I now believe as you do regarding miracles and why they ceased to exist when they did.  Also, you enlightened me on why God today uses unseen influences to make good things happen for us when we pray as if we're asking for a miracle.

My question: what is happening in these charismatic meetings when people report blind people seeing again, limbs growing, all the things you read about in their literature?  I hadn't given it much thought, not seeing it myself, until a neighbor told me she went to Oklahoma to a huge meeting some years ago, and a preacher, who has since died, would just walk by a portion of the congregation, and everyone would fall out on the floor, start speaking in tongues, people in wheelchairs getting up and running, etc.

Then you hear about some of the people 'losing their healing' some time later.  Are they actually receiving something, or is it all in their minds because they've been 'ramped up' during these meetings?

I'd like to know your opinion and what the Bible has to say about these groups because it seems like they're just going for all the right reasons, believing that they'll get healed.

Sincerely,
Caring For The Sick

Dear Caring For The Sick,

Charismatic preachers are false teachers that take advantage of the vulnerable.  People in their darkest hours of sickness seek hope from any source.  Faith healers prey upon this.

The meetings that you are talking about where people fall over, start randomly speaking gibberish, and supposedly are healed are infamous for being rigged.  Many journalists have investigated these tent meetings and found that they are specifically designed to work people into a frenzy.  During that frenzy, the evangelists will tell people they are healed, and the adrenaline of the moment gives some the momentary feeling of being healed.  There are documented cases of patients going to these meetings and being told that they had been cured of their cancer only to have the doctors diagnose them as terminally ill days later.  Other “healed” people are deceivers planted within the audience that pretend to be sick and throw their crutches away to add to the charade.

Those who go to these meetings are vulnerable to false teaching and are consequently deceived.  They are seeking a cure, and the false teachers know what to say to raise their hopes (2 Tim 4:3).  The faith healers are false teachers, and they will be judged by God for their wicked deceptions (2 Pet 2:1-2).  A teacher is more strictly judged (Jas 3:1), and therefore, these preachers will be held accountable for their lies.  It is our duty to try and undo their deception by bringing the truth to those who have been deceived.

I'm going through a pretty rough time right now, and I'm seriously considering taking my life.  My mental conditions have gotten too much for me... hence, my questions: what happens to you when you commit suicide?  Does God send you to Hell because you try for relief?  And part two: when I was a teen, I kinda lost it and cursed God’s name.  I know that was wrong, and I am very sorry.  Can I still be forgiven?  Or is that unforgivable?  Thank you for considering my question and for helping so many others.

Sincerely,
Without Hope

Dear Without Hope,

Suicide is murder.  Your question is akin to asking, “Would God send me to hell for murder?”  No matter the reasoning behind self-murder, it is still wrong.  No matter what your situation is – and we believe you when you say it is extremely rough right now – God is faithful, and He can see you through it (1 Cor 1:9).  There is always a way of escape available, even in the most difficult situation (1 Cor 10:13).  We may not always know how to move forward, but there is a way.  Jesus came to give us hope (Matt 12:21).  There is always hope as long as there is still breath in your body.

As far as your previous sin of cursing God, you can be forgiven.  The apostle Paul cursed God and blasphemed, and yet, God forgave him (1 Tim 1:13-15).  No sin is so great that you can’t start over.  We recommend you read “What Must I Do To Be Saved” and find a faithful congregation in your area to start a new life of hope with.  E-mail us at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org, and we will happily help get you in contact with a sound, Biblical congregation in your area.

I am wanting to know what you think of "Bible Codes".  I have heard some things about them, and they seem to be very good at predicting events.  I can’t help but think that we are not supposed to be doing stuff like the “Bible code” and that we should just read the Bible the way it was written.  What do you think?

Sincerely,
Cracking The Code

Dear Cracking The Code,

Yup, you got it right on the money.  When people try and decipher “secret” codes and hidden messages from the Bible, they are missing the point (as well as creating some ludicrous false prophecies!).  Paul said that the Bible was written, so that all could understand it, not just the intellectuals.  God wrote the Bible to be so straightforward that it almost seems foolishly simple (1 Cor 1:18-19).  Peter said that the Bible isn’t a matter of private interpretation (2 Pet 1:20).  There is no trick or fancy mathematical algorithm needed to decipher God’s Word.  God isn’t trying to confuse us (1 Cor 14:33).  When we read the Bible the way it was written, paying attention to context, and accepting it at face value, we are doing what God intended.  God wrote the Bible, so we might understand His will and have hope (Rom 15:4).

So in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they talk about the same event from different perspectives.  But why does Matthew 10:10 and Luke 9:3 say to NOT take a staff, and in Mark 6:8 it says to TAKE a staff?

Sincerely,
Staving Off The Problem

Dear Staving Off The Problem,

You are very astute to notice that small detail.  There is, however, no contradiction among these accounts.  In Matt 10:10, Jesus tells them not to take a staff, wallet, two coats… not even to take shoes. No one believes that Jesus was telling them to go barefoot!  In this account of Jesus’ sending the disciples, Matthew is emphasizing that they not bring any extra shoes, staff, coats, etc.  The same is true in the Lk 9:3 account.  In Mk 6:8-9, Mark states the same thing by saying that they should only have one pair of shoes, one coat, and one staff.  In both accounts, Jesus is shown to have instructed His disciples to take little (only one set of clothes, etc.) with them and trust that they would be provided for.

I have been told that the early Jews made sacrifices (sometimes on a daily basis) by bringing their animals or birds to the door of the Temple, killing the animal or bird themselves, and then handing it over to the priest to make the offering to God.  Is that correct?  I am very confused if that is the way that it happened.  Please help me in my confusion.

Sincerely,
Too Much Blood

Dear Too Much Blood,

There were certain sacrifices where the priest killed the animal, and there were a few sacrifices where the person offering the animal killed it themselves.  Most of the time the priest killed the animal, but in certain circumstances, the individual would do it.  The most notable of these is the burnt offering for someone’s sin.  When someone sinned, they could bring an animal to the door of the temple, lay their hand on the animal’s head, and then kill the animal and present it as a burnt offering to God (Lev 1:1-9).  This is probably the type of sacrifice you are thinking of.

However, the regular sacrifices were made by the priests: the morning and evening sacrifices (Num 28:1-4), the various feasts, and the weekly showbread (Lev 24:5-9)… just to name a few.  There are very few cases when individuals other than priests were involved with any part of the sacrifices.