It doesn't get anymore supernatural than this. Pretenders aside, what Jesus did 2000 years ago in raising the dead is still happening today.
A few years ago, I was doing short-term missions in Brazil. It was my day off and my host was driving me to my favorite place in the world—the beach! We were close, about a mile from away, so I could see the beach from the stop sign where we were.
As I was busy putting on my sunscreen, I heard the Holy Spirit on the inside.
Put on your seat belt.
I thought that was a strange thing to do since we were so close, but I know better than to question, so I put it on.
As we were driving through the intersection, a man on a motorcycle crashed into the fender of my side of the big SUV were were in. We hadn't seen him coming, and he drove into us at probably 40 mph. I saw the man fly up in the air off the motorcycle and he was gone. I didn’t see him land.
My host told me later that at that point, I screamed “Lord Jesus,” and jumped out of the moving SUV and ran right to the man. I don't remember that part. I only remember being in the middle of the dirt road, praying in the Spirit over him. He was face down, and there was no movement and no breathing.
I had worked for several years as a chaplain in a hospital and had seen a lot of dead people in my time. This man was definitely dead.
As I sat there by the man’s body, a big crowd of people, all talking in Portuguese, made a circle around us. But I just kept praying. I never touched him though. I only moved my hands above his back from his head to his hips and continued to pray loudly.
I have no idea how long I prayed, but after a while, his body moved. The whole crowd gasped in surprise. Then he moved his hand, then his head. I backed away to give him room, and he sprung up and started running around, dazed and looking for his motorcycle! There was absolutely no damage to his body, not even a scrape!
His motorcycle, however, was totaled. My host, who was extremely happy to see him up and walking, said she would get him a new motorcycle, no problem.
That happened the Saturday of Easter weekend, and though I didn’t tell anyone what had happened (it took me a while to figure it out myself!), I preached that Sunday on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God raised Jesus from the dead, and he is still raising people from the dead!
Have you ever heard of or seen someone being raised from the dead?
For more than thirty years, Lorenda Ford has been a short-term missionary all over the world. She regularly ministers in Brazil and Africa, preaching and teaching in churches and doing outreach on the street and in prisons. When not overseas, Lorenda works with SheBrews, a coffehouse in Oklahoma that is part of a program for women transitioning out of prison.
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