…to the Gory of God
Fr.
Al: What is Christian healing? That is a question that is often asked and
has many answers. The answer is simple. It is asking Jesus Christ what to do
about any disease, and doing it that He might bring wholeness from the inside
out. It is not a process of magic whereby we get God to do what we ask. It is
praying, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Christian
Healing is the manifestation of the creative power of God's love as He comes to
make us a new creation in Christ Jesus. It is concerned not only with the
stewardship of our body of flesh and blood. It is concerned with our ultimate
relationship with God as our Father, Jesus Christ as our Savior and Healer, and
Holy Spirit, as the Executive of Father's will for us as He revealed it in
Jesus Christ.
Father Al entered into the
fullness of the Kingdom of God on Sunday July 13th, 2014.
The Lord has told me to keep the writings available for
at least 2 more years.
Tom
Click
Here to See Fr. Al's Writings
“Pastor Tom:” “Lord not
my words spoken, but yours. Filter out that which is impure so that only your
pure gospel may be heard. Make me an instrument of your love. Amen.” - I
ask this prayer each time I preach. It comes right after the scripture reading,
and before I even begin to try and share what God has given me to say to those
I am about to address. It is a prayer that says much in regards to what I
believe about preaching. There is something God does through preaching that is
beyond my abilities. In fact, if left to my ability alone, I am sure no one
would come to Christian discipleship through my preaching. It is only by the
grace of God that anyone hears, and by the grace of God that anyone responds to
Him. Despite this, God chooses preaching through broken people to be one of the
primary means of sharing His words with others, and so we study, we pray, we
prepare, and we preach. God acts.
"The
Circle" (a poem of inclusion...)
He drew a circle
that shut me out--
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in.
--Edward Markham (1852 - 1940)