Do you accept eye-witness testimony?

Memory Verse:

Psalm 77:14 NIV

14 You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.

Wife 'cured' by prayer can't get benefits stopped because government computer doesn't recognise miracles

By LUKE SALKELD

Last updated at 08:14 11 December 2007

When June Clarke walked again after six years in a wheelchair, the committed Christian put it down to the power of prayer. But when she shared the good news with benefits officials, they refused to stop her incapacity allowance - telling her their computer "didn't have a button for miracles". With the Government pledging to crack down on "sicknote Britain", it seems remarkable the 56-year-old received more than £3,500 she did not even want. Mrs Clarke, from Plymouth, slipped on a wet floor at her workplace in 2000. She badly damaged her hip, pelvis and spine and had to give up work and draw incapacity benefits as her symptoms worsened. Her husband Stuart, 58, a pastor at Hooe Baptist Church, said that he prayed every day after the accident that God would "bring my wife back". The prayer seemed to be answered when his wife attended a Christian conference in January last year. Within hours, Mrs Clarke was able to fold away her wheelchair and stop taking painkillers. When she realized she was permanently cured four months later, she contacted the Government's Industrial Injury Department to put a stop to her benefits. But the department continued to give her £600 a month - and she ended up being paid £3,600 in incapacity benefits for a period when she was in perfect health. "After I got healed in January 2006 I went to the doctor to check it out with him," she said yesterday. "He said wait six months. "But after four months I felt uncomfortable taking benefits when I didn't need them. I contacted the offices to ask to come off the benefits." But officials told her that the system was unable to recognise an apparently miraculous recovery. Mrs Clarke had been awarded an allowance for life and the computer wasn't programmed to allow the payments to end until her death. "They said: 'We haven't got a button to push that says miracle'." She then saw a government doctor, who was baffled about her recovery but declared her fully fit. The allowance was stopped and Mrs Clarke has since been able to repay the money by working as a carer. Mr Clarke said that he found the couple's battle with the benefits system amusing, if frustrating. "We would have loved to have used the money for a good cause," he said. "But it wasn't ours to spend. It can't be often that a government department gets a complaint about unwanted cash." A spokesman from the Department for Work and Pensions said: "Each case is treated individually. When a customer contacts us to say they no longer require or need to claim benefits we ask for a letter of confirmation for security reasons."

Don’t Blindly Dismiss Christ’s work in the world.

John 9:13–38 NLT

13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them. 17 Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?” The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.” 18 The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?” 20 His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.” 24 So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.” 25 “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” 26 “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?” 27 “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” 28 Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.” 30 “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. 32 Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.” 34 “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue. 35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.” 37 “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!” 38 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

Those who out of bias dismiss the value of eye-witness testimony are actually dismissing whole spheres of knowledge.

Skeptics do not apply their dismissive attitude outside of their skepticism. No one lives or makes life choices without relying on eye-witness testimony.

In the U.S. based on a 2004 Survey

2004 national survey of 1,100 physicians, conducted by HCD Research and the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City

Three-Quarters of Doctors believe in miracles.

Over half claim to have witnessed a miracle.

Dr. Craig Keener makes interesting notes on these astonishing numbers:

The context of the question mentions Biblical miracles which indicate a fairly dramatic event.

Doctors’ training directs them to look for ordinary causes first. Based on God often using natural means in many Biblical miracles, how many interventions may not have been missed?

There will always be those in any group that will be unwilling to consider a miracle even if it happens right in front of them.

What we learn from the man born blind.

Don’t let others bully you out of what you know because they don’t like it.

Don’t let their confusion or bias make you change what you know.

Like the man born blind, if you hold firm under pressure, you will grow in faith.

Because he maintained integrity in his thinking and speech, he gained more insight and revealed the blind bias of the skeptics.

Just like those who opposed Jesus and His work when considered in history and the entire world skeptics are in the minority.

Take aways:

God can take what we see as a disability to reveal His glory!

2 Corinthians 12:9 HCSB

9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

Don’t be surprised that people don’t immediately believe. Hard hearts create blind spots.

Never give up on telling people about Christ’s power and the importance of prayer. You never know who is listening. You never know what a person really thinks at any moment.

I remember being taken to visit a relative of a fellow Christian. My friend had concern for his cousin. He saw her as a good person because she seemed so busy. He thought she would be open. But she really wasn’t. She was good enough without God at the time.

