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Archive for the tag “miracles”

03 Jan 2017

There are No Miracles

The Enlightenment contributed much to Western culture, and spurred an era of unprecedented discovery and development.

It also contributed the concept that reason alone is capable of explaining everything that happens in the world, and that a scientific reason for all phenomena can always be found. Over time, this viewpoint mutated into the idea that there is no place for God in the ‘real’ world. Science can explain everything; there is nothing other than the material world in which we live.

Back in the 19th century, and indeed through most of the 20th century, it seemed that this viewpoint was valid: science continually discovered and described the workings of the universe, both minute and cosmic. It seemed that all of the answers were being discovered, one at a time–and it would be only a matter of time before we had a perfect picture of the universe, how it started and how it works.  Then the old stories of God  creating the universe and regularly intervening in it could be relegated to the realm of myth and fantasy.

But funny things kept happening, despite this rational worldview:

  • in China, a country where atheism had been promoted  for decades and religion had been suppressed, more than 100 million people embraced Christianity in the space of 30 years; reports of miracles abounded
  • Scientists discovered that the more they examined the universe, the more it looked like it had been hand-crafted on purpose
  • Miracles kept happening, and science had no explanation for them.

Now, I’m talking about miracles where experts can’t offer logical explanations–not cases where a statue cries or the image of Jesus appears in a waffle. Below are several cases where medical experts admit there are no plausible explanations for the cures that took place. The most famous of these is probably the story of Marlene Klepees, who was treated at the prestigious Mayo Clinic for cerebral palsy. Now, there is no cure for cerebral palsy. It slowly debilitates and kills its victims. But Marlene was miraculously cured of the affliction after it had reduced her to a quadriplegic. Today she is healthy with no signs of cerebral palsy. If the Mayo Clinic disputed her story, no doubt they would have spoken out, because their reputation is on the line. But they didn’t, because the story is true. To make this story more outlandish to atheistic ears, Marlene received a vision that she would be cured.

 

These are just a few examples of miracles. They’ve been happening everyday since, well, forever. In the Bible, they are referred to as signs and wonders. The Greek word for miracles is signs. Signs point you toward something. Miracles are abundant, and to us, random. They point to the eternal intervening in the material world. And as I said, they are happening everyday.

Like in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Millions of people have gotten sober by following AA’s Twelve Steps. Boiled down into a sentence, you get sober by admitting you are powerless over alcohol and then asking a Higher Power to remove the obsession from your life. And God does. If you are willing, then the insurmountable urge to debilitate and drown yourself with alcohol is taken away.

Sounds too simple to be true, right? But for 80 years that’s how it’s worked. The newly-sober addicts aren’t expected to become Christians, but they are encouraged to develop and maintain “conscious contact” with their higher power.

How does this work? The scientific community has advanced many explanations, because the scientific community usually has many conflicting explanations for anything that involves the human mind. Psychiatrists, behavioral psychologists, anthropologists, and lots of other ologists weigh in on issues from love to altruism to near-death experiences, each with their own explanation. Explanations grounded in science, and conjecture.

They just won’t use the word miracle. But if you’ve ever met a hardcore atheist who is drinking himself to death and then in a matter of weeks has seen his craving for alcohol disappear, you might be forgiven for using the word.

If you start with a pre-existing belief that miracles can’t happen because they don’t match your world view, you will constantly find reasons to ignore, refute or reject evidence of miracles. But they will keep on happening without you.

 

 

 

 

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01 Aug 2012

The Greatest Thing I’ve Ever Done

A few years ago I was producing a TV program in China called Moving Mountains.

It was a great job. We would travel all over the country shooting stories on people who were performing amazing acts of kindness and compassion. China is full of these stories.

Despite the perception (shared by the Chinese public) that most Chinese are primarily intent on getting rich and pursuing selfish goals, there are many stories of selfless sacrifice and astonishing generosity. We did one story on a man who adopted 200 children. Another followed a man in the mountains of central China as he carried an old, hand-cranked film projector and spools of film to the most remote villages imaginable. He just thought these people should have a chance to watch movies, too. So he devoted his life to bringing the movies to them. For free.

