manifestation from the Lord when it really is Him doing it. But as with all of the other manifestations from God, there are always demons out there who will try and counterfeit some of His manifestations, along with other people just acting out and pretending God is manifesting on them when He is really not doing so. These people are either operating under the power of suggestion, or they simply want to be part of the crowd if they see other people truly falling under the power of God.

But do not let counterfeit activity from the dark side, or some people acting out of their flesh prejudice you against what I feel is a very powerful and wonderful manifestation from the Lord when He does decide to do it on someone...

http://www.bible-kno...-in-the-spirit/

Edited March 10, 2012 by inquiringmind

[The Nehor]

Either that or the minister pushed her over. These "lay on hands" ministries tend to push hard. The girl fell over, hit her head, and cried.

"He felt so good"?

Was that the person who caught her or the person who pushed or God?

I also dislike stories advertising for ministries. They tend to be exaggerated or made-up. This one is at least second-hand, a common tactic to avoid questioning it.

I wouldn't take it seriously or, as some might, ascribe the manifestation to demonic power.

Could God do it if he wanted to? Sure, he can do whatever he wants. God doesn't need priesthood holders to do his work. He just lets us participate and gives us a few exclusive responsibilities (ordinances) to help us grown.

[Robert F. Smith]

Could the laying on of the hands of secular ministers (without priesthood authority) have this kind of power (and could it really be of God)?

I'm not sure what a "secular minister" is. Even Elmer Gantry would claim the priesthood of the believer.

A lot of this sort of thing used to be common among Holiness churches and among snake handlers. I don't know to what extent it continues, but some of it is deliberately fraudulent, with shills placed in the crowd to get the people excited.

There was a time when Relief Society sisters and other members would lay hands on the sick or afflicted and achieve real healing. Part of an uncorrelated, far more charismatic LDS Church. I think the Brethren have slowly been trying to bring order out of the chaos.

[inquiringmind]

I'm not sure what a "secular minister" is.

I think I meant sectarian.

[Buzzard]

The Holy Ghost witnesses all the time to non-members. I think that at revivals, those who pray to know if Jesus is the savior can recieve an affirmative answer, people with faith to be healed can be, I see no reason why someone who was ready for a manifestation of Gods love could not recieve it. God loves all his children, not just the small percentage in his restored church. As for the priest, him having authority to adminitister ordinances, no. But as a human with a special gift in communicating God's love for his children, don't see why not.

[Calm]

I agree with Buzzard. It is certainly possible and even likely in some cases.

I also don't accept as fact any faith promoting story that is secondhand unless I know the person and she has stated she knows and trust the individual relating the story. I am also with Nehor, I don't think using such to promote a ministry is appropriate.

[zerinus]

Could the laying on of the hands of secular ministers (without priesthood authority) have this kind of power (and could it really be of God)?

http://www.bible-kno...-in-the-spirit/

I don't buy it. I don't deny that God can manifest himself to people of other faiths who may be worthy of it; but this one doesn't sound right to me. Here is a quote by Joseph Smith, which I think is to the point:

One great evil is, that men are ignorant of the nature of spirits; their power, laws, government, intelligence, etc., and imagine that when there is anything like power, revelation, or vision manifested, that it must be of God. Hence the Methodists, Presbyterians, and others frequently possess a spirit that will cause them to lie down, and during its operation, animation is frequently entirely suspended; they consider it to be the power of God, and a glorious manifestation from God—a manifestation of what? Is there any intelligence communicated? Are the curtains of heaven withdrawn, or the purposes of God developed? Have they seen and conversed with an angel—or have the glories of futurity burst upon their view? No! but their body has been inanimate, the operation of their spirit suspended, and all the intelligence that can be obtained from them when they arise, is a shout of “glory,” or “hallelujah,” or some incoherent expression; but they have had “the power.”

The Shaker will whirl around on his heel, impelled by a supernatural agency or spirit, and think that he is governed by the Spirit of God; and the Jumper will jump and enter into all kinds of extravagances. A Primitive Methodist will shout under the influence of that spirit, until he will rend the heavens with his cries; while the Quakers (or Friends) moved as they think, by the Spirit of God, will sit still and say nothing. Is God the author of all this? If not all of it, which does He recognize? Surely, such a heterogeneous mass of confusion never can enter into the kingdom of heaven. Source.

[MorningStar]

I'm having a hard time imagining Jesus shoving people's heads when He healed them.

[Calm]

I'm having a hard time imagining Jesus shoving people's heads when He healed them.

I'm thinking more of what happened to Laman and Lemuel:

1 Ne 17: 53 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren, and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them, saith the Lord, and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God.

[ERayR]

Could the laying on of the hands of secular ministers (without priesthood authority) have this kind of power (and could it really be of God)?

http://www.bible-kno...-in-the-spirit/

The prayers of the believers are very powerful no matter how they are delivered.

Edited March 10, 2012 by ERayR

[zerinus]

I'm thinking more of what happened to Laman and Lemuel:

Laman and Lemuel were being wicked. That was a chastisement and rebuke from the Lord. God never blessed anyone that way. God's blessings come more in the fashion of Helaman 5:23-52; 3 Nephi 17:6-25.

[Hamba Tuhan]

'[T]hey consider it to be the power of God, and a glorious manifestation from God—a manifestation of what? Is there any intelligence communicated?'

Thanks for sharing this quote, Zerinus. It confirms in plain terms a point I've repeatedly made lately, which is that revelation has content.

[inquiringmind]

I don't buy it. I don't deny that God can manifest himself to people of other faiths who may be worthy of it; but this one doesn't sound right to me. Here is a quote by Joseph Smith, which I think is to the point:

One great evil is, that men are ignorant of the nature of spirits; their power, laws, government, intelligence, etc., and imagine that when there is anything like power, revelation, or vision manifested, that it must be of God. Hence the Methodists, Presbyterians, and others frequently possess a spirit that will cause them to lie down, and during its operation, animation is frequently entirely suspended; they consider it to be the power of God, and a glorious manifestation from God—a manifestation of what? Is there any intelligence communicated? Are the curtains of heaven withdrawn, or the purposes of God developed? Have they seen and conversed with an angel—or have the glories of futurity burst upon their view? No! but their body has been inanimate, the operation of their spirit suspended, and all the intelligence that can be obtained from them when they arise, is a shout of “glory,” or “hallelujah,” or some incoherent expression; but they have had “the power.”

The Shaker will whirl around on his heel, impelled by a supernatural agency or spirit, and think that he is governed by the Spirit of God; and the Jumper will jump and enter into all kinds of extravagances. A Primitive Methodist will shout under the influence of that spirit, until he will rend the heavens with his cries; while the Quakers (or Friends) moved as they think, by the Spirit of God, will sit still and say nothing. Is God the author of all this? If not all of it, which does He recognize? Surely, such a heterogeneous mass of confusion never can enter into the kingdom of heaven. Source.

Thanks for sharing this quote, Zerinus. It confirms in plain terms a point I've repeatedly made lately, which is that revelation has content.

But is it really all that hard to tell whether a spirit is from God?

If it creeps you out isn't it a wicked spirit?

And if it makes you feel good inside, isn't it from God?

If a little eight year old girl was really knocked off her feet by some unseen power, and (when asked why she was crying) really said

“Daddy, Daddy, He felt so good, He felt so good!”

Isn't that of God?

Edited March 11, 2012 by inquiringmind

[altersteve]

And if it makes you feel good inside, isn't it from God?

Once again, not necessarily. Satan can make you feel good inside too, if you let him.