There are so many different ideas and understandings about “faith healing” in the Christian church today. Some believe it happens all the time. Many, especially in the west, consider it a bunch of bunk. But you have to know that it’s real or it’s not, whether you you believe it or not.
And let’s face it. In these days of video tricks and bazillions of youtube videos and the like, it’s hard to separate the truth from the nonsense. It’s only fair to understand that people have a good reason to be skeptical about these guys who show up on TV as “faith healers.” We’ve heard the stories and we’ve seen the documentaries that look to expose the charlatans. And they ARE out there.
But I had my face stuck in some experiences a couple days ago that don’t leave much room for misinterpretation for me. I felt tendons (or bones, or something) move under my fingers in an instant when commanded to move in the name of Jesus.
You see enough of this stuff and it takes more faith to believe it’s trickery than to believe it’s real. This recent outing was further confirmation of that for me.
I Didn’t Always Believe In Divine Healing For Today
My journey of faith has taken me many places. I left the Catholic Church when I was converted to evangelical Christianity. I went to a Pentecostal church, rejected it due to study of the scriptures and attended a baptist church for many years. John MacArthur’s book, “The Charismatics: A Doctrinal Perspective” was instrumental in convincing me that the pentecostals were off the wall.
These days, I’m solidly back in the Charismatic/Pentecostal camp. I’ve seen too much and experienced too much of God working in supernatural means in direct response to prayer to be able to believe the Baptistic take on things. And I’ve since come to see where I have definite differences of opinion on the proper interpretive method on scripture and my understanding of the “charismata” – the spiritual giftings in the church.
Two Days Ago, I Got To Spend An Afternoon With Tom Fischer.
Maybe the best way to explain the guy is to have you watch this video of him in action – on the streets praying for people, and seeing the reactions they are having to his effect in their lives. I’m sure many will be skeptical. But after you’ve watched this video, please finish reading the rest of the story. Because what I am about to tell you may well help your unbelief.
So Who Is This “Tom Fischer” Guy, Anyway?
I’m going to tell you that I still don’t know a whole lot about this guy. But it’s funny how you can either know about someone or know them. And I will say after having spent an afternoon with the guy, I can tell you the guy is legitimate. He’s humble, he’s a believer in Jesus and he’s not in this for the money nor for the show; he makes the videos because he’s desperate to show people that Jesus wants ALL of us to be doing this.
I actually met this Tom Fischer a couple days ago, when I was introduced to him by another friend by the name of Doug Collins. You may or may not know about Doug Collins either. But I was stunned when I actually sat and talked with this guy to find out how many people we know or know of in common. Doug, like Tom, is a genuine, humble, down-to-earth guy who loves Jesus and simply understands the power that is in the name of Jesus.
Making A Video Is Easy. But Is It REAL?
I am going to tell you that, after spending about 4 or 5 hours with this guy – not only while the camera was running for the youtube videos he was making about our experience, but also in the background, between “video shots” – this guy is real and genuine. He wears his personality on his sleeve. And he is obsessed with talking about Jesus.
It’s one thing to see a guy’s persona when he’s posing for the camera. But it’s another to spend a block of time with him in between events, riding in the van to and from the spot where we went to pray for people.
I Am THOROUGHLY Convinced That Tom Fischer Is REAL.
The Tom Fischer you see in these youtube videos is the same guy I got to know a couple days ago.
First of all: he is FEARLESS. Tom is bold. He doesn’t pray in a way that doesn’t expect anything from God. When this guy is in action, his primary focus is not even so much on asking God to do things. His primary focus is acting on what he understands to be a reality he finds in the scriptures: God has given us, as believers, authority to decree things in Jesus’ name, as his ambassadors in this world. He doesn’t merely remind God that He could heal if it is His will; he “knows” it’s God’s will to heal and tells the injuries, the sicknesses, the illnesses and afflictions to come into line with this reality he believes in.
And they DO. Colds heal instantly. Tendons heal. Backs straighten up. Joints free up that were frozen. People come to Jesus because of it.
Second: he takes great delight in other people seeing the same results as he gets. The reason Tom came into town was because his friend Doug believes we are all supposed to do this as believers. They are both firmly convinced (as am I) that our mandate as believers in Jesus is to demonstrate the reality of who He is with these kinds of signs and wonders.
Third: he is humble. For Tom, this is NOT about Tom. It’s about Jesus. It’s about seeing God manifest the reality of His kingdom here on earth. He is SO plain when he speaks to people about what he is doing that he has NO special power. He merely declares things through the power and the authority he as as a believer in Jesus.
Fourth: he easily admits he is human and recognizes when he makes mistakes. I remember one incident that day where we were praying for a guy with a couple bad knees. He had one knee in a brace from surgery. What we didn’t know until we had been praying for this guy for a while is that both his knees were bad; he had surgery on the first one, and was waiting for it to heal so he could get the second one done. So here, all that time we were praying for this guy, he was getting tired.
