The Miracle Worker

In reading through Matthew with our church, we have seen that miracles were a very important part in confirming the truth of Jesus' messiah-ship.

No problems there...Jesus did miracles. He was/is God. That's what gods do. How did they work? What were the mechanics of healings/feedings/exorcisms? I have no idea, but that's OK, because I'm not God.

The problem springs up around chapter 10, where Jesus gives his apostles "authority" (or jurisdiction/power) to do the same things He did. What now??

OK, so we've got some humans doing miracles now to validate the heralding of the new covenant. But these guys are Jesus' hand-picked apostles, so they're way up there, as far as humans go.

To further complicate things, Paul writes about gifts of the Holy Spirit given to every believer to build up the body, some of whom are able to heal and other miraculous things.

This is a huge problem, because 1) where are they? and 2) who are they? My mind immediately goes to faith healers like Benny Hinn: big time showboating jerks who use miracles to make money. Are they for real? I suppose it's possible, but not very likely.

So where are they? Did miraculous gifts just quit after the first century? Paul seems to indicate that spiritual gifts will keep going until Jesus returns and we don't need them. The Bible never hints that some gifts will keep going and others will stop (despite what John MacArthur says).

Interestingly, most of the reports of miracles come from the mission field, where people know next to nothing about Jesus. In fact, one of the professors at my Alma Mater seminary was involved in a miracle healing around Muslims in Israel.

My preliminary opinion about miracles in America is that Americans are so "educated" and skeptical that they would not believe a real miracle if they saw it, so why should God work here where it won't pay off?

Then again, Christianity has a lot to prove among people who see it as merely an ideology and ethical system, rather than following the God of the Universe.

I myself have seen some pretty amazing "coincidences" that I would fall just short of calling miracles. Yet I find myself longing to see God REALLY work in America: not just in broad ideas, successful fundraisers, and easily answered prayers, but in actual blind-seeing/deaf-hearing/dead-raising/demon-throwing miracles.

So, does anyone out there have any real miracle stories? "I Want to Believe..."