"...and the power..."

       We are all familiar with many applications of the term, "power. Political power, military power; horsepower, electrical power, or the civil rights chant, "Power to the people!" Just as we acknowledge in our prayer that God is in complete control; that He rules in heaven above; that He is soon to rule this earth when we pray "For thine is the kingdom... " so we should realize the immensity of His limitless power.

        As we shall see, knowing something about the power of God can be a vitally important item of faith. When you're sure someone is capable of performing some act, you have confidence it will be done. Faith is confidence, assurance your prayer will be answered because God has power to perform mighty deeds. But unless we know what is the power of God, the repetition of the familiar words, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, " sound more like spiritual poetry; as if we are merely intoning the required words with a group of the devout in church, insuring the commas are all in place, the emphasis is just right, the words uttered in proper cadence.

        Do you know of examples of God's power? When you say, "for thine is the power... " do specific concepts of God's great power come to mind? Mostly, our minds conceptualize the power of man. We are impressed by displays of power. The marching of armed men; columns of tanks, armored vehicles, missile carriers; these are the trappings of military parades intended to impress and intimidate. No one understood the trappings of implied power better than Adolf Hitler. When we see the news photographs of the nightly 16-inch guns of a battleship firing; a flight of F-16 aircraft unleashing rocket attacks; or the launch of a Titan missile, we are suitably impressed.

        We know we are seeing frightening engines of destructive power.

        I have been as impressed as anyone with military power. As a young sailor aboard an aircraft carrier during the Korean war, I shall never forget the moment I heard the captain announce over the ship's loudspeakers that we had joined elements of the 7th fleet off Wonsan; how he advised all those not on duty to come topside when they could, to see the magnificent sight of all those American ships.

        Thankfully, I was in the gunnery department; my duty station was only one deck below the flight deck, and my battle station was that of captain's talker for the gunnery officer. I scrambled up just one ladder, out the hatch onto the starboard side of the flight deck, and took a look about me. There, only a few hundred yards away, were two other Essex class aircraft carriers just like the USS Antietam. The battleship Iowa was there, as were some heavy cruisers, several light cruisers, and a large number of destroyers. Ships were everywhere, extending over the horizon. I knew there were others, too distant to be seen. It was a mighty armada. Standing there with the wind in my face, seeing these mighty ships ploughing along through the steep gray swells of the South China Sea, I was exhilarated with a sense of pride, of belonging to a great nation, of being there, offshore Korea, for a noble cause.

        The implied power in all those guns, in those dozens of aircraft with their bombs and rockets and machine guns, in the sleek gray shapes of those destroyers plunging along like so many watchdogs over their larger charges—it was heady wine.

        Many times during my two years aboard ship, I stood just above the twin 5 inch/38 anti-aircraft guns while they were firing. Just above them and immediately below my station was a 40mm quad mount. The deafening blasts from those guns, the acrid smell of burnt cordite, the bits of charred cork that smudged my face as the winds blew their clouds of smoke toward me is still a poignant memory. That's power, up close.

        How well I remember my very first trip aboard a jet airliner in the winter of 1959. 1 was aboard the first nighttime flight from Los Angeles to New York by American Airlines after they had just taken delivery of their very first Boeing 707. Though I was a seasoned traveler by then—having flown all over the country, throughout Europe, Central and South America aboard everything from old DC3's to DC7's and Super Constellations—I was not prepared for the thrill of my first jet ride.

        This was different! When we took off, I was not anticipating the incredibly steep deck angle, nor the surprising acceleration on the takeoff roll when the engines were brought to full power. I seemed to be pushed back into my seat by some invisible force; the aircraft lifted off and began to climb at what I thought was an impossible angle.

        But this was nothing to compare with the many times I observed launches from Cape Kennedy. I covered the entire series of Gemini Thor-Agena launches, and was on hand for the manned Apollo flights. The first time I was in the forward press stand for the launch of a huge Saturn 5 rocket, I could scarcely believe my eyes. Not so far distant from us was a huge rocket the size of a thirty-six story office building! Brilliant lights illuminating it in the predawn darkness revealed tendrils of vapor slowly rising from the rocket, hinting at the liquid fuels inside. I was to do a television program during the launch commencing with the final seconds of countdown, and continuing live, on camera, throughout the launch and the hoped-for successful aftermath.