He had left me in the dining room with her husband. He had the biker garb. He had tattoos, wallet with a chain, and piercings. He looked a bit annoyed. I thought, well this door is closed. If she wasn’t open he’s got locked written on his face. God prompted me, just knock on his door. If he says go away, you can know you tried.

Well, I looked at him and said, “Hey do have any spiritual beliefs?” He paused and looked at me. I thought uh oh. Then his face softened. He said, yeah, I’ve had some things happen in my life recently. I think God is trying to get my attention. We went through the gospel and he prayed to Christ for forgiveness. I found out he got involved in a local church and started leading in ministry soon afterwards.

You can know Christ always wants you to give Him glory and you never know what He will do around you when you are faithful.

Posted on Dec 22, 2004, 1 p.m. By Bill Freeman

A national survey of 1,100 physicians, conducted by HCD Research and the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City over the past weekend, found that 74% of doctors believe that miracles have occurred in the past and 73% believe that can occur today.

A national survey of 1,100 physicians, conducted by HCD Research and the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City over the past weekend, found that 74% of doctors believe that miracles have occurred in the past and 73% believe that can occur today.The poll also indicated that American physicians are surprisingly religious, with 72% indicating they believe that religion provides a reliable and necessary guide to life. Those surveyed represent physicians from Christian (Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox Christian and other), Jewish (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and secular) Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions. "The picture that emerges is one where doctors, although presumably more highly educated than their average patient, are not necessarily more secular or radically different in religious outlook than the public, stated Dr. Alan Mittleman, Director of The Finkelstein Institute. "Our business is to determine physicians' needs and requirements relevant to the health care environment and this study was a great opportunity for us to use our methodology to explore physicians' spirituality and personal beliefs," explained Glenn Kessler, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, HCD Research in Flemington, NJ. The study affirmed earlier polls conducted by HCD that indicate a correlation between physicians' spiritual and political conservatism. Additional findings indicate: -- (58%) (over half) attending worship services at least one time per month -- 46% (a plurality) believe that prayer is very important in their own lives Physicians views of the Bible and religious teachings Often, religious conviction, especially a belief in the miraculous, declines as level of education increases. This does not appear to hold true for physicians. Perhaps because of their frequent involvement with matters of life and death, physicians show significant openness to religion. Regarding their views on miracles and the source of the Bible: -- 37% physicians believe that the Bible's miracle stories are literally true while 50% believe they are metaphorically true. 12% indicated that they did not believe in the Bible's description of miracles -- 9% believe the Bible was written by God, 58% believe the Bible was inspired by God and 34% consider it human ancient literature. -- 55% believe that medical practice should be guided by religious teaching (44% do not) Religion and the practice of medicine Perhaps the most surprising result of the survey is that a majority of doctors (55%) said that they have seen treatment results in their patients that they would consider miraculous (45% do not). Most physicians pray for their patients as a group (51%). Even more, 59% pray for individual patients. 67% encourage their patients to pray. Of those physicians, 5% did so for God to answer their prayers, 32% for psychological benefits and 63% for both reasons. 33% did not encourage their patients to pray. Religious Differences The quality of doctors' religiosity differs according to their own religious background. Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christian doctors tend to hold more supernatural views than Jewish doctors, with the exception of Orthodox Jewish physicians, who resemble their Christian peers. For example, 60% of Protestant doctors believe that the miracles stories of the Bible are literally true. By comparison, although 53% of Orthodox Jews agree, among Conservative and Reform Jews the percentage drops to 12% and 4% respectively. Such differences do not indicate that Christians are more religious than Jews. They do indicate that Christians tend to be religious in a more traditional way, while Jews are religious in liberal way. 79% and 95% of Conservative and Reform Jews say that they are liberal believers, as compared with only 48% of Protestants. Physicians differ regarding their perceptions of their control of treatment outcomes versus the influence of the supernatural or of acts of God. 35% of Catholics believe that all or a lot of the outcome of treatment is due to these non-medical sources, 46% of Protestants concur while only 20% of Jews attribute outcomes to non-medical influences.

New Documentary Will Offer Medical Evidence That Miracles Are Real

By Brandon Showalter, Christian Post Reporter 📷 | Saturday, May 14, 2016

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📷Elijah Stephens, filmmaker, is making a documentary about the evidence for miracles. | (Photo: Screengrab/SimplyKingdom.com)

A millennial filmmaker is planning to release within the next year a documentary that directly challenges skeptics who don't believe miracles are real with medical evidence.

