Praying Medic's Blog, page 117

14 Things You Should Know about Ebola

1. Where does Ebola come from?

Ebola was first discovered in 1976. It was originally thought to originate in gorillas, but scientists now believe that bats are the natural reservoir for the virus. It is believed (though there is no conclusive evidence) that apes and humans catch it from eating food that bats have drooled or defecated on, or by coming in contact with surfaces covered in infected bat droppings and then touching their eyes or mouths. The current outbreak seems to have started in a village near Guéckédou, Guinea, where bat hunting is common, according to Doctors Without Borders.

2. How does the virus multiply in the body?

The Ebola virus infects cells by penetrating the cell and injecting a small piece of viral RNA into the cell. The RNA uses the native machinery of the cell to create more copies of the Ebola virus, which in turn infects other cells.

3. How is Ebola Spread?

Ebola is spread through direct contact with body fluids. Transmission is usually through contact with an infected person’s blood or vomit which gets in the eyes, nose or mouth. Although Ebola does not cause respiratory symptoms, a cough or sneeze from a sick person could possibly transmit the disease since the virus is present in saliva. The exact way in which droplets can transmit the disease is currently up for debate. The CDC takes the position that the virus cannot be spread through airborne droplets but some virologists disagree. For this reason, people who remain in close proximity (less than three feet) to an infected person for an extended period of time are considered to be in direct contact. The virus can survive for several hours on surfaces like doorknobs and countertops and can survive for several days in puddles of bodily fluid that collect outside the body. Any object contaminated with bodily fluids may spread the disease. Bleach solutions will kill the virus.

4. How does the disease progress?

Patients with Ebola generally have onset of fever and flu-like symptoms around 8 to 12 days after exposure. In a few cases symptoms may appear as late as 21 days after exposure. At first, Ebola is similar to the flu, causing a headache, fever, aches and pains. Sometimes a rash will be present. Diarrhea, vomiting and loss of appetite follow. The most common signs and symptoms reported from West Africa during the current outbreak from onset of symptoms to the time the case was detected include: fever (87%), fatigue (76%), vomiting (68%), diarrhea (66%), and loss of appetite (65%). In non-fatal cases, patients may have symptoms for several days and improve, typically around the 6th day of symptoms. Once a patient has recovered, they are no longer at risk to transmit the disease.

In serious cases symptoms rapidly become more severe. Patients may vomit or pass blood in the urine or stool, or develop bleeding under the skin or hemorrhage from their eyes or mouth. In the current outbreak unexplained bleeding has been reported in only 18 percent of cases. A change in the permeability of blood vessels causes blood pressure to drop so low that the heart, kidneys, liver and other vital organs begin to fail. This state of shock must be aggressively managed with IV fluids and drugs to maintain organ perfusion. Patients with fatal disease develop these symptoms early during infection and die between days 6 and 16 (mean of 7.5 days from onset of symptoms to death during the current outbreak in West Africa). In past outbreaks the virus has been fatal in 50 to 90 percent of cases. (Source: CDC – Ebola Information for Clinicians.)

5. Where is the current Ebola outbreak located?

Ebola continues to spread in the three Western Africa nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The C.D.C. said on Sept. 30 that Nigeria appears to have contained its outbreak.

6. How many people have been infected?

More than 9,200 people in Africa, Europe and North America have contracted Ebola since March of 2014. The death toll now stands at over 4,500.

7. How many people have been diagnosed or treated outside of Africa?
At least 17 . Most of these are health and aid workers who contracted Ebola in West Africa and were transported back to their home country for treatment.

The US has had eight cases. Three patients have recovered, one has died, four are still in treatment.
France has had one case where the patient recovered.
Great Britain has had one case where the patient recovered.
Spain has had three cases. Two have died, and one patient is still in treatment.
Germany has had three cases. One has died, one has recovered and one is still in treatment.
Norway has had one case where the patient is still in treatment.