        As the countdown reached 0, and the instantaneous blast of bright flame and white smoke burst from beneath the rocket, we saw the huge missile begin to slowly rise. I had been giving the dimensions of the rocket, the names of the crew aboard, their mission. I had described to my viewers the incredible power of that gigantic missile—seven million pounds of thrust were to be generated from those Saturn 5 engines! Then, the blast of sound reached us. The ground shook under my feet. My ears were filled with a thunderous roar; it was the loudest sound I had ever experienced. We were buffeted by shock waves from the nearly instantaneous explosion of thousands of gallons of fuel. The change in my pocket jingled, and it felt as if two mighty hands were beating against my chest. It was impossible to keep my voice from trembling as I described the launch; the incredible courage of our astronauts who could calmly sit there in that capsule atop a massive bullet, going through their prescribed routines as if what they were doing was somehow routine, normal. Talk about power! I was witnessing mankind departing from the earth! Those men over there were going to the moon!

        As a pilot, I have flown eleven different types of jet aircraft, over sixty different airplanes in all, including singles and twins, land and sea planes. I became familiar with the powerful thrust of their engines. Accumulating thousands of hours in the Dassault Falcon Jet, I crossed the Atlantic at the controls of the airplane nearly fifty times. The Falcon was a dream to fly, and I never tired of its safe, dependable, powerful performance. We would lift off at about 120 knots, get the landing gear and the flaps up, and accelerate to 200 knots (the fastest speed allowable in a control zone) in only a few moments. Our rate of climb fell off as we went higher into the thinner air, but we would generally climb at an initial rate of from four to six thousand feet each minute depending on our weight.

        Once above 25,000 feet or so, it was a different story. The last 10 or 15 thousand feet of our climb had to be accomplished at a much reduced rate, so that our average climb to cruising altitude was about 1,000 feet per minute. We generally planned to get to our cruising altitude in about the same number of minutes as the altitude—37 minutes to 37,000 feet.

        But when I flew the Grumman Gulfstream II, a larger, more powerful airplane, we could make it from a standing start at the end of the runway to 41,000 feet in just 14 minutes! The fuel aboard the GII weighed more than the combined weight of the Falcon, including 11 passengers with baggage.

        But our modern jet fighters can lift off, pull straight up, and reach an altitude of over 50,000 feet in about three minutes! That's power!

        We're all familiar with, and impressed by, the technology of man. The awesome power unleashed in the explosion of a hydrogen bomb looms ominously in the back of our minds. Who has not seen the photographs of that towering column of water, smoke, and debris from the explosion of the first hydrogen bomb at Bikini—the great ships of the U.S. Navy dwarfed by that gigantic, mushrooming cloud? That was the world's most powerful explosion, ever.

        But what about God's power? Does God have power to compare with the thrust of a jet engine, the blast of a 360-foot long rocket, the explosion of a hydrogen bomb?

        Have you ever heard evangelists talking about God's power? I once saw a large advertisement in the Los Angeles Times, announcing an evangelistic meeting under a huge tent. The ad said great manifestations of God's power were to be performed; that the sick were to be healed; the lame walk, the deaf hear, the blind see. This particular night was billed as "double portion night," implying that the evangelist had the power to somehow control the production of miracles so that on the preceding night, only a "single portion" of God's power would be available, but on this special night, a "double portion" would be evident. Forgive me, but I was skeptical of such a claim.

        Since I had begun to study the Bible by this point in my life (it was about 1955), 1 spoke to my wife about it, and we decided to go to the meeting along with another young couple attending the same college. I wrote of that experience in my book, The Real Jesus (Sheed, Andrews & McMeel; Avon). It was the only time I ever attended such a meeting in my life. It was quite an education. This is how I described it in my book:

        "During one session of the meeting ... the wildly-weaving, hoarse-voiced, colloquially-accented southern evangelist who claimed to be having almost daily communication with 'The Lord,' was calling upon personal testimonies from the audience. From time to time a person... would rise, wave both arms, and scream out some unintelligible utterance ... it seemed to be both enjoyable and intelligible to many others in the crowd because it would usually bring forth shrieks and moans of ecstatic agreement.

        "There was a group of teenagers sitting directly in front of us, and they seemed to be under the tutelage of an ... older teenaged girl who was urging her younger brother, 'Go ahead, you can do it, there's nothing to it!' and gave him an outpouring of ... urgent instructions.