There were many other stories: some impressive in their scope, others very simple, like the one where three schoolboys vowed to carry a crippled schoolmate to school every day on their backs. At lunchtime they would carry him out to the playground and after school carry him home.

Then we found the story of Dr. Li. Dr. Li was a country doctor in a very poor part of southern China.

He was the only physician within a day’s travel, and people would come to his clinic with all kinds of medical problems–but seldom with enough money to pay for their treatment. Dr. Li never refused to treat anyone, and would give them medicine even if they couldn’t afford it. He paid for the medicine himself.

One day Dr. Li learned that he had kidney disease. The cost of the kidney medicine and dialysis were very expensive, and Dr. Li had no money, because he had used all of his own savings to help his patients. He borrowed from relatives, but eventually saw that he was only driving his family into debt, and decided that he would no longer treat his kidney disease. Dr. Li prepared himself for death.

It was at this time that our TV crew found him. We’d heard about the selfless, compassionate doctor in Guangxi province, so we’d arranged to come shoot his story. But we didn’t know that he was seriously ill. Dr. Li only told the crew about his situation reluctantly, as they were about to leave.

He had 2 weeks of medicine left. After that, he would purchase no more.

The crew called me and told me the situation. I told them to give whatever expense money they had left to Dr. Li, so at least he could buy a little more medicine. But we realized that what he needed was a kidney transplant, which cost about US$30,000 ($240,000 Hong Kong dollars). That was an insurmountable number. It might as well have been $30 million. But I felt clearly that we should do something to help Dr. Li. We took a collection among the staff here at the CBN Hong Kong office. That got us about HK$1,000. Then we told viewers of our Hong Kong TV program about Dr. Li’s situation, and mentioned that our staff had put together a little bit of money to help him. We told the audience that if they also wanted to help him, they could send money to our office in Hong Kong.

By the time donations reached HK$900,000, we had to tell people to stop giving.

The outpouring of support enabled Dr. Li to go to Beijing and have his surgery. The night before the operation he made a decision to become a Christian. You might be thinking: “sure, why not? A little insurance just in case something goes wrong.”

After he recovered, Dr. Li returned to his village and continued to help people just as he had always done. The big difference was, now he didn’t have to use his own money.

There was still about HK$400,000 (US$50,000) left. Some of that money was earmarked to pay for the anti-rejection medicine that Dr. Li would take for a long time, and to pay for his ongoing medical bills. But there was money left over to help cover the costs of poor villagers who continued to visit Dr. Li’s clinic. We asked the people who had donated to Dr. Li, and they all agreed that the extra money could be used this way.

He was able to buy some basic medical equipment for the first time, in order to serve the public better. He also initiated hygeine and preventive medicine programs in his region.

Dr. Li became famous in this part of China. A TV station from the provincial capital sent a crew to do a story about him and his service to the poor. They never mentioned CBN or our role in Dr. Li’s life. They also didn’t mention that he had begun holding Bible studies in his home, sharing his new faith with others and applying it in his own life. Over time many people in the region became Christians and became more involved in helping others. Churches from other provinces travel to his village to meet Dr. Li and his region has become very active in Christian service.

Last month the government asked Dr. Li if he would be willing to build a church in his village.

He said yes. The government is willing to tolerate this Christian stuff, but they want it all to be officially approved. The Chinese government is like that.

So why is this the greatest thing I’ve ever done? It’s not because I made something happen. It’s because when God spoke, I listened and trusted. I felt sure that we were called to help this anonymous country doctor, even though it would be impossible to raise enough money to assist him.

As Christians say, “God put it on my heart” to help Dr. Li. It seemed to be an impossible task, but I saw what God was able to do when we trust him and follow his guidance. I actually didn’t have to do much, except trust.

Some people will say that the greatest thing they’ve ever done is being a parent. That is an incomparable vocation. My wife and I try our best to raise our children well, and it is a joy to do so. But when it comes to a single action I have taken, a single thing that I have done, none compares to the simple decision to listen to God’s direction and follow it faithfully.

I have witnessed what happens. None of us at CBN did much in this situation, except to believe and obey.

That is the greatest thing you can do.

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