8. How many health care workers have contracted Ebola?

Of the 17 people outside of Africa who have tested positive, 12 of them were providing care for patients who had the virus. More than 400 health care workers in West Africa have been infected during the current outbreak, and 233 have died as of Oct. 8. The World Health Organization said the high rates of infection among medical workers could be due to shortages or improper use of protective equipment, not enough medical personnel, and long working hours in isolation wards.

9. What are the chances of being infected?

Given that there are so few cases of Ebola outside of Africa, the chances of being infected are almost zero if you live outside of that region. Most of the new cases being reported have occurred among people providing care for infected people and their families or among people who have prepared an infected body for burial. Health care workers who treat infected patients are at high risk. Officials from the CDC believe there is no risk of transmission from people who have been exposed to the virus but are not yet showing symptoms.

10. Are there drugs to prevent or treat Ebola?

There are currently no drugs or vaccines approved by the FDA to treat or prevent Ebola.  An experimental drug called ZMapp might help infected patients, but it is unproven in clinical trials. The US government plans to fast-track development of a vaccine shown to protect macaque monkeys, but there is no guarantee it will be effective in humans. Beyond this, treatment is limited to IV fluids and medications that help maintain blood pressure. Ebola survivors develop antibodies against the Ebola virus. Antibodies are proteins that can latch on to a specific virus and prevent it from infecting cells. The World Health Organization suggests that plasma extracted from Ebola survivors that contains these antibodies might be used as a treatment, but the few trials that have been done were not promising. A small number of people appear to have an immunity to the Ebola virus.

11. How does this Ebola outbreak compare with past Ebola outbreaks?

This is the worst outbreak in history. The most severe prior outbreak was in 1976, where 602 cases were reported and 431 people died. So far more than ten times as many people have died in this outbreak.

12. How does this Ebola outbreak compare with other infectious disease outbreaks?

Due to advances in medicine, we rarely see the type of severe epidemics that happened a few hundred years ago. The highest number of deaths in the last 50 years from an infectious disease outbreak came during the SARS epidemic in Southern China between 2002 and 2003. The total number of cases reported from that outbreak was around 8,200 with 775 deaths, for a fatality rate of less than 10 percent. To date the total number of infections from Ebola stands at 9,200 with 4,500 deaths for a fatality rate of around 50 percent.

13. How many people could become infected?
The World Health Organization reported on Oct. 14 that there could be as many as 10,000 new cases per week by December of this year.

The Centers for Disease Control published a report in September giving its best and worst case scenarios: Under their best-case scenario they estimate between 11,000 and 27,00 total cases through Jan 20th. Their worst case scenario estimates that the number could reach 1.4 million.

 

 

14. Can the power of God kill the Ebola virus?

During the early part of the 20th century there was a great outbreak of the Bubonic plague in South Africa that killed thousands of people. During the outbreak, John G Lake was planting churches and healing the sick that were there. The US government sent a ship with supplies and doctors to provide aid. One of the doctors asked Lake, “What have you been using to protect yourself? Our corps has this preventative and that, which we use as protection, but we concluded that if a man could stay on the ground as you have and keep ministering to the sick and burying the dead, you must have a secret. What is it?”

Lake answered, “Brother that is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. I believe that just as long as I keep my soul in contact with the living God so that His Spirit is flowing into my soul and body, that no germ will ever attach itself to me, for the Spirit of God will kill it.”

“Don’t you think that you had better use our preventatives?”

“No. But doctor, I think that you would like to experiment with me. If you will go over to one of these dead people and take the foam that comes out of their lungs after death, then put it under the microscope you will see masses of living germs. You will find they are alive until a reasonable time after a man is dead. You can fill my hand with them and I will keep it under the microscope, and instead of these germs remaining alive, they will die instantly.” They tried it and found it was true.

They asked, “How is that possible?”

“That is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. When a man’s spirit and a man’s body are filled with the blessed presence of God, it oozes out of the pores of your flesh and kills the germs. Suppose on the other hand, my soul had been under the law of death, and I were in fear and darkness? The very opposite would have been the result. The result would have been that my body would have absorbed the germs, these would have generated disease and I would have died.”