        "On a moment's sudden inspiration ... adding to our growing and acute discomforture, because suddenly all eyes were turned in our direction, the girl jiggled herself into position, and, springing onto the seat of her chair with all the grace of a rhinoceros, began to wave her arms ecstatically in the air and shrieked a series of piercing testimonies, interrupted by breathless screams of 'Bless You Jesus! Bless You, Jesus!'...then she said the name ... over and over again...

        "Even though those of us sitting immediately behind her knew that all this was a carefully contrived demonstration in which she hoped to encourage her younger brother to throw off whatever remaining constraints of propriety and etiquette he may have had... the wildly gesticulating figure came to the immediate attention of the... evangelist on the platform who then confidently affirmed ... over his microphone that what was happening in our vicinity of the tent was in fact a 'direct message from God!'

        "...Soon, it came time for the taking up of an offering. This was my first and only experience with what I heard described as a 'silent offering.' The evangelist said he only wanted to hear the 'whisper of bills.' No vulgar, noisy, obscene jingling of change! He then gave a quick financial report which was delivered with the same fervor and intensity as portions of his sermon ... it seemed that 'the Lord' had managed to send him head over heels in debt, and the evangelist then proceeded to enlighten us [as to] what the tent cost ... what it cost for payments on his buses, trucks and other vehicles in the traveling caravan, and many other costs which soared up into the thousands of dollars.

        "Then followed the promise of yet stranger miracles. But these miracles were the other edge of the sword. Many of the devout were warned with absolute assurance that if they held back their money, it was quite likely they would arrive home and find it in flames! They were threatened with head-on collisions at intersections, heart attacks, a telegram saying their mother had died, and everything from liver attacks to instant senility.

        "It must have frightened the daylights out of enough of them that they parted with a surprising amount of their money, but even this was insufficient, because after what was apparently one of the quickest tabulations in all history of accounting procedures, the evangelist and his staff took up yet another collection ... stating they were some $700 short, which meant the evangelist had to convince only seven people in this vast crowd of thousands that God had especially called and appointed them for the purpose of providing [this] required deliverance.

        "I was beginning to get a clue as to what was meant by 'Special Blessing Night,' or 'Double Portion Night' or that we would 'See Miracles.' The evangelist was receiving very special blessings, double and triple portions, and it surely was a miracle the way those people parted with their money."

        I have never forgotten that experience. Of course, the traveling evangelistic campaigns of that particular man are over now, for he died many years ago, reportedly of acute alcoholism. I saw nothing I could remotely equate with God's power. On one occasion, the evangelist seemed to become engaged in a fight with the devil and communists all at once. He shouted out his height and weight, whipped off his jacket, clenched his fists and professed willingness to do battle right there and then. The audience cheered. most people in that tent seemed to really enjoy the show.

        Were we witnessing the "Power of God" as billed? I do not doubt many of the faithful in that tent were positively thrilled with the meeting; that many experienced moving, emotional heights. Surely, the frequent applause; the tears of joy, the ecstatic moans of agreement were real enough. But somehow, our little group of four was not able to enter wholeheartedly into the proceedings. Maybe it was that the evangelist failed to recognize the wholly contrived demonstration of the young girl in front of us. Maybe it was because I could not equate—the power of God with the volume of a loudspeaker, or truly believe the wetness on the evangelist's hands was "holy oil" as he claimed.

        Have you ever seen a demonstration of the "Power of God"? Surely the power of Almighty God is more than the power of loudspeakers and amplifiers. Surely, it is more than the sound of an evangelist's voice? Where is the power of God when we hurt; when we're involved in terrible tragedy?

        God's Word says a great deal about God's power. The very first verse in the Bible says, "In the beginning God created..." What is "creation"? Remember the first proof there is a God? It is that creation demands a Creator. Creation means the universe and the solar system; every portion of matter, and the laws that act upon it. What does it take to create? To bring something into existence from nothing? God says He is the Creator of all things; that He created matter.

        All matter is made up of atoms. Yet, man has never seen an atom. It is only within the last few decades that scientists have been able to demonstrate the existence of the atom, have been able to identify its various parts, and have been able to unleash energy from the very "building block" of the universe, the hydrogen atom.

