The Power of the Cross and Healing in a Pastor’s Ministry
In conclusion, the cross continues as the centerpiece for power in healing. Nineteenth century minister R.A. Torrey called for a revival of healing in the church. He concisely identifies the problem in his inspirational classic The Power of Prayer,
Beyond a doubt, one of the great secrets of the unsatisfactoriness and superficiality and unreality and temporary character of many of our modern, so-called revivals is that much dependence is put upon man’s machinery and so little upon God’s power.[11]
A renewal of the power of God and teaching on the cross can reestablish the sovereign work of healing today. As a pastor, I pray for a new measure of the Holy Spirit to empower God’s church. Then, as Torrey expresses, “according to God’s own will and purpose, His power shapes and fashions history.”[12] Most crucial to our concerns, the wisdom that Paul discovered in the cross (1 Cor. 1:18), and a humble acknowledgement of the work of the cross can transmit the power of God to heal in our generation.
PR
Notes
[1] Francis MacNutt, The Nearly Perfect Crime: How the Church Almost Killed the Ministry of Healing (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 2005), 82.
[2] MacNutt, 96.
[3] Charles Farah. From the Pinnacle of the Temple (Plainfield NJ: Logos, 1979), 76.
[4] Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Collier Books, 1937), 45.
[5] Farah, 135.
[6] D.R. McConnell. A Different Gospel, A Historical and Biblical Analysis of the Modern Faith Movement (Peabody MA: Hendrickson, 1988), 163-164.
[7] John Christopher Thomas. The Devil, Disease and Deliverance (New York: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998), 61.
[8] Joseph A. Fitzmyer. First Corinthians The Anchor Bible. Vol. 32. (New Haven: Yale, 2008),
[9] Farah, 48.
[10] John Stott. The Cross of Christ. (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1986), 41-42.
[11] R.A. Torrey. The Power of Prayer (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971), 190.
[12] Ibid.
Bibliography
Farah, Charles. From the Pinnacle of the Temple. Plainfield, NJ: Logos, 1979.
Fee, Gordon. God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994.
Fitzmyer, Joseph A. First Corinthians. The Anchor Bible. Vol. 32. New Haven: Yale, 2008.
MacNutt, Francis. The Nearly Perfect Crime: How the Church Almost Killed the Ministry of Healing. Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 2005.
McConnell, D. R. Another Gospel, A Historical and Biblical Analysis of the Modern Faith Movement Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1988.
Stott, John. The Cross of Christ. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1986.
Thomas, John Christopher. The Devil, Disease and Deliverance. New York: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.
Torrey, R.A. The Power of Prayer. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971.
This article first appeared in Leaven: A Journal of Christian Ministry 23:3 (2016), published by Pepperdine University. Used with permission.
Category: Ministry, Winter 2017
Followers
Fans
