The Narrow Path Ministries

A person that attends my church (and who i believe knows Jason Chin in the video) posted this on his Facebook page.

I am interested in your first impressions upon viewing this video, which may lead to further discussion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziEcTDcI ... e=youtu.be

TK

P.S.-- here is an article that discusses some more testimonies of this Jason Chin person: http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/ar ... ml?ID=6855

my only impression is "what drugs are they taking?"

My first impression was to strongly doubt that it was a genuine miracle from God. Why?

- Based on only what is shown, it could so easily be faked. (I know that in itself doesn't mean it was).
- The whole mood seemed so unlike what I imagine would have been during healings by Jesus or the apostles (the laughter, joking, etc). Of course this is very subjective.
- Towards the end the leg seemed (as was noted by people there) to have grown past the other one, then 'went back' - what was that about? The Holy Spirit got a bit carried away??

Then I started reading the article in the other link, & part of the way through I thought perhaps I was a bit hasty in my assessment, it could be a move of God...until I got to the section mentioning the gold dust, and "three youths experienced supernatural weight loss as their once tight pants got looser and looser", and "Screams erupted as one man grew an inch taller while everyone looked on."
Grew AN INCH taller? Give me a break. Apart from being mystified as to how this could even be noticed, let alone be so startling as to elicit screams, I would be inclined to believe there must not be enough people with genuine diseases needing healing for God to resort to party tricks.
So, I'm back to my first impression. Just intuition really. I could be wrong.

Hi Suzana/Darin-

My initial impressions were very similar. I agree this could easily be faked, even if it was the person allegedly being healed that was doing the faking. I was actually lying in bed figuring out how to make one leg appear shorter w/o it being obvious how I was doing it.

Suzana wrote:

The whole mood seemed so unlike what I imagine would have been during healings by Jesus or the apostles (the laughter, joking, etc). Of course this is very subjective.

I thought about this as well. But we really don't know the mood when Jesus performed his miracles. For example:

At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him. Mk. 1:32-34

I suspect there might have been a great deal of joy and laughter. I dont think people who were seeing amazing miracles would have been standing by with the heads bowed silently in prayer.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that what is shown in the video really happened. Wouldn't something like that elicit a lot of joy and laughter? It would be amazing!

TK

The article messes me up as well.

I mean, here were have young people who seem to be genuinely on fire for the Lord. They decide to go to Disneyland for the sole purpose of trying to bring the Kingdom to people. They pray for people, people apparently get healed and more importantly it indicated that people got saved. I find it hard to be critical of people who do things that I am too chicken to do. I know the gold dust, weight loss etc seems ridiculous. The growing an inch taller seemed to be the result of a straightened out scoliosis of the spine- although this is not specifically stated.

I struggle with all this, because I think ther average Christian (guess that includes me) perhaps does not stretch their faith enough in the areas of healing.

For example, if a person with a white cane comes tapping into your church, will anyone actually pray for restored vision? I am sure we would all be cordial, but would we pray for regained sight? If not, why not?

So I kind of feel like a hypocrite when I get overly critical of people who seem to be on fire and who take Jesus's statement to heart: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons, Freely you have received, freely give."

But at the same time, I dont want anybody to pull the wool over my eyes, or anyone else's.

TK

So I kind of feel like a hypocrite when I get overly critical of people who seem to be on fire

TK, the mere fact that you are wary of this possibility in yourself is, I suspect, an indication that your attitude is a healthy one in this area.

I think at least some of these people do not merely seem to be on fire, they really are. Anybody here who managed to get as far as the Jason Westerfield part in The Finger of God videos that I linked to would have to admit that. Fraudster after money? There are easier ways to put food on your young family`s table.

I don't doubt that some of these people are on fire, just wondering where the fire is from; my concern is whether they are being deceived by false signs and wonders, rather than them trying to deceive.

In any case I would want to check things out thoroughly (to evaluate this if it was necessary, eg if people I knew were wanting to become involved & needed advice).
Here I just stated my first impressions of the video and article.

Thanks, Ian.

My struggle in this area is because you are right- the people in the video ARE on fire for the Lord. They are out there "doing the stuff" as I like to say. The stuff, I might add, is far far outside of my comfort zone. Let's face it- I'm plain chicken to do street ministry.

But these kids arent. They are out there minsitering to people and they are reporting miraculous things happening. Should that shock us? Should my first response be "hallelujah!" or "that seems like a bunch of B.S. to me."

They are doing it for the glory of the Lord. They aren't seeking fame and fortune. They are reaching the lost. But then we hear stories of gold dust and miraculous weight loss and red flags go up all over the place.

Maybe as the return of the Lord nears the miraculous WILL increase. Maybe these kids are just sold out and abandoned. There are some young people in my church who are like this-- it's awesome!

But like others here I have these reservations that I wish I didn't have. I mean, if I was in the 1st century church and someone told me that Peter's shadow was healing people-- what would my reaction have been?


TK

Do people not realize that knees bend, hips rotate and that one can reflexively relax or tighten their muscles even under the power of suggestion? If it were 6 inches while hanging legs off a chair, I'd be impressed.

Suzana wrote:

I don't doubt that some of these people are on fire, just wondering where the fire is from; my concern is whether they are being deceived by false signs and wonders, rather than them trying to deceive.

very true-- which causes this angst i have when i see things like this. I WANT to believe-- but this "need to verify everything" hardly ever lets me do so.

Darin wrote:

Do people not realize that knees bend, hips rotate and that one can reflexively relax or tighten their muscles even under the power of suggestion?

I was able to do it be laying flat and sort of flexing one hip so it was higher than the other. this shortened one leg a couple of inches. it wasnt comfotable doing it, but if someone was fully dressed i dont think it would be noticeable.

TK