Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Sept/72

Contributor - John Opmeer

Title - "I can walk... !"

Topic - Healing

"LOOK AT HER! LOOK AT HER!

SIX THOUSAND PEOPLE, MANY VISIBLY MOVED, LOOK AT A WOMAN PUSHING HER HUSBAND IN A WHEELCHAIR DOWN THE ISLE. A THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE ACCOMPANIES THEM AS THEY GO BACK TO THEIR SEATS. THEIR LIVES ARE NEVER

GOING TO BE THE SAME AGAIN!

Five minutes earlier, they had gone the other direction, to the platform. But that time the husband was pushing his wife, a cripple for 42 years ! They stopped in front of the platform, and the woman got out of the wheelchair, walking with uncertain steps to Kathryn Kuhlman. "What on earth happened to YOU can walk! I can walk . . . !" As Miss Kuhlman leads the woman to pace back and forth in order to let her gain confidence, the husband keeps saying, "I can't believe it!" And then he tells their story to a, hushed audience. They are from the Vancouver area, immigrants from Holland. He could hardly remember ever having seen his wife without a wheelchair. But last night his wife had said, "Tonight I take my last pills, for tomorrow , w.. walk." "God has rewarded your faith, isn't He wonderful Kathryn Kuhlman exclaimed. "0 God, we thank you, we thank you." As the two leave the platform, the husband grabs the walking stick of his wife, left behind when they came up, and with a big grin breaks it in two!

This man and this woman are symbolic of much that took place on a warm July evening in the Ice Arena in Seattle. Moments before them, a 28-year old woman from Coquitlam, B.C. . had walked off the platform, praising God. Her back had been broken in 4 places as a result of an accident. Since that time she had been in a wheelchair. A little later a 21-year old nurse from Vancouver testified that she had just been healed from multiple sclerosis. My condition is well documented, she stated, but I know that I have been healed. "This is a wonderful miracle", said a jubilant, Miss Kuhlman, "for medically there is no cure for m.s....... Some wonderful miracles take place everytime. I don't know why some are passed by, and others are instantly healed. I don't understand. We will understand only when we have a new body. All I can say is, Praise God for His marvelous love and His resurrection power."

And praise God we did, that evening. Earlier there had been some faith-lifting singing, "Nothing is impossible", "Then sings my soul", and other inspiring songs. The new song "Hallelujah" was sung by all, very reverently, almost quietly. The whole evening was marked by quiet excitement. "This is one of the most wonderful meetings I've been in", Kathryn Kuhlman said toward the end, and I believe it. Two years ago, in Vancouver, at my first Kuhlman meeting I had been disappointed somewhat when Kathryn Kuhlman came on a little too strong at the beginning, fluttering back and forth across the stage. This time it was perfect right from the start. "I have only one prayer: that when you leave this building, you love Jesus more than you ever did before."' I am quite sure that God fulfilled that prayer for a great multitude that night, including many who were not healed in the body.

But what about this healing ministry ? Are we to give it full support in prayer ? Can we encourage people to go there ? Or are we to condemn it as a work of Satan? Perhaps you are in between, and simply try to ignore the whole subject, claiming that you don't know enough about it.

I think I know most of the arguments of many in our churches against these healing service!. I realize there are dangers. in a live church there are many more dangers than in a dead church look at Corinth ! I respect those who feel that all this could be of the devil, and quote from the Bible that not everyone who does works in, the name of Jesus really belongs to Jesus. It was basically in order to get better insight in the Kuhlman ministry that I went to this, my second, meeting.

My conclusion is that I am more convinced than before that God is in this. The name of Jesus was praised by thousands. There was no undue excitement. And as the service drew to a close, there was a very strong urging of the Holy Spirit as hundreds of people came forward to ask for the miracle! of the new birth. If the Holy Spirit is not in this, then I don't know by what power the name of God is praised, and people are converted from sin to a new life in Jesus Christ. If I were the devil, I would stop these meetings as soon as possible, because all the praise goes to his Enemy, our beloved Lord and Saviour

During the last few years, I have spent some time studying the occult. Great psychic powers are found among men, leading to marvelous miracles. But these miracles are not of God, since psychic powers are derived from contact - voluntary or involuntary - with a spiritistic medium. When a 'psychic' person is converted to Jesus, he usually finds that he has lost his supernatural abilities! Dr. Kurt Koch has ma ny illustrations in his books to support this statement. Would it be possible that Kathryn Kuhlman has inherited 'psychic' powers, or come into contact with a medium in her early years? Would this be the cause of her great healing ministry ?

Only God knows the answer. I grant that it is possible that Kathryn Kuhlman has 'psychic powers. But very unlikely! Why? Because of the, fruits of her ministry.

We must look at the fruits. it is a well-known fact, again documented by Dr. Koch, that Christians who have been in contact with a 'psychic' person discover to their dismay that their prayer life suffers as a result and their fellowship with God goes down. But most of those who have been healed at Kathryn Kuhlman meetings find that their faith in Jesus has grown by leaps and bounds.

Another test would be that with a 'psychic' person the emphasis tends to be on the body. The focus would be on the miracle itself. Granted that at Kuhlman meetings many, in worldly fashion, hunger for miracles. But Miss Kuhlman herself emphasizes the spiritual over the body. She calls people away from the miracles to the Giver of miracles. Invariably, when it seems during a service that many more miracles are about to take place yet, she will stop abruptly, asking God to perform the greatest miracle of all, that of the new birth. For Kathryn Kuhlman it is more important that a person walks with Jesus than that he can walk

Everyone who hears her must admit, that she comes through as an inspired and inspiring follower of Jesus. She is totally sincere, always conscious of her need of God's grace, and obviously dedicated to the cause of God's Kingdom. If she is wrong, she is wrong unknowingly. As said above, God ordinarily strips a person of psychic powers when he comes to Jesus. Wouldn't God have done the same with Kathryn Kuhlman when she first gave her life to Christ ?

Then, finally, there are the prayers of God's faithful people. The Rev. Victor H. Ernest, a onetime 'psychic', writes in his book, I TALKED WITH SPIRITS, how one person, filled with the Holy Spirit, can stop a medium from doing his work in a spiritistic seance. Dr. Koch tells how we, personally, made it impossible for a 'psychic' person to use his supernatural powers, simply by being with him! There have been so many Christ-centered people in the Kuhlman meetings who have prayed to God to stop the miracles if they were not of Him, and the miracles have continued!

So, take your time if you are not sure if the ministry of Miss Kuhlman is a ministry of Jesus.You must be convinced from God's Word, and by the evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit not by your feelings. But don't continue to reject something that may be of God without examination. Gamaliel's advice is still well-taken, "Leave these men alone. If what they teach and do is merely on their own, it will be soon overthrown. But if it is of God, you will not be able to stop them, lest you find yourselves fighting even against God." (Acts 5 : 38, 39.)

On the way back home the song kept humming in my ears : "Hallelujah, Hallelujah". These are exciting times. The Holy Spirit has been poured out long ago, so that the church would have power to minister in the name of Christ. Will we believe it ? Act on it? We don't have to pray for the Holy Spirit to come. He is here already. We must rather pray that we may trust God enough that He can fill us with that gracious Spirit. The Holy Spirit is renewing the church of Jesus Christ today in a way unparalelled for many centuries. Perhaps this is the last revival before the great tribulation. Are we going to be part of it ? Where the Holy Spirit is, things happen. As we obey and trust God in all things, and praise Him for everything, our churches and our lives will see much more yet of the glorious works of God our Creator and Redeemer, Provider and Healer! Yes, hallelujah . . .

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