Words of Welcome

Luke 8:26-39 What do Aimee Semple McPherson, Katherine Kuhlman, Benny Hinn and Jesus have in common? The answer: They all connected healing with faith. I realize that putting Jesus in the company of these other faith healers may seem inappropriate to many, but I think it will help us think about how Jesus’ healing ministry should be understood. There have always been those who claim to heal in the name of God. Some have been shysters and frauds, but others have brought gifts of grace and healing to the lives of many. Some have used the tools of modern medicine, while others have turned to alternative forms of healing, including prayer and anointing with oil. Jesus is among those who have brought God’s healing presence into our lives in ways that are beyond a scientifically-based medicine. The healing stories involving Jesus are often dramatic, but they also raise questions. If Jesus can heal this demoniac or Blind Bartimaeus, why not me? People of faith often wrestle with the relati...

Luke 8:26-39 There’s been a lot of talk recently about the relationship between faith and healing. Some of these studies seem a bit silly, but others help us and the medical community recognize that we’re more than the sum of our physical body parts. They also suggest that people of faith tend to recover quicker than those without faith. Though we can't always define why this is true scientifically, people of faith know intuitively that their faith gives them hope and peace, even in difficult times. This cautious embrace of faith and spirituality by the medical community is controversial, but it’s providing benefits to many. Of course, a degree of skepticism is healthy. We don’t want to fall prey to the quacks and frauds and other purveyors of false hopes. At the same time it’s appropriate to recognize that we are -- to use a medical term -- a psychosomatic whole. Because we seem to be more than simply a mass of carbon-based atoms magnetically linked together, there may be room for...