In our ministry school, we train people in signs and wonders, and we are particularly eager to learn how to operate in the supernatural outside the four walls of the church. We encourage our students by giving them specific missions to invite God to work in public places.

One day after class, a group of students from our worship school went to visit a lady in the hospital. She had a brain tumor, was deaf in one ear, and was losing all sensation on the right side of her body. She spoke with great difficulty, articulating her words, and was in terrible pain.

Instead of laying hands on her and praying, the students surrounded her in worship, singing songs and expressing their love to the Lord. Soon, the woman said, “My ears have opened!” The deafness was gone. They continued to sing, and she said, “My speech is clearer!” She began to speak clearly. Soon, she moved her limbs. She exclaimed, “All the pain is gone!” God reshaped her body as a worship service erupted around her.

When we do the will of God, we bring the reality of the Kingdom crashing down upon the works of the devil. We initiate a conflict between the earthly reality and the heavenly reality, becoming the bridge and connection point that, through prayer and radical obedience, asserts God’s dominion.

Not long ago, a woman with a broken arm came to our church with a wrist so painful that we could hardly touch her skin to pray for her. We lifted our hands and prayed, and within moments, God completely healed her. She felt no pain and twisted her wrist all around. The arm looked entirely different from what it had just seconds before. The reality of the Kingdom had overwhelmed one of the works of the devil. This is the normal Christian life I’m talking about.

Some of our local church leaders had a reconciliation gathering with a Native American, and many more people showed up than expected. We only had four salmon to feed about 900 people. But those four salmon fed everyone to the brim, with leftovers! This is impossible in nature, but it is part of the normal Christian life.

In addition to the weekly feeding of the poor, we have an annual holiday feast, during which church families adopt a table in our gymnasium and decorate it with Christmas decorations. The tables are set with our fine china, crystal, and silverware. We then transport the needy to this event organized in their honor.

Last year, we served beef ribs. We started with 34 roasts to feed two covers of about 500 people each. After serving 19 roasts at the first service, we realized that the 15 we had left were not enough for the 200 workers plus the second group of 500. The decision was made not to feed the workers.

But when they returned to the kitchen, there were 22. Seven others had mysteriously appeared. The workers were then fed, along with the second group of needy people. This should have exhausted our mysterious 22 roasts, but there were still 12 left after everyone had eaten!

Multiplying bread is good, but I love seeing the beef ribs multiply! Aren’t you tired of talking about a gospel of power but never seeing it in action? Aren’t you tired of trying to fulfill the Great Commission without offering proof that the Kingdom works? Many of us have been like a vacuum cleaner salesman who comes to the door and throws a handful of dirt on the floor and says:

“I represent the new Whiz Bang vacuum company. My vacuum is so powerful that you need to remove pets and small children from the room. It sucks up everything in sight.”

But instead of demonstrating the vacuum, he simply hands you a brochure, promises the machine will work, and leaves. That’s misleading people! Yet, that’s often how we preach the gospel. We tell people how great the product is, but we rarely demonstrate or prove it.

It’s as if someone said, “Hi! My name is Bill Johnson. I represent the King and His Kingdom. He heals all your diseases, delivers you from all your torment, and gets rid of the messes in your life. But I can’t show you how. You’ll just have to believe it. For so long.” Don’t you think we have misdefined how the Kingdom of God operates, missing the essence of what Jesus taught?

Some people teach that the Kingdom of God is for a certain time in the distant future or past, not here and now. Some confine all of God’s promises in the Bible to the millennium or eternity because the accepted wisdom is that we’ll barely make it to heaven. But Jesus taught and demonstrated that the Kingdom of God is a present reality; it exists now in the invisible realm and is superior to everything in the visible realm.

Just as Jesus is fully God and fully man, so the Kingdom is fully now and fully then. He spent His ministry showing us how to bring the power of the Kingdom to bear on the works of the devil. Our ministry should do the same.

We cannot be self-commissioned, relying on our ministry gifts to carry out the Great Commission. We can choose to operate outside the supernatural intervention of the reality of the Kingdom. Our mission has never been about what we can do for God, but what God can do through us. This is the essence of the gospel: doing exactly what Jesus did and destroying the works of the devil. This is normal Christianity. Miracles are normal. Salvation and deliverance are normal.

Revelation, prophetic insight, and words of knowledge are normal. But to return to that original mission, we must radically change our way of thinking. We must repent and renew our minds…

This text is an excerpt from the book “The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind” written by Bill Johnson.

We invite you to read the following article: “BECOMING THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD”.

CONFLICT TO THE STREET. CONFLICT TO THE STREET.

CONFLICT TO THE STREET. CONFLICT TO THE STREET.