Raised from the dead

Can anyone tell us if they have first hand experience of raising someone or seeing someone raised from the dead? I'm taling about an immediate miracle of a truly dead person standing up immediately upon being prayed for or spoken to. No second hand accounts or anecdotal stories please, were you there at the time it happened and did you see it and can you verify that thatt really was a miracle? That you know without doubt they were dead and immediately became alive?

If you want to talk to a Pastor who was raised from the dead his name is Brother Dave Lombardi. I can give you his phone number if you would like. He is senior pastor of Trinity Gospel Temple in Canton Ohio. Just let me know.

D Miller, Thank you but I am disputing that God can raise someone from the dead today and I am not trying to prove that any of the gifts have ceased.

However what I am interested in is if anyone here on SI has first hand experience of this type of miracle as I described above. If, as many on the forum suggest, all the gifts including miracles such as raising the dead are readily available to us today if we just avail ourselves and believe, you would expect that given the combined years of Charismatic involvement from all those on SI there would be at least a handful of these direct experiences.

Were you involved or there at the time this happened? What was the circumstances of him being raised, was it like we read in the gospels or Acts, i.e. immediate dead to life?

Let's see. Maybe someone here can give us a personal experience they were present at. That would be good.

Hey bro Dave,

Quote: " If, as many on the forum suggest, all the gifts including miracles such as raising the dead are readily available to us today if we just avail ourselves and believe"

I think that statement is incorrect and am not sure anyone asserted it exactly like that...?

We know that the gifts and demonstrations of the Holy Spirit are given as He wills in certain circumstances, however this does not negate their reality.
I have been personally present when demons were cast out, where someone was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues (many times) etc.

I'm pretty sure that, if believers were led by the Holy Spirit, for a specific reason, to raise a person from the dead, this could be done in Jesus Name, for a witness, especially in the more remote, dark and unbelieving areas of the world.

Men of God, such as Smith Wigglesworth, had a ministry of healing and testified to raising the dead and we have no reason to doubt him as his ministry was one of integrity and many witnesses could attest to this.

Maybe more dead would be raised if we actually obeyed God and trusted Him for it, who knows?

I am concerned, bro Dave, that on the one hand you affirm that the gifts are for today but on the other keep bringing arguments against them?

I respect your knowledge of scripture and input on the forum so this, to me, is a bit confusing.

Blessings,

Some folks really want to believe and therefore tend toward gullibility; others really want to believe and tend toward skepticism.

The latter would seem to be the wiser position; however Thomas took this position and was chided by the Lord.

I understand Daves concern. We always hear these stories of dramatic healings etc but they always seem to happen far away, or at another time, and there is never any solid medical evidence or video even in today's age of rampant cell phones etc.

Then a couple of years ago the "pet" miracle was leg lengthening "miracles" that were rampant on YouTube etc. This is also the very easiest miracle to fake.

So it seems that skepticism is inconsistent with an attitude of faith, but there has to be some level of skepticism to avoid being taken in by charlatans or exaggerated stories. I remember when I used to run with a more charismatic crowd and they really didn't like it when I expressed skepticism, and I had quite a bit about a lot of charismatic practices.

William,

Definitely it has been stated that ALL the gifts are available to all spirit filled believers and that we just have to believe and operate in them.

Yes I do believe in the continuation of the gifts, but not in the typical Pentecostal interpretation of the Baptism of the Spirit and the emphasis on certain unverifiable gifts. I am arguing against this, not against God the Holy Spirit giving certain gifts in certain instances as He wills for specific purposes.

So far no one has offered personal experience of the type of exceptional miracles that the apostles performed, which tells me they are not very common and certainly not at the disposal of any Christian at any time. It's not like people are not dying in the USA or the West.

Why is it all the emphasis is on gifts like tongues, prophecy, discerning of spirits, etc that can rarely be verified. If anyone speaks in a 'tongue' who can show that it is genuine or not? If I bring a prophecy, unless it is out and out heresy, who can say if God really inspired me to speak it or not? Again I'm not saying there is not genuine tongues or prophecy, but my experience over many years is I suspect the majority is not. This is without getting into the real wacky out and out false prophecies that never get challenged or repented of.

I know it may seems strange that I am questioning these things, but we should not be afraid to question what is being practiced and put out in the churches, or do we just close our minds and go along with it only to find out when it's too late that we have be misled and misled others.

Just on the issue of casting out of demons, I too have had close involvement with this ministry and seen people 'manifest' what can appear to be demonic activity. Again there is much false about this type of ministry. I think only on a rare occasion can I say I saw a genuine demonic manifestation and deliverance, unfortunately most of it is suggestive manipulation by the one doing the ministry and psychological responses/emotions. I've seen people supposedly have dozens and dozens of supposed demons cast out of them over a long period of time, but no fruit comes from it, because it is not demonic at all.

Brother Dave and Todd,

I also have been disillusioned by men that had a great influence over me when I was still a young believer and studying at a "Charismatic" Bible School, men like Benny Hinn who not only preached powerful messages in our church that I remember to this day but also introduced us to another dimension of relationship with God the Holy Spirit.
I experienced that presence of the Holy Spirit in powerful ways and he worked in my life and through my life in unforgettable, undeniable power, resulting in me loving the Lord more than ever and I cannot recall ever doubting that the Spirit I received was from God, as we were gathered in Jesus Name and were worshipping Him in spirit and truth.