        You are composed of atoms. The air you are breathing, this book you are holding, the clothing you are wearing, is composed of atoms. Each atom contains a nucleus and many other components, such as neutrons, protons, and electrons. Electrons are negatively-charged particles which circle about the nucleus at a distance of about 10,000 times the diameter of the nucleus. There are many other atomic subparticles, some of which have a life span of only a couple of billionths of a second.

        Each atom is like an infinitesimally minute solar system. It is as if the nucleus were the sun, and atomic particles were the planets with their moons, circling about the nucleus. It requires several atoms in composition to form molecules. A molecule is the smallest particle of matter containing chemical elements. Water and air, as we know, are composed of H20, or, two hydrogen atoms combined with one atom of oxygen.

        In a sense, all matter is merely stored energy. Atoms are like tiny dynamos; electrical energy in rapid motion. Yet, when they are grouped together in certain ways, they appear as "matter." Though it may sound strange, energy is matter, and matter is energy. Each atom is a tiny energy source. The closer we look into matter, the more difficult it is to see. A molecule of some substance or other would be visible only under powerful microscopes. But the atom is so tiny it remains completely invisible, even to the most powerful electron microscopes. Yet we know it is there! We know, through experiments in nuclear physics, of what it is composed, how it acts. But it is invisible!

        No wonder God says "….that which may be known of God is evident to them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him are clearly understood by looking at what He has created; even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:19-20, paraphrased). If we see some huge structure, we marvel at the hands that made it. A trip to New York by someone who has lived all his life on a farm, or in a small village, brings exclamations of awe at the huge buildings—the Empire State, the twin Trade Towers. Millions stand at the foot of Mount Rushmore and marvel at the skill, artwork, and dangerous struggle it required to carve the faces of presidents out of solid stone. Men discover ancient monoliths in Tibet, or China, or in Iraq and Egypt, and marvel at the massive work it must have required. The great pyramids have astonished and impressed mankind for thousands of years.

        Man's great works impress us. But Who made the stone from which these marvelous structures were fashioned? Who created gravity, inertia, the laws of physics and chemistry that are immutable, powerful, eternal?

        From ancient times, men have recognized the power o t sun. They have known it required the sun for their crops to grow; to provide daylight, warmth, the seasons. Instead of wondering about the Maker of the sun, they have worshipped the sun, itself. As God says, "Who changed [exchanged] the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature [that which is created] more than the Creator, Who is blessed for ever. Amen" (Romans 1:25).

        Perhaps it is no wonder the ancients, with no knowledge of physics, chemistry or astronomy worshipped the sun. All energy with which we are familiar comes ultimately from the sun. The sun is our solar system's "furnace"; it's power source. Talk about power! Think about our sun for a few moments:

        The sun averages about 92 million miles away from earth, holding our entire solar system in its powerful gravitational field. Only about 2 one hundred billionth of the sun's expended energy reaches earth—all the rest is lost in space. Yet, with this minute portion of our sun's energy, all man's energy derives. All our fossil fuels; coal, oil, are stored energy—ancient life forms which received their sustenance from the sun.

        How does the sun generate its energy? Our sun is like a gigantic nuclear furnace, with hydrogen fusion occurring in its core, sending violent gamma rays rushing toward the surface about 300,000 miles away. The sun is about 864,000 miles in diameter. Experiments with nuclear fission (the atom bomb) and nuclear fusion (the hydrogen bomb) have demonstrated to scientists that the process by which our earth receives its energy is exactly like that of the explosion of a hydrogen bomb. Hydrogen is fused into helium at a temperature of some 25 million degrees. A vast mantle, whose size is unknown, absorbs the powerful bombardment from deadly gamma rays, changing them into slower-moving forms like ultraviolet waves and x-rays. The next layer of the sun is called the "photosphere, " which is thought to be a turbulent region perhaps 80,000 miles thick. The chromosphere, the outer layer of the sun, is the portion we see. It is perhaps 10,000 miles in depth, and consists largely of hydrogen gas.

        The outer atmosphere of the sun is called the "corona, " and is only visible near the surface of the sun, yet extends invisibly all the way to Mercury, about 36 million miles away.

        The sun has been photographed many times by using powerful telescopes which obscure all but the outer layer of the chromosphere and the corona, or by photographing hydrogen's red wave length. These photographs reveal the sun is exploding in continuous eruptions called "spicules." These gaseous explosions are like volcanic eruptions; they extend out into space for several thousand miles, and last only a very few minutes. There are about 20,000 such "spicules" visible at any one time.