I think one of the things that struck me that day was hearing Tom as we discussed the situation afterward. He realized that we were maybe, in our zeal to see results, not even being sensitive to the guy’s pain and fatigue. We didn’t even know about the second knee until we had been at it for a while.
Everything else seemed easy for Tom that afternoon. And yet, just as easily in that moment, Tom’s prayer, his contrition, and his willingness to acknowledge that maybe he had not gotten it right all came flowing out of him in one simple, humble, open prayer right in front of us all. “Father, forgive me if I was not sensitive to that young man. Lord remind us all think of everyone we pray for FIRST as people you love and NOT as projects to heal. Lord, please remind us they are precious to you. Help us to love them. And Lord, please finish what we believe you started in that young man’s knees. And use it to show him how much you love him. Amen.”
And that was it. No song and dance, no explanation why “the great Tom Fischer didn’t get that miracle in the bag.” No excuses why that one we didn’t see manifest completely, or instantly. Now, don’t get me wrong. We saw partial relief. But the guy got tired. He needed to stop. He needed to go inside and sit down. But Tom didn’t seem AT ALL concerned with explaining to me why it wasn’t a complete healing with this guy.
And Tom expects this guy is going to see a great and fast recovery. But he wasn’t saying to to save face. He was saying it because he believes it. Out of the abundance of his heart his mouth speaks.
Tom didn’t feel a need to explain or explain away anything.
Because Tom is genuine and humble. He takes God at His word, and he sees a lot more results than people who don’t pray.
Does Tom get 100% results? No. Does he show that in the videos? I don’t know. I’ve seen a few of the videos, and the ones I’ve seen all seem to be about the successes.
Is that dishonest? No. I don’t think it is. Not AT ALL.
As Soon As I Tell People I Pray For People And Expect Results, I Get Criticism.
I get it. I used to be one of the biggest critics. Why isn’t everyone healed? Who do you think you are to to expect results? Isn’t that arrogant? What about the ones who don’t get healed? Why don’t you just go to the hospitals, pray for everyone and just see the hospitals close up? What if you don’t get it right? How do you know when it’s God telling you to heal and not just you assuming it’s God telling you?
I know. I know. And I make a lot of mistakes.
I remember once talking withTony Kemp– himself a very gifted and anointed preacher who operates in words of knowledge, signs and wonders. And Tony said to me, “you’re going to make mistakes, brother. It’s just part of the gig. Just accept that you will make mistakes and that God can be trusted with it when you’re doing what you think He’s telling you. He’s got it.”
Doctors Make Mistakes Too.
I’m not criticizing doctors. I think we should be grateful for what they do. They do amazing things. But they don’t heal everyone. They don’t always get it right. Prescription medications kill people too. In fact, prescription medications properly described sometimes kill people. I heard one statistic from a doctor who told me that the 4th or 5th leading cause of death in the United States is prescription medications correctly prescribed and used.
Even The Disciples Didn’t Always Get It Right.
Do you remember the time the disciples came to Jesus after Jesus cast a demon out of a boy where the disciples could not? That was in an era and a dispensation where even skeptics realize that the disciples were given authority to go and heal in Jesus’ name. But they had tried to cast a demon out of a young lad, with complete and direct authority given from Jesus Himself, and they STILL could not cast the thing out. Jesus told them that this kind does not come out easily – they needed to be praying and fasting to see this result.
I cannot explain why I don’t see someone healed every time I pray, either. I know I could be praying and fasting more. I know sometimes I pray and get no results. Sometimes I hear about them later. Sometimes I see them instantly, too.
I Sure Saw Some Miracles That Day. With My Own Eyes.
We saw them with Tom and Doug that day. A young man who was Muslim who let us pray for his shoulder joint that popped. The popping stopped instantly. I showed him a video of a leg growing out – almost two inches in a minute and a half. We sat him down and checked his legs. One longer than the other. Doug prayed and commanded the leg to grow and we all saw that leg grow about an inch in less than a minute. He had sandals on. This was no shoe trick. There weren’t a lot of people there to watch except him.
The kid was stunned and baffled by it all. And he said, “if you can heal my other shoulder I will convert to Christianity.” Doug asked if he could call him on that. The kid agreed. He said he had a separation in the back between the shoulder and the back in the joint where the shoulder bone went into the socket.
So now, this time, Doug told ME to pray. I pointed to the shoulder, put my finger on it, and commanded the bones to come back into proper alignment, in Jesus’ name. And I felt it move under my finger as the kid stood there.
That was not me. It was Jesus. I will tell you as much as Doug would, or Tom would: It’s NOT about me.
What I Believe Tom Would Say To You If You Could Ask Him.
I think what Tom Fischer would want you to know is that he doesn’t do these videos to be famous. He does them to make Jesus known. It’s not about Tom. Tom has an ache and a passion for people always and everywhere to know this one thing:
It’s not about TOM. It’s about JESUS.
I will tell you I felt this man’s heart for his savior that day. Tom Fischer is the real deal. Thanks, Tom, for spending the day with us. We are blessed.
You can check out Tom’s blog here.