Someone asked:
What do you think about miracles? I’m sure it won’t happen to everyone. When we pray for someone who is sick, should we expect a miracle?
Do you think it is fair for someone to be sick without any reason?
Very good question! It seems the “miracle” you are talking about is the miraculous healing of someone who is sick (maybe with a serious illness).
The Bible says a lot about miracles of healing, especially in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts. It seems obvious to me that we serve a God who does miracles! The book of James tells us something that should be done for the sick:
James 5
14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
Because of Scriptures like this, some actually teach that a Christian should never get sick. It is important, however, to be balanced when we study the Scriptures. There are also instances in the Bible where sickness is mentioned and it seems that God did not heal the afflicted person:
1 Timothy 5:23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
2 Timothy 4:20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus.
Here Paul mentions two who were sick and were not healed supernaturally.
So how should we pray? Honestly I think we do not have enough faith in God’s healing power. When I pray for the sick I ask God to heal the person. Sometimes I lay hands on the sick when I pray. Does God always grant my request? No, but I know I can trust Him no matter what.
About your next question: “Do you think it is fair for someone to get sick without any reason?”
Do I think it is fair? No. The Bible, however, does not tell us that life is fair. There is a book in the Old Testament called Job. Job was a righteous man, yet he lost his children, his money, and even his health. Job complained to God about his circumstances. God finally answered him in chapter 38. God never answers the question of “why.” He simply explains that He is the creator of the universe and does not need Job’s advice.
There is another passage of Scripture that encourages me greatly:
Romans 5:8 But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.
If we want to understand how much God loves us, we simply need to look to the cross. Good and bad things will happen to me in my life. One thing that will never change—Jesus Christ loved me so much that He died for me. That is how I know God loves me.
Hope this helps,
Kuya Kevin
Well, thanks for your knowledgeable answer for those questions. Well, theorically that is the way of explaining but i don’t know how do i explain for that in the factual world. i just leave it with Him to answer.
another question
1. regarding the cross and heaven
i trust god Because i experience Him in my life but how do i know the cross event was occured in the past? And if we die How can we know that we will go to heaven or not?
One of my friend who holds theology phd also said that we need to wait and see that can we go to heaven or not.
The bible explicitely mentioned that we will go to heaven. Do you believe we can go to heaven becasue of the bible said that?
2. Also i read a book about heaven.
The book mentioned that some christians who was really good in his life will have different postition from the one who just became a chritian and went heaven. Do we have same position in the heaven after we die? Do we have to have some kind of training based on our faith level and our degree of the chirtitian when we alive? (the book said we will have differnet position and we will have different training i forgot the book name but it was a Anmerican author)
We know that Jesus died on the cross because it is a well documented historical fact.
The Bible states clearly that it is possible to know if we are going to heaven. Here is one example from the book of 1st John:
1 John 5
11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Notice he says “so that you may know. . . . “
If we have come to a point where we have truly accepted Christ into our lives and decided to follow him, we can be certain of salvation. I’ll be happy to meet with you personally to explain this in more detail.
2. Going to heaven is a matter of God’s grace, not of our good works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Matthew 20:1-16).
The Bible does,however, mention rewards in heaven:
Matt 5
11″Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
It seems that rewards in heaven will be different according to what a Christian has done. It is impossible to say if there are different “levels” in heaven or exactly what the “rewards” are. One thing we can be sure of–heaven is a wonderful place that will be enjoyed for eternity (John 14:1-4).
Thanks for your theological answers.
I trust God is a fair God.
For several years’ ministry, I taught to others for Christ but I still had questions for “WHY” and “FAIR”. I guess nobody can explain for my questions as up to now.
I just leave it with God.
I spent a lot of the time to think about “FAIR”. The only confidence I can get was from a song written by a disable lady who was talking about God is fair.
I couldn’t translate complete English but below are my translation.
“I do not have treasure (wealth)”
I do not have treasure (money and other wealth)
I do not have health
I do not have intelligent
But God is fair
Because of
He allowed me to meet Him
He allowed me to experience Him
I praise Him and He is fair.
It is really amazing that the disable lady can confess that God is fair to her. Compare to her I found that I have much more than her and keep asking God “WHY”
I trust God is fair.
God gave me more than I can have.
I love Him
Because of
God gave me the privilege to walk with Him
I praise Him
Reflection from the typhoon Sep. 28th
Wind comes without any grace
Rain comes without any forgiveness
Roof flies with the wind
Grain flows with the flood
No matter
How much cost it was
For building a roof
No matter
How much effort it was
For planting a grain
Under the tropical Sun
It disappears in few seconds
Nobody could still the wind and rain
Surprisingly
A short and thin tricycle driver still stands with his yellow tricycle
The wind hits the innocent man
The rain soaks his entire body
No matter
How much he cries for stopping the rain
No matter
How much he asks for a customer for him
Rain continues
God is blocking his eras from him
God is hiding Himself behind the clouds
But
Who said there is no sun in the cloudy days?
Who said Father forgot His children in the rainy days?
God will come and still the wind.
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Few questions for regarding the catholic and Baptist
1. Evangelism
According to NIV Mark 16 : 15
“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”
But the catholic said that it is rude to talk about gospel if somebody refuses to listen.
Even the Jesus himself stopped to do that when one of the disciples tried to share the gospel to the people who were refusing.
I can not find this example in the bible. Please give me the further explanation for this point.
2. Catholic’s extra book
Catholics said that because the disciples did not recorded some of the things such as really ordinary incident in the bible.
Like Lord Supper, they did wine and bread every Sunday during the time bible was written.
But they thought it is not necessary record in the bible. Because of it is a too common thing.
They explained that the ordinary thing does not need to be recorded such as we go to school everyday but we don’t need to record that in our daily everyday.
Do you agree this explanation?
3. Scarf for the NUN
Catholics mentioned the scarf is just like our uniform for the students. It can remind students that hey are students, so that they do not do bad things and try to behave right. The scarf for nun is a reminder that they are distinguished.
But we do not have any uniform for the Christian churches.
Why?
1. Evangelism–Jesus does command us to preach to all nations (Matt 28:18-20). You can find many Biblical examples of people who did not accept the message. I am not aware of Jesus ever forbidding his dsciples from preaching. He did tell them to shake the dust off of their feet if they were refused entry into a village (Luke 9:4-9). We are commanded to share the gospel and people are held accountable for their response to the message.
2. John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus did many things not included in the gospel. The “extra books” you are referrring to are probably the Apocrypha. You can find an excellent article here: http://www.bible.org/qa.php?topic_id=87&qa_id=147
3. We do not have any uniforms in Christian churches because there is no “Christian” uniform ever mentioned in the Bible. Paul urges women to dress modestly (1 Tim 2:8-9), and there are other references to appropriate clothing. No uniforms, however, are mentioned. Priests in the Old Testament had special garments, but this no longer applies to the New Covenant/Testament.