        Huge eruptive loops, prominences, and arches have also been photographed. One of the largest ever recorded occurred in June, 1946, lasted about two hours, and extended nearly a million miles into space before it disappeared. Sometimes, these loops and arches appear to ignite in space, soaring back down to the sun's surface. The average temperature of these surface storms appears to be 10,000 degrees F. Most are associated with interference of radio communication on earth, and are connected with "sun spots, " although not consistently.

        The power of the sun staggers the imagination. Yet, the sun is but an orange dwarf" star in comparison with many other stars in our galaxy. For example, if our sun were moved to the position of any of the stars in the "Big Dipper," it would be invisible to the naked eye, for it is 14,000 times less luminous than any of those stars. If Betelgeuse, the super-giant in the belt of Orion, were moved into the position of our sun, its huge mass would absorb most of our entire solar system, with Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury orbiting within the chromosphere of that super-giant. Our sun is more than 100 times the diameter of the earth, but Betelgeuse is more than one million times larger than the sun.

        Most of us live in blissful unawareness of our universe, of our solar system, and our position in it. We say the sun "rises" or "sets," remaining largely unconscious of our daily journey. Few of us awaken in the morning aware that we have just completed about an 8,000 mile trip, that our relative position to the sun has changed by the rotation of our good, green spaceship. Our minds simply boggle at the distances, sizes, shapes, and measurements of the solar system, our galaxy, and the universe. Our planet is like but one speck of sand in all the seashores of the world in comparison to its place among the stars. The distances between stars is as if one were to change one cubic inch of water into steam, and then disperse it through 30 trillion cubic miles of space, each invisible droplet of steam representing a huge star.

        One thing we can know. We can know the sun is a continuous, daily display of awesome, stupendous, mind-boggling power! Our Father in heaven and the member of the divine family known as Jesus Christ created all that! God says, "To whom then will ye liken me? or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth. Why sayest thou,...'my way is hid from the Eternal, and my judgment is passed over from my God?' [In other words, "O God, where are you when I need you?"] Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Eternal, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding" (Isaiah 40:25-28).

        When God wanted Job to repent of his self-righteousness, He turned to creation. He said, "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

        "Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened, or who laid the cornerstone thereof? When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

        "When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness as a swaddlingand for it. And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, 'Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed'? Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?...hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee, or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

        "Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, that thou shouldst take it to the bound thereof [can we see to the "end" of the blackness of the universe?] ... knowest thou it, because thou wast then born, or because the number of thy days is great?" (Job 38:1-21).

        After God showed Job the greatness of His power; after Job came to see himself in true perspective for the first time in his life, Job said, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes?" (Job 42:5-6).

        How many of us are like Job? We have "heard" about this "God" of whom evangelists speak. We have a certain "belief" about God, a personal philosophy. We have certain vague, nebulous concepts about who, or what, God is. But have we ever really set our minds to study the work of God's hands? Have we ever absorbed as much knowledge about our earth, all life upon it, our solar system, our galaxy, and our universe—and wondered in ever-increasing awe at the mighty hand that produced it all?

        Newton didn't invent gravity; he merely defined it. But what is gravity. Do you know? Why do stars like our sun hold planets securely in their "gravitational field"? What is magnetism? What is nuclear energy?

        Whether we look out to the macrocosm (out into the blackness of space), or into the microcosm (inside an atom, which is mostly space), we see the same great pattern of creation. God is the great Creator of all things. He has all power!

        When Christ commissioned His disciples to tell of His resurrection, He said "ALL POWER is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world [Greek: age].

        Amen" (Matthew 28:18-20).

        Jesus Christ healed dozens of people instantly! Peter was inspired to say to a crippled man, "Rise and walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth," and the man stood for the first time in his life. Christ raised Lazarus from the dead; Peter raised Dorcus from the dead. Startled, shocked onlookers saw deformed limbs suddenly made whole; the sickening sight of lepers, with their whitish, decaying skin instantly become as pink and fresh as a newborn baby's skin. The disciples saw one stupendous-miracle after another. They were witnesses to Christ's resurrection; they saw Him on many occasions in Jerusalem, in Galilee—and they believed. The apostles were told, "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me ... unto the uttermost parts of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

        Startled thousands saw flickering crowns of real flame seem to settle on the apostles' heads; glittering, fiery crowns, distributed equally among them, as each began to speak, one at a time, telling of the miraculous things they had seen. The miracle of understanding foreign languages was given to thousands; the apostles spoke miraculously, the people heard miraculously, and three thousand people were converted and baptized in only one day (Acts 2:41).

