Dear friends:
 
On about May 20, 2008, I forwarded a report from a pastor friend of a reported miracle associated with the healing revival currently raging in Lakeland, Florida.  It involved the resurrection of a three-year-old girl who had died.  The pastor friend was Regner A. Capener of the River Worship Center in Sunnyside, Washington.  My original report is at http://www.injesus.com/index.php?module=message&task=view&MID=UB007ENI&GroupID=2A004N9G
 
The report was well-received, but anything supernatural always stirs controversy and there were a few who did not believe the report, especially as written.  I have twice spoken to the church where it happened and am still trying to get an official version, but so far have been unable.  They are literally snowed with the national and international interest in what is going on there.
 
But in his latest newsletter letter, Coffee Break, Pastor Capener has written an excellent follow-up report, which I believe will address all the concerns.  His report is below.

If this message is too long for my list server and cuts off, I will forward the remainder later.
 
Jim
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Because I took time out of the previous Coffee Break to share some of the miracles that had happened in Lakeland, Florida -- and then received a flood of responses -- I thought it appropriate to comment openly regarding some of the statements that I made, as well make one clarification concerning the first miracle reported.
 
Several responses concerning the report of the three-year-old girl who was raised from the dead at the Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando came from people within the medical community -- some positive, and some critical.
 
First, let's clarify one thing.  Although I first reported that the three-year-old girl's body was put in cold storage following the pronouncement of her death at 9:00 PM on that Monday night, there are some conflicting reports.  The first report that I heard was that the girl's body had indeed been put into a locker and held in cold storage until the transplant team could arrive.
 
I spoke with a medical doctor concerning this, and he told me that while this may not be normal protocol, depending on the transplant recipient patient's proximity and other time factors, there were occasions when this procedure was followed.
 
Some nurses responded to my report and said that they simply couldn't believe anyone would follow such unorthodox protocol with a child who was only pronounced brain dead.  The same doctor who told me that this procedure, while not normal, could be followed also stated that once brain death is declared, the body can either be kept on life-support to sustain other organs, or those life-support measures can be removed as long as the organs designated for transplant are held at a specified temperature under carefully controlled conditions.
 
The news director at Orlando's CBS outlet pooh-poohed the whole story because he talked to the hospital's administration concerning the event, but never took the story further.  The hospital, of course, downplayed the story saying that the doctors who pronounced the girl "brain dead" had simply made a mistake, and that she really wasn't dead after all.
 
I spoke with some other medical professionals who chuckled over the hospital's back-track on the story.  Their answer was, "they're just covering their rear ends because they don't believe in miracles, and they don't want other folks to doubt their competency as medical professionals."
 
Here are the facts as I presently know them.
 
1.  The girl was pronounced dead -- whether "brain dead" or otherwise -- at 9:00 PM Monday night.
 
2.  Funeral preparations were underway for later in the week.
 
3.  The parents signed off on an organ-donor form for use of certain of the girl's organs.
 
4.  The organ-removal team was scheduled for a Tuesday AM removal of certain organs from the girl's body.
 
5.  An unavoidable delay caused them to re-schedule for Wednesday.
 
6.  The girl's mother was watching Todd Bentley's healing meetings on GOD TV and heard some spectacular testimonies of seven other people being raised from the dead -- some having been dead for rather lengthy periods.  She prayed and said, "Father, if you are doing this for other people, you can do this for my daughter as well; and I'm asking you to bring my daughter back to life."
 
7.  On Wednesday, when the organ-removal team showed up to begin the process, following preparation of the body for the procedure and just prior to making the first incision, the girl began to cough.
 
8.  Today, the three-year-old girl is alive and well, thank you very much!  The Lord brought her back, and it matters not whether medical protocols were right, wrong or indifferent.  She's alive and alive through the power of God functioning in direct accordance with His Word.
 
Those are the facts, and they are not in dispute, no matter how the hospital or unbelieving members of the news media may want to otherwise explain them away.  Maybe we haven't heard the end of this story, yet, but that's all for me barring updates yet to come.  In my book, God receives credit for the raising of this young girl.
 
My comments concerning the "unbelieving news media," incidentally, should not be construed as a blanket criticism of the media.  My years in radio and television broadcasting included several stints in freelance reporting for NBC, CBS, and ABC, and I've had many friends throughout the years in the news media -- both electronic and print -- who are people of real integrity with true ethics when it comes to reporting the truth.
 
Last week, I wrote an abbreviated article for the local newspaper bearing the same title as this Coffee Break; and in it I noted that Todd Bentley -- the evangelist from British Columbia with whom the Holy Spirit has been working in this miracle outpouring -- is not your seen-one-seen-em-all preacher.  He is an ex-biker, tattooed from head to foot (and even fingers) whom the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed, delivered, set free and filled with His Spirit.
 
His presentation and mannerisms are far from the polished, professional, "churchy" preacher-image we are used to seeing.  I freely admit that the first time I saw Todd, my reaction was, "Lord, you've got to be kidding!"
 
