When I heal your heart, I will heal My Church's heart

"When I heal your heart, I will heal My Church's heart" 

Little nine-year-old Jaedyn, the granddaughter of Baptist Pastor Rickie Bradshaw in Houston, heard these words spoken audibly to her by the Lord Jesus. She had been born with an incurable heart disease in which her heart did not contract or beat normally. When listened to through a stethoscope, it would sound like the galloping of a horse and raise her blood pressure abnormally high. She had little energy at school, and often her grandparents would have pick her up and drive her home from school because she was too tired to walk.

On Sunday afternoon, December 2, 2012 Pastor Rickie hosted a Tent Meeting in Houston's Fifth Ward. He brought Jaedyn to receive her healing from the Lord. Then we led the disciples in laying hands on her heart, commanding it to be healed in the name of Jesus. Then we told her to run to a fence which was forty or fifty yards in the distance behind us. At first Jaedyn hesitated, remembering what her doctor had told her. But a brother took her by the hand and encouraged her to start running. The two of them took off at a quick jog, reaching the fence in several seconds. They turned around and ran all the way back to us. We could see that Jaedyn was not out of breath, exhausted, or in any distress. In front of the people we asked her how she felt, and she said she felt fine. Jaedyn spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the event, feeling absolutely fine.

On the Saturday following Jaedyn's appointment with her doctors, he wrote us again: Pastor Rickie wrote: "I have great news. Jaedyn went to visit the transplant team of physicians at Texas Children's Hospital on Thursday. They checked her heart for any sign of health problems. After two physicians looked for what they called the galloping sound of her heartbeat, which is common with this disease, they checked multiple times and they could not find the galloping sound. They were amazed and very surprised. The galloping sound in her heart is always supposed to be present until she has a new heart. Her blood pleasure was a surprise as well. They were expecting a three-digit read up and down but her pressure was normal. They are going to do an ultra sound to see what may be going on before we can declare a miracle. Of course we have no doubts that she has healed.

..Since that day she has been as healthy as she has ever been. Prior to this, Jaedyn would become very tired after walking to class at school. Many times we would have to pick her up from school because she would be too exhausted. She went to school this week with no problems. This is amazing.

Two Wednesdays ago [before her miraculous healing], Jaedyn had an encounter with the Lord during Bible Study. He called her name audibly three times. She asked Him who was speaking to her. He told her that He was Jesus. He told her that He was going to heal her heart and He wanted to use her to speak on His behalf. She preached to the church for 90 minutes nonstop. Her message was about His church having a sick heart. She said that the church has fake worship. The Lord told her to tell us that His church worshipped Him to get a blessing from Him instead of worshipping Him because He is the blessing. He even told her to worship Him not because she needs a new heart but because He is her heart and when He heals her heart He will heal His Church's heart. She shared with us at the Bible Study that her heart was a symbol of the condition of His church's heart. She spoke to us as He had spoken to her. It was truly an amazing experience."

A few days later on December 20, Pastor Rickie wrote us again about Jaedyn: "Today was a great day for her at school. One of the administrators at school commented that it's becoming difficult to keep up with Jaedyn. She is so energetic."

75-year-old attorney gets up from brain-dead vegetative coma

Londrina, Parana, Brazil
November 2012


In the city of Londrina, Brazil, a 75-year-old attorney suffered from a brain aneurysm and had lapsed into an irreversible coma. He was in a vegetative, brain-dead state from which according to doctors there was absolutely no hope of recovery.

Two trained believers from the First Independent Presbyterian Church of Londrina, an Elder named Dr. Oziel who himself was a practicing physician and his Senior Pastor Rodolfo Montosa, ministered to him several times over the course of some months. The attorney miraculously woke up from his vegetative state with full cognitive functions. He is now physically active and back at work at his law practice.

Since all this took place, the Elder and his Pastor had not yet had an opportunity to share with him the gospel of Jesus Christ. One day in early November 2012 they took me to visit him and his wife at his home. His wife met us at the door and showed us into a vast study/living room where he was seated awaiting us.

