12-Dec-2009 (Sat) - Jesus Comes to a Birthday Party

Today, my mom (Janice's) sister-in-law (Aunt Peggy) threw a surprise birthday party for her husband (Uncle Larry) [see Aunt Peggy & Uncle Larry pic right]. It was a 2½ hour drive to their house from where I live, so it was a full evening of family and fun. My Uncle Larry was fully surprised and the food was pretty good.

But as me & my family were getting ready to leave (already had my coat on), my mom came up and asked me to pray for my Uncle Larry before we left. She said he'd been fighting diabetes. She told him about Jesus removing a growth on her scalp [see 30-Nov-2009] to encourage him. (By the way, my mom had gone back to the doctor for her appointment on 10-Dec-2009, and the doctor was amazed that he couldn't find the spot at all! He asked my mom what had happened and she told him it was removed through prayer. He had nothing to say about that). Then I called my sister (TammyC) over and we 3 laid hands on him and I commanded his pancreas to function properly and for his blood to be cleansed and sugar levels to come back to normal. I didn't feel anything, but I'm used to the person I'm praying for feeling something, so I asked, “Do you feel that?” He said, “Yes I do.” I asked him what he felt. He said, “I feel really warm all over my body. And I feel really good!” So I told him it was Jesus healing his body of diabetes and that he should check his sugar levels when he can to see about it.

We were standing in the kitchen and my Uncle Harry [see Uncle Harry on far left of pic] was sitting there. I asked him how his leg was doing (which I had prayed for last week at the Christmas party [see 04-Dec-2009]). He said, “Much better, but now it takes spells where it hurts.” It had been completely numb and Jesus restored feeling in it last week, so now, evidently, he was feeling pain in it. So I put my hand on his leg and commanded pain to leave. It left immediately! He said, “Well, now it feels pretty good!”

I'm still trying to leave, but then, my Aunt Shelia [see on far right in pic above] (whom I had also prayed for at last week's Christmas party, [see 04-Dec-2009]) wanted more prayer for her shoulder. It didn't hurt much any more but it was still stiff. So I laid hands on her shoulder and it got really warm and the stiffness was removed. Meanwhile, one of my first cousins (Lora Ann's) husband (Scott) saw what was going on and evidently had asked my sister (TammyC) what was going on. She told him to go over and let me pray for him for his shoulder. He witnessed Aunt Shelia's healing just then.

I said to Scott [see Scott's crazy face right], “What is the problem?” He said his shoulder hurt every morning really bad like it had popped out of joint or something during the night. I asked, “Is it hurting now?” He said it was when he rolled it back to a certain position. I laid hands on it and commanded the pain to leave in Jesus' Name. He said, “Nah, it's still the same,” and started to walk away, but I said, “Hold on, man, I'm not done.” So he walked back over. I did it again and told him to try it again. This time he said, “Wow, that's really different!” I said, “I know. This is Jesus, He's amazing.” He said, “Do it again!” So I did, and then I challenged him to try to find the pain. He couldn't. He said it was stiff, but there was no pain. Then he started telling me a story of an encounter he had had with God.

Meanwhile, my Aunt Shelia wanted prayer for carpal tunnel that she could feel in her thumbs. Her fingers still felt great from where we had prayed against arthritis last week. So I put my hand on one of her thumbs and commanded healing. She tested it and said it was a little different. “OK,” I said, “Let's do this. For some reason this works for me. I'm going to lay hands on your thumb and command the pain to leave. As soon as I take my hand off, you press your thumb really hard where it hurts the worst.” She said, “But it will hurt!” I said, “No, it won't. Trust me.” So I did it and she pressed it. Instantly, no pain. She immediately presented me the other thumb. Again, instantly healed. I told her to try to find the pain. She couldn't. Then there was a small growth on her scalp (similar to my mom's), and I put my finger on it and cursed it. I told her, “It will be gone in a day or two.”

Again, still trying to leave (it was getting late), my Uncle Sammy [see pic left of my sister TammyC & Uncle Sammy] wanted prayer for a growth on his nose. I put my finger on it and cursed it and told him the same, “It will be gone in a day or two.” He also wanted prayer for his right upper arm. He had fallen on a river bank a few weeks ago, and hit his biceps really hard, and it had actually deformed the muscle. When he flexed the muscle, it was all bunched up to the upper part of his arm and there was significant gap between his muscle and the bend of his arm. I laid hands on it and commanded the muscle to move to its original position. He felt something happen, but we couldn't visually tell any difference. I told him to just check it day by day and see if it moves.