He comes across more as an emotional carnival barker than a sold-out, servant of the Most High God.  The fruit of his ministry, however, far overshadows his biker image.  In the past ten years, Todd has led more than a million souls to the saving, delivering, healing and Holy Spirit-filling knowledge of Jesus Christ.  More than that, he has the accompanying proofs of his ministry that Jesus Christ promises to all who believe.
 
"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."  (Mark 16:17-18)
 
That's black and white, folks!  Make no mistake.  These signs follow those who believe -- not those who don't!   Furthermore, Jesus sent his followers out with this command: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."  (Matthew 10:8)
 
That was not a divine suggestion, nor was it some mystical, metaphysical theory.  It was a command Jesus gave with the full expectation that they would do just that -- literally.
 
That said, I am personally the recipient of not less than three separate miracles of healing through the Todd Bentley healing outpouring -- and I wasn't even present in Lakeland, Florida!  Della and I were visiting Mary Ellen in Red Deer, Alberta during much of the time we spent in Canada during the last three weeks.  Mary Ellen doesn't have access to GOD TV, and her Internet connection is a dialup connection you'd never want to use trying to watch by streaming video.
 
My mother-in-law, Opal Hendershot, watches GOD TV faithfully every night, and is tuned into this wave of miracles taking place.  While at Mary Ellen's, she would call Mom on the phone, Mom would place the phone in front of the television speaker, and we would listen on Mary Ellen's speakerphone.
 
Let me share with you the first of these three miracles today, and I'll share the rest in the next Coffee Break.
 
For a variety of reasons, I've been loath to talk about the fact that I've been experiencing an onset of arthritis.  Della has frequently said to me in recent months, "Honey, straighten up!  You walk like an old man.  You shuffle everywhere you go."
 
I finally said to her one day not long ago, "It's because I'm in pain.  My legs and feet are stiff when I get up after sitting for awhile, and it's hard to walk until they limber up."  Her response was, "Then it's time to do something about this!"  Obviously, Della wasn't talking about going to the doctor, either.
 
Three days or so into our visit at Mary Ellen's, we were listening over the telephone to the miracles of healing taking place in Lakeland, and Todd Bentley received a word of knowledge concerning folks being healed of arthritis.  I said to myself, "That's great!", but because I didn't feel any electricity or heat or tingles or any other sensation, just figured it was for someone else.
 
The next morning, we drove into town (Mary Ellen lives out in the country), and I rode in the back of her van.  When we stopped, I stepped out of the van and suddenly realized there was no stiffness, no restriction of any kind, no pain, no nothing!  I shouted to Della and Mary Ellen, "I'm healed!" and started dancing around the van.
 
In the days since, I've kidded Della (who is a very fast walker) saying, "I can walk faster than YOU can, I can walk faster than YOU can!"  And I can, too!  The pain, the stiffness, the slowness are completely gone.  Wow!  If you've never suffered with arthritic pain or stiffness, it doesn't mean a lot, but for those who have, there is no substitute for the freedom you have to move about freely after having fought arthritis.
 
Oh, and by the way, I've been very emotional about it!  Some folks have a problem with "all of the emotionalism" that goes on in this miracle outpouring.  Sorry 'bout that.  Grin and bear it, folks.  It goes with the territory.  When the Lord sets people free physically after they've suffered -- sometimes for many years -- they tend to get very emotional about it!  They get excited.  They dance all over the place.  They shake under the power of God.  They behave like idiots.
 
Yup.  And who cares, anyway?  When I've been to professional football games, basketball games, baseball games, etc., fans tend to get really excited.  Their behavior isn't rational.  They do crazy things in their excitement -- emotional things.  But nobody accuses them of "emotionalism."
 
Just let the Lord pour out His Spirit in the way we are seeing in Lakeland, Florida -- and other places as well -- and all of a sudden, "that's nothing but a bunch of emotionalism!  It's just fakery and pretense.  It's all hype and show!"
 
Sure it is!  But it is God's show, and there's nothing fake about the thousands of people who are being healed, set free, delivered from evil spirits and filled with the Holy Spirit.  There's nothing fake about the emotional displays, either!  They're real, and I -- for one -- will tell you that I get really emotional when I become the personal recipient of one of these gifts of healing.
 
We'll talk more about this in our next Coffee Break.  I'm deliberately keeping my Coffee Breaks shorter for the sake of my friends and readers in the business community whose reading time is limited.
 
By the way, if you don't have access to GOD TV (channel 365 on DirecTV) you can access a broadband connection via the Internet.  The URL is: http://us.god.tv/stream. Then click either High or Low (depending on your connection speed) under Todd Bentley.
 
Healing is the gift of God.  It is part of the Blessing of Abraham restored by the Lord Jesus Christ to and for all who believe.  Do not for a minute think that sickness or infirmity is a blessing from the Lord.  It is a curse from Satan.  Jesus came to redeem us from that curse!
 
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow!  (Proverbs 10:22)  Be blessed!
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