Filmmaker Elijah Stephens plans "to thoughtfully engage intellectuals and medical professionals because these are individuals who deserve our respect."

In a teaser documentary (see below) designed to raise funds on Kickstarter, he interviews several people claiming to have been healed and follows up their claims with an investigation of their medical records by a team of doctors and researchers. He has successfully funded the film, raising over $130,000, and was interviewed over Easter weekend on Fox News.

In the teaser film, Stephens talks to missionaries, healing ministers, and medical professionals who claim to have seen this phenomena firsthand, but what sets his project apart is his engagement of scientists and atheist thinkers who reject the supernatural.

He adds that too often Christians steer clear of secular academics to support miracles, and laments in an interview with The Christian Post that the "language of scientists and philosophers has not been used to show that God's miraculous power to heal is indeed real. We need to take a page from the Apostle Paul who changed the way he spoke when he addressed the men of Athens in Act 17."

In addition to the people who have been healed miraculously and the skeptics, Stephens also probes some of the best scholars and miracle apologists alive today.

Featured prominently in the trailer of this film is Indiana University's Dr. Candy Gunther Brown, who in 2010 traveled to Mozambique in pursuit of such evidence for miraculous healing.

As was reported by Christianity Today in May of 2012, Brown traveled with a team of researchers to Pemba, Mozambique to visit the Iris Global Missions Base (the ministry of Roland and Heidi Baker, both of whom also appear in the trailer) in order to test the effects of prayer on the deaf and blind. After testing 24 Mozambicans "before and after healing prayer — half performed by Baker — her team detected statistically significant improvements in hearing and vision."

"The Adam Project" director Shawn Levy on making films for families

Her results were published in the September 2010 edition of the Southern Medical Journal and are available online.

Stephens notes that an additional challenge he sees, particularly in the West, is the prevailing anti-supernatural mindset. Whether Western Christians know it or not, they are under the influence of Enlightenment philosophers like David Hume who contended that human experience is uniform and precludes the miraculous.

In the teaser film, Stephens interviews New Testament scholar Dr. Craig Keener of Asbury Seminary, author of Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts, who challenges the assertions from Hume and others. He argues that human experience is not solely the product of natural law and that the best explanation for some miracle claims is that they are indeed divine acts.

The most challenging part of the process involves verifying the actual miracle claim. In cooperation with a medical research organization, the record gathering takes a lot of time. Stephens asserts it is one thing to claim that God has healed you but quite another to do the laborious, painstaking work to make sure that the testimony is corroborated by the medical evidence.

According to a 2006 Pew Survey, Christians in ten countries reported witnessing a miraculous healing from prayer in Jesus name. To the perennial frustration of scientists and philosophers, most of these claims were never corroborated in a systematic and scientifically defensible way.

"Christians ought to care deeply about the integrity of sharing testimonies. Jesus said the truth will set you free. If a testimony is true, I want to know. If it is not, I want to know," he argues.

Lee Strobel on Miracles

May 18, 2019 Jeremiah Johnston Blog, The Jeremiah Johnston Show Podcast

https://tracking.feedpress.it/link/19912/11371924/19-05-18_TJJS-Podcast.mp3 📷 Author of “The Case for Miracles,” Lee Strobel explores stories of the miraculous in his latest book. He joins Dr. Jeremiah Johnston to discuss the book and the necessity of evangelism, as outlined in I Peter 3:15: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” “If you have the cure to a fatal illness, you would be immoral if you kept it to yourself,” Strobel says. “The reason for us to give reasons why we believe what we believe is increasingly important. We have a defensible faith and can share that we are following Christ because there is solid, evidentiary reasoning behind our reason to follow Him.” Evangelism can mean inviting people to church, ing provide for their needs, or simply sharing one’s story of salvation and redemption. Johnston emphasizes the need for believers to write their testimonies and tell them. “Other people are more interested in spiritual matters than we think they are,” Strobel says. “Relate it to the other person: ‘I used to think like you did.’” The miracle that Christianity centers around is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. “I came to faith through a miracle, which is the resurrection,” Strobel says. In researching “The Case for Miracles,” Strobel further explored elements of the supernatural in the faith. “My sticking point was, ‘Is God still doing miracles today? Do we have credible evidence?’ I researched examples where there are no naturalistic explanations. Even in peer-reviewed, secular journals, there are examples where there is no natural explanation other than God intervening. Some of the stories I encountered absolutely blew my mind.” Strobel’s takeaway from the book is for Christians to be bold in their prayer lives. “You can ask God for miracles in your life as well,” he says.

