Signs and Wonders

[FireBrand]

There is a tug of war going on for the heart and mind of the church. Nothing can influence that struggle more effectively than demonstrations of God's power. This topic and thread I want to start for that purpose here in this small corner of cyberspace. No matter how big, small, reasonable or unreasonable, this is for you and totally about Him. Please share freely.

[Smitty]

I've heard that signs and wonders were contained and confirmed specifically for the apostolic age. Therefore, some may ask, "Do signs and wonders exist today?" Again, there are many Christians that believe they were intended primarily for the apostolic age, before the complete Bible was available. It has been said that before the NT was available in complete form, men would ask the apostles and others for proof that the gospel was divine, which would result in sings and wonders being demonstrated. Furthermore, there are church leaders who declare the need for signs and wonders is no longer relevant and the need for signs and wonders are gone today. "We have the complete Bible." If men won't believe that, they wouldn't believe anyway.

However, when the need arises, and a miracle is needed, I believe, "God does not change," and "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and yes, forever." If He did it in past ages, He'll do it again today. Sure, God confirmed the preaching of the apostles with signs and wonders and various gifts of the Holy Spirit. And S & W still follow the preaching of God's word today.

And my message and my preaching were not
in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not
rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
(1 Cor 1:4-5)
When the gospel is challenged and hard pressed in the midst of an unbelieving and perverse generation, a demonstration of the power of God through His signs and wonders are still in effect today. The purpose of signs and wonders accompanied by the miraculous and gifts of the Holy Spirit always was, and still is to attest and confirm the truth of the preaching of the gospel.
In effect, regardless of what unbelieving church leaders say in regards to signs and wonders ceasing to exist, it is impossible to prove conclusively that the Holy Spirit never duplicates the miraculous through S & W in other ages.

[FireBrand]

Signs and wonders are for today. Trouble is, we humans love to over analyze, categorize and generally neglect recognizing them. Signs come in many shapes and sizes, some very spectacular, others less so. I have found them to be a point of communication by God to arrest our unbelief and false theology. Signs happen more often than we give Him glory for.

Smaller, relational signs/wonders: In the first two months of a new pastorate on very uneasy ground so every step I took was careful. To my surprise, there is a man in our church that was a friend of my younger brother in childhood days. It was good to see him serving the Lord. He suggested we get together for lunch every other Friday. That first Friday was upon us. On my way out of the home wilderness (you know, rugged solitude) I came out on the main road and nearly pulled out in front of him. Coicidence? Nope. This happened once again over the next two hours. Both of us are very busy and travel much especially Fridays. We shrugged it off with a laugh until it was lunch time and we pulled into the restaurant parking lot simultaneously right next to each other. This time we were in awe of the presence of God and His signifying His pleasure on the commitment we had made as brothers. Relational signs.

Confirming Signs: During the first month of the same pastorate, there was a noteable prophecy uttered by pastor John Kilpatrick that (in short) was something about God releasing His eagles into places of ministry. I asked the Lord if that word was for me. I was not prepared for His answer. Every day for the next 7 I saw at least one bald eagle each day and one day there was two. After that and is more normal, I see maybe one eagle 6-8wks apart. We have them but that doesnt mean we see them, especially every day for 7 and directly after I asked God if that word was for me. Confirming Signs.

[Colonel]

Signs ? I mentioned earlier a vision I had from a meeting held by Aimee Semple McPherson in a small church in Kendrick, Oklahoma in 1918. That wasn't an open vision but I felt like I was present there for a little while. Some time later I started talking about that vision to someone in our church over facebook messenger. After listening to that for a little while she told me that she had just borrowed a 400 page book about Aimee Semple McPherson from an other lady in church and she was practically sitting with it in her hand. Pretty good timing.

[Jonathan david]

Psalm 145:10-12
All your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.
They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

[Ezekiel 33]

Woops! I posted in the wrong thread! sorry!