We went to Gracewood UMC for a mini-conference they had, featuring John Crowder. Now we have seen him before and liked him enough to buy the DVDs. So when we found out he was coming to the church up the street, we just had to go, and we took our small group with us. Now if he ever comes to your area and you really want to see a man that is totally in love with Jesus....this is your man. He was an awesome speaker and carries an awesome anointing of God on his life.
Now meanwhile, Franklin has one of his back adult teeth break off. So I took him to the dentist and she said he needed either a root canal and a crown, or have it pulled and put a bridge in there to keep the teeth from shifting as he continues to grow. The problem is, the root canal/crown option is not covered under his insurance and we can not afford to cover it out of pocket, and the extraction IS covered, but not the bridge, and she said the bridge would cost more than the crown/root canal, but is necessary if we pull it to keep the teeth from shifting. So we decided our only option is to make the appointment with the surgeon and have that tooth pulled, then use income tax refund money in the spring to buy that bridge.
Well Franklin says no, we aren't pulling the tooth, he wants God to heal him. OK, me too. So we start praying for him about that. He tells me that when we go see Crowder the following night, God is going to heal him there. Well, we have an appointment to see the surgeon that afternoon so while we are getting ready to go to that, he tells me he doesn't want to see the doctor. I tell him let's just go to the appointment and see what they say. He then tells me that if we go that is proving that I don't have enough faith that God will heal him. Um...ouch.
So I cancel the appointment and we go to the conference that evening. I'm telling you, if John Crowder ever comes to your area, ya gotta go see him. He's fabulous. So funny. Insanely in love with Jesus, doesn't even care what any one thinks about that, and really doesn't even live on this planet...he's off communing with Jesus on a continual basis. So obviously, the meeting was awesome, and the Presence of God was heavy in the room.
So Franklin is awaiting expectantly for God's healing power. We all stand up and Crowder begins to operate with words of knowledge. I'm waiting for him to say something about a tooth, but he never does. Instead he says that some one here has a stomach problem, it's been going on for a while, it's painful, and God wants to heal that condition tonight. I look at Franklin and ask him if he heard that. He didn't pay attention to what he said, he was just listening for a tooth related word.
So Frank tells him what Crowder said and asks Franklin if he wants to go up for healing about his stomach. So Franklin goes up and gets prayed for. Now what I need to explain is that we have taken Franklin to several doctors appointments since May....remember when he got sick at Six Flags? He has been sick ever since. Mostly stomach related that brings on dehydration. His stomach has been so painful and so irritable for all this time. We finally got the closest thing to a diagnosis when he saw his allergist last month. She suggested that he was having dairy issues. So we cut out all dairy for him, which is HARD if you have ever tried to do that because nearly everything contains dairy in some form, even most breads.
So as we are cutting out dairy and the poor child is starving to death unable to eat anything that tastes good, he starts to get a little better and only has a bad cramping and bad tummy episode every now and then, usually when something dairy sneaks in. And he is so unhappy. Every time someone wants ice cream or a glass of milk or cereal, Franklin gets really depressed. He just can not have any of it.
So anyway, he goes up, John prays for him, and then he comes back to me. He asks if he can go up and ask John to pray for his tooth. So he goes up, gets prayed for, comes straight back and there is no change in his tooth. So he gets really discouraged and begins to fight back tears. So I explain to him, and Frank explains to him, that sometimes healing is not instant. And we both gave him examples in the Bible where Jesus had people go wash in the river seven times or whatever, and just because he was not healed instantly tonight, doesn't mean he won't be healed at all. Then he says he wants to talk to John, so he does, and he explains the same things to him, tells him to keep believing and pressing in and not to get discouraged. Franklin felt a little better.
So we get in the van and I start to tell Franklin that whenever a minister who operates in the gifts of the Holy Spirit gets a word of knowledge about an illness, he is actually receiving supernatural revelations from God about a specific person and a specific illness, and the reason for it is because God wants to heal that person right there in that meeting, so that God can receive the Glory for it. He wants to heal us no matter what, but He sure does seem to like to do it publicly very often, so we and others around us can know that He is still the Great Physician.
I told Franklin that if the preacher called out his specific illness, then God was really wanting to heal him, and since he took that step of faith and went forward and received prayer for that illness, that he could go ahead and accept by faith that God HAS healed him, that it's a done deal. Then I said, "What do you want to do about it?" He said, "Well, I guess we should go get some ice cream then." So we head to McDs. Because it was a late hour and they shut down the machines early, we ended up getting him a double cheese burger instead. He takes the first couple bites and mentions that he is not experiencing ANY pain, no bloating, no nausea, nothing. So he eats the whole thing then the following morning eats a bowl of cereal WITH milk, and still....he is absolutely fine! He has been totally healed of this stomach ailment!
So Franklin is pretty excited about it and he has been like a dairy hog....I'm tellin' ya, we just need to buy a cow! So, you might be wondering about that tooth. Well, so am I. But who can know the mind of God? We will just keep believing and pressing in for that healing and I'll let ya know as soon as the tooth is healed...meanwhile, we are celebrating the healing on the stomach issue. That's good stuff! YAY GOD!!!
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