Yes God Still Performs Miracles Today 4/3/2018 Comments 📷Lee Strobel is the former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune and best-selling author of more than twenty books. His classic, The Case for Christ, is a perennial favorite which details his conversion to Christianity.  Lee who was an atheist started an intense investigation of the Biblical claims about Christ, after his wife’s conversion.  At the conclusion of his investigation he became a Christian in November 1981. He documented his investigation in the award winning book the case for Christ in which retraces and expands his journey toward becoming a Christian. The book summarizes his interviews with thirteen evangelical Christian scholars  in which they defend their views regarding the historical reliability of the New Testament. He has a new book, The Case for Miracles in which he documents the results of his investigation into the reality of miracles. In an introduction to the book he makes the statement; “The big issue, however is whether belief in supernatural occurrences is based on mistake, misunderstanding, fraud, legend, rumor, wishful thinking, confirmation bias, the placebo effect - or reality.”  He goes on to ask the questions; “In other words, does a miracle-performing God actually exist, and has He left His fingerprints all over supernatural events throughout history down to the present age? Is He even available to intervene in your life today?” What follows in an excerpt from the book The Case for Miracles by Lee Strobel.  To purchase your copy click on any of the links of the title of the book or this image.  ​ 📷 📷 According to a 2004 survey, 55 percent of US physicians have seen results in their patients that they would consider miraculous. Furthermore, three-quarters of the 1,100 doctors surveyed are convinced that miracles can occur today — a percentage that’s actually higher than that of the US population in general. So maybe it’s not surprising that six out of ten physicians said they pray for their patients individually. The big issue, however, is whether belief in supernatural occurrences is based on mistake, misunderstanding, fraud, legend, rumor, wishful thinking, confirmation bias, the placebo effect — or reality. In other words, does a miracle-performing God actually exist, and has He left His fingerprints all over supernatural events throughout history down to the present age? Is He even available to intervene in your life today? That’s what I set out to determine in writing The Case for Miracles. I’ve done the investigation; I’ve made the case; I’ve rendered my verdict. Now’s your opportunity to explore the evidence and render yours. Excerpted with permission from The Case for Miracles by Lee Strobel, copyright Lee Strobel.

‘Send Proof’ documentary examines medical evidence for supernatural miracles, engages skeptics

By Brandon Showalter, Christian Post Reporter 📷 | Thursday, September 02, 2021

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📷Filmmaker Elijah Stephens interviews a board-certified radiologist in the documentary "Send Proof." | Courtesy of Tyler Feller

An upcoming documentary film examines medical evidence of miracle healings to challenge skeptics and close the gap between the hard sciences and the supernatural. The “Send Proof” documentary by filmmaker Elijah Stephens explores the ways in which miracle claims can be corroborated by looking at X-rays, MRI scans and other follow-up medical examinations. In the film, he interviews evangelical scholars and some of the most prominent voices in Pentecostal and charismatic Christian circles.

Stephens worked closely with the Global Medical Research Institute and interviewed board-certified doctors, scientists, an atheist medical historian who believes in miracles, and some of the leading skeptic and atheist voices who assert that, when examined closely, miracles never withstand empirical scrutiny.

The film’s release was originally planned for 2017, but Stephens hit multiple hurdles, explaining in a recent interview with The Christian Post that he had never made a movie before and underestimated how long it would take to finish the project. The first showing is scheduled for Sept. 14 at Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, California. Harvest Rock’s lead Pastor Che Ahn is featured in the film.

“We have to have our [miracle] cases researched, and many of them ended up in peer-reviewed journals, and that took time,” Stephens said when asked about the delayed release date.

The goal of the film, he explained, is to ask viewers to send in the proof, their medical records, following a claim of supernatural healing so that the evidence that a miracle has happened can be examined.

“I think there is a voice for science inside of faith. I think sometimes science crosses philosophical boundaries it shouldn’t, but it can also add a voice that this is what is naturalistically possible and this is what is a naturalistically known impossibility. And so it’s helpful to take the scientific expression and listen to it, and when and where it should speak,” Stephens said.