Before I finally left, Scott asked me some more questions. He wanted to know would this work if the person had cancer. I told him cancer was no different than anything else that had happened here. He said, “But sometimes God doesn't answer that prayer.” I said, “Did you hear me pray? Did I asked God to heal your shoulder?” He said he didn't understand, and that he hadn't really paid that much attention to what I said. I said, “I didn't ask God to heal anyone tonight, because I already know that is what He wants. Instead, I just told the body part to be made whole and the bad stuff to move out.” He didn't understand, and wanted to know about sins, and what if you'd caused your own problems, etc. I said, “Scott, I'm gonna make this real easy for you, and you'll never be taken in by false teaching ever again after you understand this one thing.” He was ready for it. You see, he and my cousin (Lora Ann) are very health-conscious in their food and lifestyle. So I said, “Jesus is the only example of how Father God really is. No one else in the Bible or in life perfectly represents Father, right?” He agreed. I said, “Then we can't get our ideas about Father God from any other man. And when we watch Jesus in the Bible we see Him heal everybody in a multitude. He didn't separate out the crowd into groups of people who ate healthy and who didn't eat healthy. He didn't separate them into groups of people who caused their own health problems and those that didn't. He didn't separate them into groups of people who exercised and those who didn't. He just healed them all even if they were the cause of their own problems.” I explained further that sin was taken care of forever and there was never any condemnation for believers. I didn't realize it at the time but my Uncle Larry was hanging on these words as well. I think both he and Scott got a revelation. I hope so.

Then, we walked out the door, but my Aunt Peggy caught us and told us that Uncle Larry was very interested in God and the Bible lately. She said he had asked some really good questions that she wasn't sure about and wanted to know if I would mind talking with him at length. Of course, I can't wait for that.

Wow, that was fun! I just wished we'd started earlier!

04-Dec-2009 (Fri) - Jesus Came To the Company Christmas Dinner

Tonight, the company my mom (Janice) owns, my older sister (TammyC) runs and my younger sister (Jennifer) and her husband (Jimmy) work for had their annual Christmas dinner. I and my family are always invited. So my wife (TammyM) and 2 of my daughters (Karahann & Kayla) went for dinner.

While eating hors d'oeuvres, my aunt (Shelia) sat beside me. I knew she'd been suffering various pains because my mom (her sister) told me. So I asked how she was doing. She began to tell me she had arthritis all over her body. Specifically, her knee hurt her, her fingers had nodules on them and were painful to bend, and her left shoulder hurt her when she moved it in a circular motion. I asked her if I could pray for her. She agreed. I held her hands in mine and commanded pain & arthritis to leave her body entirely in Jesus' Name. Then I asked her what she was feeling. She said, “I feel tingly all over.” I told her that was the power of God touching her body. I said, “Move your fingers.” She did and was pleasantly surprised. She said, “I can move them more freely!” I said, “I don't doubt it a bit. Jesus is amazing.” She asked, “Can you lay hands on my knee?” So I put my hand on her knee and commanded it to be healed, then asked her to move it. She said, “This is wild. It doesn't hurt!” Then she said, “How, about my shoulder?” I said, “What about it?” She said, “It hurts when I do this...” and then she moved her shoulder in a circular motion. Another wonderful look of surprise came over her face and she said, “Well, it used to hurt!” Jesus touched her shoulder and we didn't even ask Him to! I told her, “Jesus is healing your body.” She said, “You mean, as long as I believe?” I said, “Well, it doesn't really matter what you believe; Jesus will heal you because I believe, but, yes, He wants you to believe too.” She said, “This is wild. You need to pray for Harry, he can hardly walk.” Harry is my uncle, Shelia's husband. I said, “OK, I will.”

By this time people were getting in line to get their dinner. So I got in line with my family and we all ate dinner. My Aunt Shelia said, “I feel so good I think I'll take up bowling again.” I told her that was the right attitude! She got her food and sat down with my cousin (John) and began to tell him what had just happened to her. John, had been healed of back problems through prayer (see several other blogs below). He began to share with her what happened to him. They invited me over and we talked about Jesus. Aunt Shelia asked, “Do you have to have a special calling to do this?” I said, “No, of course not. Any believer can do this. You can't pray enough, prepare enough, be holy enough to earn this ability. You also can't sin enough to disqualify yourself from it either. If you believe Jesus paid the price for your sins and sicknesses, then He will work through you too to heal.”