        The apostles were believed because they believed! They knew what they had seen, heard, and experienced. They were eyewitnesses to the brutal murder of their Lord, and witnesses to His resurrection! Their faith was boundless—because they knew. You can come to know the power of God by learning about the things His hands have made, by drinking in of His written Word, by hearing His servants preach the truth from that Word, by fervent, private, prevailing prayer. You can tap the mighty power of God in your personal life!

        Are there conditions to prayer? Certainly. But they are good, healthy, wholesome conditions. God says, "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment" (I John 3:22-23).

        When the apostles prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, they knew that powerful name could unlock absolutely limitless power! Peter was not in doubt when he lifted the crippled man to his feet. He had not the slightest iota of fear or doubt. His mind was not on himself, thinking, "What if this doesn't work? I'll look like a fool. " He was filled with compassion for the crippled man. He was in instant communication with Christ. It was as if his mind's eye could see Christ sitting on the right hand of God in heaven. He knew he was tapping the very power of the universe. The crippled man supposed Peter was about to give him some money, instead, Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth RISE up AND WALK! " And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God" (Acts 3:5-9).

        Notice that the crippled man "expected to receive something" of them. He hadn't the slightest inkling of what was to happen. When Peter stopped to look at him, he supposed Peter would give him money. This was a clear example of an apostle exercising the gift of healing; of the faith of Peter, irrespective of the faith or belief of the crippled man.

        Does God heal today? I know He does. I have seen miracles with my own eyes. I would not be here, except God had miraculously healed my mother many years ago. When my wife was eight months along toward the birth of our second child, we were in Europe with my parents and my brother. One day, she felt severe pain, low, on her right side. She looked, frightened, and called me in to see. She had ruptured! There was a large purple and blue spot, with a portion of the intestine obviously protruding through the lower abdominal wall. I saw it and touched it. We asked my father to join me in prayer. James says, "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he hath committed sins, they shall be forgiven him" (James 5:14).

        We knelt by her bedside, and my father used a little bottle of oil like the one we both carried, placing a drop or two of olive oil on her head. We both laid our hands on her, and prayed earnestly for God to heal her. I thought how God is our Designer and Creator; how it was He who designed the female body to give birth to children; that it was ridiculous for the stress of carrying a child to cause a rupture; that God had the power to heal this wound, and close it up. We claimed God's promises, saying we knew God would hear, and heal, because He could not deny His own promises; could not deny the sacrifice of His own Son.

        A day or so later, we were in Switzerland. My wife excitedly called to me from the bedroom, and I rushed in. She said, "Honey, Look! It's gone!" Her abdomen was as smooth as before! It was as if the rupture, with the large, blue-black area of bruise, torn flesh and swelling had never occurred! We were moved to tears; we were ecstatic with joy, and rushed to tell my parents and my brother.

        This was an absolute miracle. No one can ever tell me God does not exist, or that God cannot perform a miracle. There is no medical textbook ever written which can explain away what I saw with my own eyes, what I felt with my own hands. We knew she had ruptured. We knew God had miraculously healed her!

        I have known of dozens and dozens of miraculous hearings in my more than thirty-one years in Christ's ministry. I have heard personal testimonials, read letters by the score of those who have experienced dramatic healings; those who have been blessed with new jobs, increased income, or been delivered out of terrible trials. I know all things are possible with God.

        Are you personally familiar with the great power of God? You can read an article in an encyclopedia about the atom, about the sun, about nuclear energy; you can study the miraculous process of reproduction and human birth; you can study gravity, inertia, the cleavage properties of minerals, the formation of crystals; biology, chemistry. The more you know about matter, about our material universe, the more you know about God's limitless power.

        Christ said we should acknowledge, at the conclusion of our prayers, that God has the power to perform what He promises! We say to Him, "I know you can do this, Father, for you have all power; there is nothing you cannot do! " Christ's outline for prayer, commonly called "The Lord's Prayer," urges us to think deeply about God’s great power; then to pray in faith, without the faintest shadow of a doubt, that God will answer our prayers!