The filmmaking process proved to be a transformative experience for Stephens and his wife, Allison, as it led them to dig deeper into their faith.

Although he raised $150,000 through a crowdfunding campaign he launched, the couple had to empty their retirement account to complete the documentary due to additional costs.

“That created a lot of hard conversations and a lot of dying to ourselves. And I think it’s one of those things where you go, ‘I’ve given everything I can give to God and have paid the price.’ It has strengthened that muscle of ‘I will persevere and do whatever it takes to honor Christ,’” he said.

With a passion to bridge the sometimes hostile chasm between the scientists and people of faith, the film’s genesis dates back several years when Stephens was attending Bethel School of Ministry in Redding, California. During that time, his former ministry partner and pastor friend from Chattanooga, Tennessee, who is featured in the film, renounced his faith and now says he has no faith, believing there is no evidence for Christianity’s claims.

Stephens’ personal journey through his own doubts and the intellectual journey he took is interwoven in the storyline. At one point in the film, he recounts how frustrated he became with the idea of making the movie even as he felt God calling him to do it. The movie explains how, in 2015, he was at his house and his friends started texting him saying that Shawn Bolz, a prophetic minister who was speaking at Bethel that day called out his name from the stage. Stephens immediately jumped in his car and high-tailed it to the church.

When he arrived, Bolz, who had never met Stephens prior to that day and knew nothing of his filmmaking aspirations, gave him a stunningly accurate word, telling him that the Holy Spirit was breathing on the project and how it was going to impact medical professionals and others.

Fast forward six years, Stephens says several atheist and agnostic friends and acquaintances who pre-screened the film said they wept as they watched and felt it was even-handed. These acquaintances still don't accept the Christian faith, but nevertheless considered it a thoughtful exploration of the topic.

For Christians who are hesitant to embrace charismatic theology and practice, the filmmaker hopes that the contributions from biblical scholars like Craig Keener of Asbury Theological Seminary, J.P. Moreland of Talbot School of Theology (Biola University), and Gary Habermas of Liberty University will lead them to reconsider what they believe about the supernatural.

He contends that many believers in Jesus are indeed theological “continuationists” — those who believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including miracles of healing, are still operating today and did not cease with the death of the last apostle or the closing of the canon of Scripture — but still retain some elements of an anti-supernatural paradigm, a mindset they have perhaps unwittingly inherited from European Enlightenment thinkers such as 18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume. This diverse array of scholars have insights that are valuable criticisms of the charismatic movement, “and they are our brothers and sisters [in Christ] and we need to listen to them,” he said.

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“That’s how the whole Body grows, we have dialogue. And I wanted to display that.”

He also wanted to give a hearing to those who have no faith, are actively opposed to faith, and believe miracles are easily debunked.

Leading atheist and skeptic voices featured in the film include authors Michael Shermer, John Loftus and James Randi who provide their perspectives.

Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine. Loftus, a Trinity Evangelical Divinity School-educated former Christian, is the author of the 2019 book, The Case Against Miracles, the 2016 book, Christianity in the Light of Science, and several other similarly themed works.

Randi is the man who exposed televangelist Peter Popoff as a deceptive charlatan. “Send Proof” was the last film he appeared in before he died in 2015.

“I get why the skeptic is skeptical,” Stephens told CP.

“And their voices matter. I wanted to portray them as the scholars that they are and not do a propaganda piece or hit piece. I wanted them to feel like ‘Well, at least he represented my ideas fairly.’” As CP previously reported in 2016, featured prominently in the film is Indiana University's Candy Gunther Brown, who in 2010 traveled to Mozambique in pursuit of evidence for miraculous healings.

Together with a team of researchers, Brown traveled to Pemba, Mozambique, to visit the Iris Global Missions Base — the ministry of Rolland and Heidi Baker — in order to test the effects of prayer on the deaf and blind. After testing 24 Mozambicans "before and after healing prayer — half performed by Baker — her team detected statistically significant improvements in hearing and vision."

Brown’s findings were published in the September 2010 edition of the Southern Medical Journal.

“I think this is a movie all of humanity can get behind because if miracles occur, then we need to research them and document them. So no matter what faith background you come from, I think we can all support the idea that we should do case studies on this stuff,” Stephens said.