That next Sunday as the band and I attempted to deliver a new song which the congregation had never heard before, we struggled for a few minutes but then things clicked beautifully… 300+ people rushed to the altar and the tears flowed as God’s people sang about Healing Rain. In that state of spiritual awareness, the Spirit of God then led me to transition to another song, “Open the Floodgates of Heaven (Let it Rain)” and then back and forth between the two songs several times. Congregation members later described sensing a “washing” and something like tides flowing over them. We were engulfed in the Glory of God for more then 45 minutes. I walked away from that experience knowing that God had accomplished more then I would ever know about in this life-time…
A few months later, we were visiting the hospital room of Irene, one of the dear women of ICCJ… the kind of woman with such gentleness, a helpful and positive attitude and such class that everyone knows and loves her… The doctors had just removed a 6 kilo, 27cm long tumor. God had worked through those doctors to perform an amazing miracle! The family members were still worried but Irene was full of faith. She said that from the moment she found out about the tumor, God kept reminding her of the healing rain and she sang about it almost non-stop. Her husband Franz said that everyone was amazed because it’s like she wasn’t concerned. She sang and sang about the healing rain along with other favorite songs of hers, re-living all of the times in which the congregation of ICCJ had proclaimed the song in the sanctuary… not necessarily aware that we were proclaiming a healing in advance for Irene.
A short time later I traveled to Jogjakarta to visit Riel Pasaribu who was a survivor of the Garuda Airlines crash. He had been burned to the point that his face was black and the rest of his body was covered in bandages. God had saved his life and he was having divine experiences which we will have the privilege of hearing and reading in the near future. But he mentioned to me in that hospital room that among the many songs which he was singing and writing (he had never done that before) as God gave him new songs was Healing Rain. He explained that those times in the sanctuary that we had been consumed by God’s power as we had worshipped the Lord with that song had prepared him to receive the miracle when he needed it.
I love testimonies about healing, deliverance and salvation! I love to hear from people about how their lives have been changed by applying the lessons learned through a steady diet of God’s Word! But these two experiences again reminded me that when we come together as a Church, we are often accomplishing victories in advance! My friend, let me encourage you to PARTICIPATE in worship, in prayer and in the study of God’s Word with all of your focus and strength! Your future and somebody else’s future depend on it!
In preparation for posting this writing today, I asked our photographer to snap a picture of Irene and Franz on Sunday. Even though Franz seemed perfectly strong and served as a Greeter in Church, he was later rushed to the ER on Sunday evening due to a heart attack. After 16 hours in the Intensive Care Unit, he was finally admitted to a hospital room late Monday. Pst Joy and I just visited Franz, this time with Irene at his bedside. He is out of danger because God has once again healed another person by pouring out His healing rain! Please help us to enforce the victory as Franz achieves full recovery as we come together and pray for him. That picture from Sunday is posted below…