My youngest daughter (Kayla) wanted to go to a basketball game, so we had planned on leaving a bit early. I also knew that tomorrow, John's mom, my Aunt Kathy (who was also there) [see pic left], was going to be leaving to go back home to Detroit. So being a bit rushed, I wanted to pray for her & my Uncle Harry before going. I had asked Father for the opportunities. So as I stood up from the table and was telling some people bye, my Aunt Kathy walked up to hug me goodbye. John said, “I really wanted you to lay hands on my mom before she left.” I said, “OK. Let's do it.” I asked Aunt Kathy what was hurting her. She said she had pain down her left leg which she believed was caused by a back problem. So I asked if I could pray for her. She agreed. I put my hand on her back and commanded pain to leave and for it to be healed. I felt a hand-sized part of her back get very warm. I said to Aunt Shelia, “Come over here and see if you can find the warm spot where God is working.” She did; she was very moved. My Aunt Kathy said she could feel the warm spot and that it felt very good! We left it at that, and John told her that if there was a warm spot, then God was at work and something good had happened.

Still in a bit of a rush, I saw my Uncle Harry hobble toward the kitchen by himself... perfect! So I went over to him and told him I was leaving, but I wanted to find him and pray for him before I left. Then I asked him what was hurting him. He said the lower part of his right leg from the shin down to his toes was numb and he couldn't even walk on it or use it. It had caused him to fall 2 times back in the summer while he was working in his garden, and both times he had to have someone help him get up because he couldn't use it. He walked with a noticeable shuffle and limp. I asked him if I could pray for him, and he agreed. So I took his hand and commanded feeling to be restored to his right foot and for it to be healed. Then I looked up at him (he had his eyes closed) and asked, “Do you feel that?” He said, “Yes! Actually I do.” I asked, “What do you feel?” He said, “I felt a release run through my leg.” I said, “Good! That's the power of God touching your body. Try it out!” He took a step and said, “That really is different! I think I can walk on it.” I said, “Walk on it.” He walked up the hall a ways with no limp! I asked, “How's that?” He said, “Much better!” He then told me how it had really pained him to not be able to do the normal things he loved doing. Tears welled up in his eyes a little, but he held them back, but he said, “Thank you so much for thinking of me, Greg.” This made everything worthwhile to me; to hear my uncle say something like that.

Thank You Jesus for visiting the company Christmas dinner!

30-Nov-2009 (Mon) - Spot On Scalp Nearly Gone

Back on Wednesday (11-Nov-2009), my mom (Janice) [see pic of my mom left] had asked us to pray for a skin lesion on her scalp. The lumpiness of it disappeared in a matter of seconds when we prayed then, but the discoloration and consistency of it was still there. But my mom called me this morning while I was at work and said she couldn't find it with her fingers any more. This evening, my Aunt Kathy bought everybody pizza and so I went over to my mom's to eat after work. While there we all looked at her scalp and we found the spot but it was nearly gone. She's excited about her doctor's appointment (10-Dec-2009), because it is then she is supposed to have it removed.

Thank you Father for loving my mom.

27-Nov-2009 (Fri) - We'll Miss You Uncle Jerry

This was a very hard day. My wife (Tammy's) uncle (Jerry) [see pic of my daughter Kimberly, my father-in-law Bob & Uncle Jerry left] committed suicide this evening. He lived very near us, and seemed outwardly to be a very happy-go-lucky individual, although, lately, we found out, he'd been very depressed and was on anti-depressant medication. Uncle Jerry had lived with chronic and nearly crippling pain for more than 40 years. He was a strong Christian and I had personally seen him witness Jesus to perfect strangers. He was also the one most people in the family asked to pray at dinners that we all had together.