Soon after catching sight of Dr. Oziel who had been used to bring him back from the practically dead, he began to weep tears of gratefulness. Several times during our brief visit, his tears would suddenly begin to flow. Dr. Oziel shared with him the gospel of the One whose power and name had brought him back so miraculously---the Lord Jesus Christ. With no reluctance or questions at all, he quietly accepted Jesus as His new Lord and Savior, and received from Him the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

Never have I seen such fruit ripe for the picking. Or, as Brother Rodolfo remarked to me as we drove away after our visit, the fruit was already on the ground ready to be picked up.

Mark 2:10-12 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.

Pastor William

Do We Rebuke The Territorial Spirits?

By Rev William Lau
Proponents of what is called “spiritual warfare” in the heavenlies may be aware that it is not clearly supported by Scripture. Nowhere in Scripture is found any instance where a disciple directly rebukes and attempts to drive out principalities or “territorial spirits” from geographical areas. (We are not referring to intercession or prayer to God here, but offensive action directed specifically against powerful demonic beings in the heavenlies.)

The prophet Daniel was not performing such warfare in Daniel 10 when the archangel Michael engaged the prince of Persia in the heavenlies over him. Rather he was praying and fasting when God sent Michael to help the angel who had been sent to Daniel but had been detained by the prince of Persia. It is not recorded that Daniel was in any way aware of the warfare taking place in the heavenlies until the angel was released and appeared before him. Clearly Daniel was not involved in the struggle.

Neither Jesus nor any of his disciples engaged in such a practice as recorded in the New Testament. If "spiritual warfare" is such an important and necessary factor in evangelism, why does New Testament Scripture not record a single clear incidence of it? If the early disciples did not need to conduct such "warfare" and were nevertheless very fruitful preaching the gospel in their time, what makes us think that we need to do it today? It is clear that if we are not fruitful today in evangelism, it is not because we are lacking the dimension of "spiritual warfare." We must be lacking some other dimension---a dimension which must be clearly evident and staring at us from the pages of New Testament Scripture.

Later in this article we shall discover what that missing dimension is.

The Scriptures often cited from Ephesians 6:10-18 by spiritual warfare proponents actually refer to a defensive posture in which the believer puts on the full armor of God in order to take his stand against the devil’s schemes and against the rulers and authorities. “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” These verses cannot be used to support the practice of believers directly rebuking rulers and authorities in an offensive way.

Does Ephesians 6 really teach “spiritual warfare” in the heavenlies?


Does the end justify the means?

Finally, nowhere does Scripture explicitly command disciples to drive out territorial spirits in the name of Jesus. But since the practice is not expressly forbidden in Scripture, its proponents support its active use. Part of the reason the practice is justified by them is because of apparent results achieved in evangelism where the practice has been applied. There are some reports of areas where people had been closed to the gospel. But after spiritual warfare was performed with regional territorial spirits rebuked, people in the area were suddenly open to the gospel and accepted Jesus Christ in response to the gospel.

All this would appear well and good, especially when the salvation of souls and the Great Commission is at stake. However, we as servants of God must consider an important question before taking a position on this issue. Can the ends justify the means? The answer is no. Faithfulness to Scripture must take precedence over “results.” For example, we should not sweeten or water down the gospel---as is done so often today---in an attempt to bring more souls into the kingdom of God. The desire for “numbers” or "results" should never tempt us to compromise the gospel.

Moreover, there can be danger for us when we engage in offensive action which we have not been specifically authorized to perform. There is risk involved when we take action presumptuously, especially in the realm of the supernatural.

Numbers 14:44 Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.


Another compelling reason not to do spiritual warfare

But there is now another and at least equally compelling reason why we should not engage in spiritual warfare in conjunction with preaching the gospel. By simply obeying the clear and unambiguous commands Jesus gave his disciples when he sent them out, we are now seeing unprecedented results in North India without the practice of direct "spiritual warfare" in the heavenlies.

