Signs of the Believer in Osceola, Arkansas

"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;" Mark 16:17 KJV
On March 19, 2010, in a little northeast Arkansas town called Osceola, the signs of the believers were manifest. It was a Friday night that was filled with great anticipation. For the past forty days the United Pentecostal Church of Osceola had been praying and fasting. They had been reading the Book of Acts and asking God to do a supernatural and spiritual work in their lives. They were desiring to be released into the Spirit of Apostolic Revival. Their prayer was, "God we want the Spirit of the Early Church! We want what they had!" Now, for the next few hours they were determined to worship God with all they had and let God do His part.
The Osceola City Center had been rented to accommodate the expected crowd. Several slipped into a racquetball court that had been designated as a prayer room and began to seek God for the service that night. Little did those prayer warriors know God’s attention had already been captured by their desire.
The service started with a great Spirit of Praise and from the start people were caught up in the Spirit of Worship. A gentleman, seated toward the front, stepped out from his seat and began to walk back and forth praising God. It was just a few moments later that the Worship leader stopped everything!
Pastor Tim Doran, of Osceola, was leading the Praise and Worship. He came over to Anthony Brown, the worshiper, and said, "You have cancer, don’t you?" Anthony said, "Yes sir I do."
Pastor Tim said, "The Doctors said it is bad and don’t give you any hope, is that right?" Anthony said, "Yes sir, that is true!"
Pastor Tim said, "When we were in the prayer room, God saw how you worshiped Him in spite of your illness and pain. He told me to tell you that He is going to heal you of cancer!" As he said this Pastor Tim reached out to lay hands on the sick man and jerked his hand back and said, "I don’t even have to touch you! God has already healed you. In Jesus Name be made whole!"
During the twelve and some half weeks that have passed since that time, Anthony Brown has reported that he is getting stronger each and every day. On Sunday, June 6, 2010 he came to Pastor Tim Doran, who is now Anthony’s pastor, and told him that he needed prayer for his feet. One of the symptoms of the cancer was that his feet would itch so bad that he would actually scratch the skin off trying to get relief. Pastor Tim prayed for him and the itching is completely gone!
On Wednesday, June 16, 2010 Anthony Brown went to see his doctor for his scheduled cancer checkup. After the test and examinations were complete his doctor came in and sat down with Anthony and said, "I don’t understand how a man with pancreatic cancer taking four insulin shots per day has a blood sugar reading of 80? I just don’t understand. In fact I am going to go get another doctor to look at this."
He left and returned with another doctor who went over the reports and looked at Anthony and said, "I don’t understand how a man with pancreatic cancer who takes four insulin shots a day can have a blood sugar reading of 80? I just don’t understand!"
The first doctor pulled out his cell phone. He showed Anthony and the other doctor a picture that he had taken of Anthony earlier. There were sores from the cancer all over Anthony’s body. His figure looked sickly and gaunt. The doctor looked at the healthy looking energetic figure before him and said, "This is not the same man, I just don’t understand!"
Anthony told the amazed doctors, "I understand exactly what is going on. Jesus Christ has worked a miracle of healing in my body. He has healed me of cancer!"
Both doctors shook their heads in amazement and said, "It is a miracle, we can’t argue with that!"
These signs shall follow the believer. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover! However, sometimes God gets so excited about healing a worshiping believer that He doesn’t even wait for the laying on of hands!

When God Gives You a Wakeup Call, Don't Hit Snooze!

What in the world is that noise! Go away, you are annoying me! Oops! It is the alarm clock. My sleep blurred eyes try to focus on the red illuminated numbers on the clock. I blink them and try to again focus. Suddenly I am wide awake! The clock say’s it is 6:45 AM! I had hit snooze!
This is how my morning started one day several years ago when I was a school bus driver. My day normally started with the sound of the alarm clock going off at the awful hour of 5:15 AM. That was in good weather, if it was freezing cold the day started earlier in order to get the bus warm. I usually would hit the snooze button and grab a few more precious minutes of sleep. I would get up by 5:30. I would take a shower, fix some breakfast and be at the bus garage by 6:15. This would give me time to do my pre-trip inspection and get the bus ready to hit the road. I would pick up my first child, who lived twelve miles from the school, at 6:40.
On this particular morning I was already five minutes late picking up my first child and I hadn’t even got out of bed yet. Needless to say, I rushed! I drove fast! I had the bus garage call the radio station to announce that bus 70 was running late! This is not the way I recommend starting your day. Parents were upset because their schedules had been delayed. They had to wait on me. Students were upset because they were late for school and some of them missed the breakfast the school provided. Most of all, I was extremely embarrassed because everyone in the county knew that I had run late that day, it was on the radio. I even had people at church ask me about why I was late. I learned when you get a wake up call, don’t hit snooze!
In life we get wake up calls, or that is what I call them. You are driving down the road and suddenly a light comes on in the dash. There is a little gas pump that is all lit up. A wake up call! You are almost out of gas. If you are driving down the interstate in Arkansas and you edge just a little too far to the right your tires will hit a series of bumps. I call them wake up bumps because they are there to warn you that you are in danger of leaving the pavement. It is a wake up call.
I have had incidents happen in my life that I would have to recognize as wake up calls. These were times when God has done something to get my attention and help me realize I needed to become aware of where I was headed. It was His way of saying, “Hello in there! Wake up and pay attention!”
It might be a message that I hear preached that tells me, “Wake up!” It might be a sickness that comes upon me or a loved one. It might be a near tragedy or some other event that makes me realize I am headed in the wrong direction, I am asleep at the wheel, and I am not a wake to the reality of my situation. Wake up calls from God! Don’t hit snooze!
Paul tells us in the book of Romans the alarm is sounding and it is time to get up. If time was short when we came to Christ, how much shorter is it now? Walk in the light of Christ! Follow His Word! Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and don’t give the flesh an opportunity to cause you to sin! Hey, God is giving you a wake up call, don‘t hit snooze! (Romans 13:11-14)
We know we are living in the last days before Jesus comes back for His Church. Look at the signs of the times. Read the news. Listen to the alarms that are going off. Don’t hit snooze!
Jesus likened it to the time before the flood. The people were living life as they always had lived it. They knew Noah was building a boat. They had heard him preach there was going to be a flood. However, they said we have heard him preach that for the past 100 years and it hasn’t happened yet. They hit snooze!
Lot’s daughters and son-in-laws said you are a foolish old man! We have never seen fire rain from heaven. We have never seen a city destroyed like you say. We are having a great time and don’t want to change. They hit snooze!
Even if God doesn’t come in your lifetime or mine, death will come to all. You don’t know when, and then again you do know that we are told it is appointed unto man to die and then he will face God in judgment. I have been to funerals of more young people than old. You are never too young to die! Let this be your wake up call, please don’t hit snooze!
I have known of people to ignore wake up calls. They have continued on to do what they had started out to do. They have been warned! They have been cautioned! Yet they gave no heed and went their way only to destroy their lives. They didn’t die. The rapture didn’t take place. No, they got to live their lives with the pain and suffering that came from ignoring the wake up call from God. They hit snooze!
When God sends a wake up call your way, stop! Look! Listen! Pay attention to what you are being told! Get on your face before God and allow Him to examine you. Allow Him to show you what you need to do. Give Him the opportunity to show you how to live your life. I like the way the Psalmist put it:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Ps 139:23-24
When God send a wake up call, don’t hit snooze!
Just a thought! God Bless.