I had talked to him about his pain a few times at various family gatherings. He gave me his testimony once and told me that while he was managing a grocery store when he was younger, and his kids were all babies, he became very stressed out at his job. He started felling pressure in his chest, shortness of breath and pain in his arms. The doctors told him the stress of his job was going to kill him and that he needed to slow down (i.e. remove the stress in his life). But he couldn't find it in himself to do so. He said he begged God to help him slow down. At this very point in his life he started having joint pain which turned out to be this chronic arthritic pain he would have for 40+ years. He attributed this arthritic pain to God answering his prayer! Why? Because, he said, it was this very thing that caused him to have to quit his stressful job and go on disability. He saw this as God removing the stress in his life that would've killed him sooner. Thus he looked at this crippling arthritic pain as a “gift” from God to “slow him down” so he could live long enough to see his grandkids grow up. He told me this with tears in his eyes. He was very sincere. I tried to humbly share with him that Father God doesn't make people sick, and that his pain was not from God. I told him I knew this because Jesus is the perfect representation of Father God and He never gave anyone pain in the gospels. But Uncle Jerry was very traditionally oriented, and, in a very nice way told me that I was not a preacher and I was wrong. He was very concerned he might offend me by disagreeing because he loved me, he said. So I assured him I was not offended and could never be offended at him because I loved him too. At that time I had told him if he would let me lay my hands on him and pray for him, he would be healed. He absolutely (but kindly) would not let me do that at all. His main objection was that he didn't believe in that kind of thing and (again) that I was not a preacher (i.e. qualified to do things like that).

Uncle Jerry had lived long enough to see all his kids (Teresa, Karen & Randy) all grow up, get married and have kids of their own. He lived right beside his son (Randy's) family. But not being able to stand the pain any more, Uncle Jerry shot himself this evening. His family (especially his wife, Aunt Shirley and their grandkids) are suffering greatly over their loss. All of us in the family just loved and hugged on them all we could this evening. There were several of the family's preachers there comforting and praying with the them as well. It is very sad.

Through all this I could not help thinking that if we believers (mainly me) would put aside our selfish lives, live for Jesus more, then one of us could've seen this coming and prevented this tragedy. It made me want to sell out to Him completely, even though I don't know what that really entails. I meditate on these things without condemnation. But Uncle Jerry's family was big, and they are all believers in Jesus; just without the manifestation of healing power working in their lives. Nevertheless, because of their incredible love for one another, they are all very strong when it comes to comforting one another in tragedy such as this. Thank You, Father, for their tremendous love!

Father, comfort Uncle Jerry's family by your precious Holy Spirit. We love him and his family and will miss him greatly, but we know he really is with You because of his faith in Jesus. And Father, help me to be more like your Son to Uncle Jerry's family that this kind of thing can be prevented from ever happening again. Amen.

26-Nov-2009 (Thu) - Cough Tickle Changes & Shoulder Pain Gone

Thanksgiving! I love it. Many of our family came to our house for lunch. My wife's sister-in-law (Annette), whose toe I prayed for last week [see here] confessed to several people there that she has not had any pain since the day we prayed. Awesome.

Later that evening, we went to my mom (Janice's) for dinner and to see my aunt (Kathy), who was visiting from Detroit, MI. My brother-in-law (Jimmy) [see pic of Jimmy & his daughter Hannah left] came in a little late and I could tell right away he wasn't feeling very well. Before leaving, my sister (TammyC) asked me to

lay hands on him and pray. I did. I had him test his cough by taking deep breaths. In a few minutes, the annoying tickle in his throat disappeared.

My cousin (John) [see pic of my mom, my sister TammyC & John right] was also there and he confessed he had sneezed really hard that week and his back hurt. So I laid hands on his spine and felt Jesus' healing heat flow into his spine & muscles. He felt it too. Then he told me that when he raised his right arm, a weird feeling shot through his shoulder and the right side of his face and neck. I laid hands on his shoulder and commanded the pain to leave. Nothing changed. I did it a second time; again, nothing changed. John kept saying, "No, still there." I said, "OK, watch this. This time I'm going to command the pain to leave and I want you to immediately lift your arm in the air." I commanded, and he lifted immediately. "Wow! Almost gone!" he said. Let's do it again. Did it again, "Wow! Totally gone!" Tears welled up in John's eyes as the reality of Jesus' love and healing power touched his heart & mine.

I love you Jesus. You are so faithful.

John also told me that since his mother (my Aunt Kathy) [see pic of my Aunt Kathy left] was down visiting, she needed some healing, but he didn't want to embarrass her by me praying for her in front of everybody. He wanted to kind of prepare her for it (she's Catholic), and then call me sometime in this next week to come and lay hands on her.

I can't wait for my Aunt Kathy to experience the personal love and touch of her Savior Jesus!