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Is the gospel of Jesus Christ true? Did Jesus really walk the earth, forgive sins, heal the sick, and raise the dead? Did God become a man, endure temptation, suffer a horrible death on the cross and then rise again on the third day? I can hear people echoing a resounding, “Yes!” Most Christians would say amen to any of these statements and even be able to give some Biblical evidence. Yet there seems to be a massive disconnect between what we say we believe and what we experience! Can our doctrinal statement stand up to the next few questions and what it reveals about what we really believe?

If the gospel is true then when was the last time we personally saw it transform someone’s life? When was the last time you prayed for the sick and they got healed? When was the last time you shared this glorious gospel and someone turned from a life of sin? When was the last time demons actually manifested and departed out of someone in your presence? If you are like me I definitely hang my head low on some of these answers.

I realized on my trip to Israel that for all intents and purposes I might as well be an Atheist. Let me explain. God put me next to a Jewish man on our flight to Israel. I had a captive audience for 10 hours so I decided to open the conversation about Jesus. I spent 2 hours wrestling with this man’s mind and swapping doctrine for doctrine and to no avail. I mean after all I have a Master’s degree in Practical Theology and I have read a thing or two about what Jews believe…shouldn’t I have the upper hand? After this flight the Holy Spirit began to deal with me. He showed me that if I lived in the reality of the resurrected Christ I would have been joyfully proclaiming the truth of this and not trying to win an intellectual wrestling match.

For some reason we have equated right doctrine with Salvation, therefore we spend much of our time trying to get people’s brains straightened out and we spend even more hours trying to train people how to witness to unbelievers! Do you think Lazarus needed a 16 week course on evangelism after he was raised from the dead? When Jesus sent out the 70 he gave them so little instruction and resource that it was laughable to our modern methods (Luke 12). They didn’t even know how to pray yet but when they came back they came back shouting because the sick were healed and demons were exorcised! They were not effective because of their training, and eloquent speech. They were effective because they believed what they were sent to preach!

This Jewish man I sat next to on the plane didn’t need a thesis on Jesus as Messiah! He needed a witness! He needed to hear someone who had met the Messiah and had been raised from death to life! Teaching and discipleship come after the moment of encounter! I am not discounting the role of scripture and preaching in salvation but rather I am making a distinction between speaking from a stand-point of faith rather than unbelief.

This exposure of my unbelief has opened my eyes and has stirred my heart with excitement! Why? Because if He’s real and he’s alive I get to be a part of this great adventure of seeing His kingdom come to earth every day! If he’s real, why not pray for the lady in wheel chair at Wal-Mart? Or share his life-giving power with everyone I meet? Why would I withhold this glorious good news?

The rest of my trip to Israel I was a new man with a new perspective but the real test came when I got home! My first day home I went to Wal-Mart with eyes wide open looking to see who Jesus might want to heal or save! I kept asking, “Where are you moving?” and “What are you doing today Lord?” As I was leaving the store I saw I woman using a walker. I immediately started the wrestling match in my mind over how stupid I might appear etc. etc. Then I “manned”up and decided that if He is real then He can heal! Why wouldn’t I extend the mercy of God’s healing to this woman if I had the answer?

As I approached her I was surprised by my own boldness! I did believe! This is real! I told her that I am a believer in Jesus and that he heals the sick and I would like to pray for her healing. To my surprise they were very grateful and asked me to lift up their two children who were going in for surgery the following day. I really sensed a surge of faith as I prayed. When I was done I assured them that Jesus heard our prayers and that he was indeed moving for them and for their children. They were so blessed by what I did and kept thanking me.

I saw no visible sign of this woman’s instant healing but one thing I do know is that she encountered a different voice in her life that day! She encountered a voice of hope and life! How many people have just assumed that she would have to stay crippled? How many people ever challenged the spirit of infirmity in her body? Maybe no one! I believe this woman encountered Christ and I am expecting to see her again at Wal-Mart walking without any assistance!

Later that week I encountered an Indian woman limping towards her garage to get a wheel chair. I approached her with my new found confidence in the simplicity of the message of the cross. She said she woke up with severe pain in her leg. I told her Jesus is alive and he heals and she agreed to let me pray for her. After the prayer I asked her to test her leg for pain and to the glory of God she reported that the pain from that morning was completely gone. Once you see Jesus move you really begin to think differently every time you pray for someone!

Last night I prayed for a woman with several physical ailments including a extreme pain in her right foot! To make a long story short Jesus did it again! All the pain was gone after prayer and this woman’s faith was boosted to receive total restoration for other needs she has in her life!

“The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Cor. 4:20). He’s alive! He has risen! If He is real then we must repent of our Christian Atheism and begin to prove the works of the Kingdom every day that we live and allow the Holy Spirit to do the convincing, and healing!