Luke 9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. …6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

Luke 10:9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in a the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

In 2007 The Elijah Challenge conducted the Basic Training in North India. Servants of God were taught how to heal the sick and cast out demons as Jesus taught and commanded his disciples when he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God. After that Joshua Gowda and Simon Haqq began to conduct monthly Evangelistic Feeding Events in which the gospel was preached, the sick were healed, demons were cast out of people, and the people were fed.

In such a way, 42 churches have been planted and 11,098 people (predominantly Hindus) have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ in mostly unreached villages. This took place between July 2007 and June 2010 when this article was written. Other churches networked with The Elijah Challenge have planted another 118 house churches in various parts of North India. By God’s grace there is a great move of the Holy Spirit throughout North India. Feeding Events and Elijah Challenge-trained churches are now being used by God in the area of evangelism and church-planting. “Spiritual warfare” is not a part of this.

Moreover, churches trained by The Elijah Challenge are now the fastest growing churches in North India. This is based on progress reports and testimonies Joshua has received from full-time pastors, workers, and churches networked with The Elijah Challenge. In the days to come, Joshua and Simon desire to bring millions of souls into the Kingdom of God through the approach the Lord has entrusted to them.


The difference between the two approaches

There is very significant difference between the current approach of spiritual warfare against territorial spirits followed by or in conjunction with preaching the gospel, and what is being done by Joshua and Simon in North India.

The current approach involves first spiritual warfare in an attempt to dislodge territorial spirits. After that the sick are prayed for---not necessarily healed as Jesus taught and commanded his disciples. And the gospel is preached. Now there are two unscriptural components in this approach. The first is of course the spiritual warfare. The second, surprisingly, is praying for the sick. Jesus never commanded his disciples to pray for the sick when he sent them out. Rather he commanded them to heal the sick---which is very different and involves actually performing miraculous healings in real time to confirm the truth of the gospel to the listeners.

The scriptural approach which Joshua and Simon are now using involves preaching the gospel, actually healing the sick as Jesus commanded his disciples in Luke 10:9 to confirm the message to the lost, and then feeding the people. The meal is used to draw the people to the event and for fellowship with the new believers afterwards.

Both approaches, it is claimed, result in people turning to Jesus Christ. But one involves some unscriptural practices while the other closely follows the commands given by Jesus to his disciples.


Choose one

Which approach is preferable? Most obviously, the approach which follows scripture closely is to be preferred. It results in the advance of the kingdom of heaven on earth, and there is no risk of counterattack by vengeful rulers and authorities in the heavenlies which we may have angered in our presumption when waging “spiritual warfare.” God is not obligated to protect us from their attacks in such a case.

Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

This verse applies when we trample on earthbound “snakes and scorpions” which likely refer to spirits and demons attacking people on earth at ground level. It does not apply when we attempt to trample on powerful beings in the second heavens which we have not been commanded or authorized to do.

Let us now return to the word of God to understand how to fulfill the Great Commission. Let us be faithful to obey Scripture. Let us remember the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation: Sola scriptura. This Latin phrase means that Scripture alone is authoritative for the faith and practice of the believer. The Bible is complete, authoritative, and true. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The “spiritual warfare” approach to evangelism adds a foreign dimension which is not taught in Scripture. It is not necessary, and could in fact be presumptuous and lead to unnecessary risks and suffering for ourselves and our loved ones.

We have ministered in some of the spiritually darkest places on the face of the earth. In Africa, we boldly challenge witchdoctors to a contest of power in the fashion of Elijah with the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel. And we consistently witness miracles and victory after victory over the enemy without having to resort to the practice of "spiritual warfare." And we are blessed with a side-benefit: we do not suffer from trials due to enemy retaliation and counterattack. We are convinced that we are shielded from them because we have not gone "beyond what is written" but simply done what the word of God says we should do. We are thankful also to our intercessors who blanket us with prayers to the Lord on our behalf.