Just because he has fallen into the money trap and seems to have gone off the rails concerning the prophetic does this invalidate the early years? does it now mean the Holy Spirit was not working through those men and may be doing so even today, despite their evident errors?

Just a few things that happened in corporate worship in our church:

1. While a psalmist was playing piano and singing a demon left a person without anyone laying hands or praying specifically. How do we know it was a demon? It came out with a shriek and the amazing thins was that the shriek travelled through the air over our heads and left the building! Believe it or not...

2. I was with a friend who is an evangelist and he was ministering in a small rural church in South Africa. As he prayed for people afterwards a lady became stiff as a board because of demonic possession. They carried her out like a log, by the hands and feet, and her body remained as stiff as a board, totally impossible from a natural standpoint.Believe it or not...

3. A recent personal testimony of the Holy Spirit working through me in a home group. As we were worshipping and praying I was inspired to read from the book of Ephesians regarding the headship of Christ over all things, for the church which is His body...It was like prophecy. The power of the Spirit of God was so evident that a brother next to me, without us praying for him or touching him in any way, burst forth in another tongue that surprised us all. Nobody coached him or led him. It was all the Holy Spirit! He has been seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Another spirit? I think not.Believe it or not...

I could tell many more occurrences of the Holy Spirit at work.

We must be careful that disillusionment and scepticism does not quench the God given desires in our hearts for the working of the Holy Spirit in our midst

Blessings,

Thanks William. One thing I have found is that the most profound HS experiences I have had are the simplest.

I used to pray every Saturday morning at 7 am with a core group of believers. This went on for a couple of years and that time was amazing.

One morning as we arrived the lights in the room were dimmed and there was a candle burning on the table. We could see little simple place settings at the table. As we entered, the brother who led the prayer time hugged each of us and said "there is a place prepared for you." That simple statement in that moment shook me to the core and still affects me to this day. There is no doubt in my mind that his statement combined with our taking communion together was a prophetic utterance from the HS.

One thing I have found regarding statements that would seem or claim to be prophetic(in the sense they are directly from the Lord) is that I know them when I hear them, and these are few and far between but precious when they occur.

Thanks Blaine,

Be it unto you according to your faith, brother.

Blessings,

Before I became a Christian I was suicidal and mentally ill. I have been delivered from a handful of demons after my conversion.

These demons left me while throwing me onto the floor with shaking and convulsions. They spoke out of my mouth without my control. One after the other left me with a shriek. Right after this they laid hands on me to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I was just weeks into the faith and had no doctrinal understanding of these things. I just prayed that whatever is from God I desperately want it after I had been demonized for such a long time.

That night the Holy Spirit came in power over me and I spoke in tongues.

The pastor who prayed for me with a group of believers knew this business. If that pastor had not known about casting out demons and baptism of the Spirit, I would probably had been overcome by these demons again and not be sitting here writing these lines but rotting in a grave.

I will be ever grateful for that. For me it was a matter of life and death. I later found scriptural support for everything that happened to me.

I understand that this is not a normative experience for most of you, but I testify this here to the glory of God.

If anyone wants to contest this, I refer to Mary Magdalene who was frowned upon by the Pharisees and Jesus put them to shame.

Praise the Lord Narrowpath!

For me there are few things more wonderful than a person being set free from demonic oppression or possession.

It is as if a great light suddenly shines upon their faces and all darkness is dispelled!

Glory to God!

That specific manifestation I have not yet personally seen but the others I can speak to out in life, like deaf ears being opened, open sores being instantly healed an new flesh in that spot, things like that, not sure if that's what you are looking for.? Normally speaking the times when I do not see these things happen is because I personally neglect obedience to do what the Holy Spirit is prompting me to do or say, at times because I do not what to be bothered, just keeping it real brother, I wrestle big time with "self", and I never talk about those things except here because I do not my heart and head lifted up in pride. I will say this, just as Jesus was in this life , we are, or at the very least we can be. Just simply ask and you will receive than just trust and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Testify, dear brother! We know Whom we serve and we give Him all the glory!

Amen. Beautiful example Todd!

While there are some wonderful testimonies here, we are avoiding the question. Sheri, of course being made spiritually alive is the greatest miracle, no believer doubts that.
BUT who has experienced working of miracles such as raising the dead and physical completely blind eyes being opened??
No one on here so far. The issue is being honest and real.

As for Benny Hinn, he has not only in recent times go off the rails, he has always been off. I remember seeing him in 1988 in the UK. He was in error then and had a cultic following way back then. You can hear the testimony of Costi Hinn, Benny's nephew who was brought up in that clan and worked along side 'Uncle Benny' for a year. He testifies he never saw anyone genuinely healed in all the meetings he was part of in that year and all the other years in his father's church. He believes Benny knows what he is doing in deceiving folk.

I know it is difficult when you have been set on your spiritual path by such things to even consider they were not right, but it's a journey many of us have had to make if we want to be honest.

Chuck Smith, who I believe was trustworthy, said in the early days of his ministry he saw a finger regrown and a new eyeball form. Of course I didn't see it.