Banned From Facebook

After Facebook began stepping up enforcement of its policy requiring users to provide a real name (or at least a name that sounds like it could be real) it seemed like it would only be a matter of time before the Facebook police caught up with me. My buddy Northwest Prophetic was forced to change his name a few weeks ago or face losing his privileges. Several other friends were hit this week with a demand that they provide a different name or have their accounts suspended. A few days ago Facebook deactivated my account, suspecting that no mother would be cruel enough to name their child Praying Medic. They assumed that either I was using the name for a business, or that I was some kind of celebrity and they asked me to convert my private profile to a page.

Facebook doesn’t object to my use of Praying Medic for a fan page. They only object to me using it as a name for my private profile. And here’s the part I don’t get: It would be fine with them if I used a regular name that was not my real name, such as Joe Smith or Frank Jones. They don’t seem to have a problem with people setting up an account under an alias that sounds like it could be a real name. They only object to names that don’t appear to be real names people use. I’m not sure how they justify suspending accounts of people who use an obvious alias while not suspending accounts of people who use a not-so-obvious alias.

To some of you, this may not seem like a big deal, but to me it’s a huge issue. I have a Facebook fan page already and to be honest, Facebook pages are nearly worthless. They only have a fraction of the functionality that a private profile has. On my private profile I’m the administrator of at least a dozen groups where we discuss everything from prayer to professional writing. As the owner of a page, you can’t even participate in group activities. Having a private profile allows me to send and receive private messages for prayer, instruction and a lot of other things I need to do to stay connected to my tribe. If my Facebook activities as Praying Medic are going to be restricted to what I can do through a page, there’s no point in me using Facebook at all.

Some of you might be wondering what the deal is with having an anonymous profile, so let me fill you in:

When I began blogging in 2009, like thousands of other medical bloggers I opted to write anonymously – mostly to protect the privacy of my patients, but also to keep my employer from being connected to my online activities for their sake and for mine. For those who are wondering – I keep my patient’s names anonymous when I write about the calls I respond to. The fact that I keep my patient’s names anonymous doesn’t guarantee that their health care information will be protected, so I’ve chosen to keep my identity anonymous as well, to add another layer of protection for the sake of their privacy. But there are other reasons why some people need to have an anonymous internet profiles.

Leaders in religious communities who develop a significant audience quickly become targets for people who don’t like their message. The last thing I need is someone calling me up in the middle of the night to harass me or my family because they don’t agree with something I wrote. Having an anonymous profile allows me to focus on writing and teaching without worrying about people who have a score to settle. As long as I’m working as a paramedic, writing about my calls and teaching on the kingdom of God there will be a need for me to remain anonymous and I won’t be using my real name on social media.

Facebook doesn’t like anonymous profiles so they pulled the plug on mine. They asked that if I was using a valid name that I would provide two pieces of identification including a photo ID to substantiate my claim that I was Praying Medic and not a troll who wants to prey on their customers. I complied with their request and my account is currently under review. Some of you might be wondering that since I published a book under the name Praying Medic that it would give me a legitimate reason to use the name on a private profile, but that didn’t ‘t fly with the Facebook Police Department. There is a specific list of things they’ll accept as proof of identity and a book published under a pen name isn’t on the list.

I know that some of you are a little irate over this, especially since exceptions were made to Facebook’s identity policy after members of the LGBT community and some drag queens protested their policy. Facebook apologized for the insensitive way in which they handled things with this group and is now allowing exceptions to their identity policy for them. So if Facebook made exceptions for these customers, why won’t they make exceptions for Christians or other people who need to remain anonymous?

It’s been said that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The LGBT group made enough noise that Facebook could no longer ignore them. They had to meet with them and address their concerns or risk looking like bigots. I’m afraid the same is true for Christians (or anyone else) who desires to remain anonymous on Facebook. If we hope to have our concerns taken seriously by Facebook management, we need to create enough waves that they can’t ignore us any longer. They’ve already demonstrated that they will respond to pressure from groups who create a unified front. I’d like to see Facebook abandon its policy on anonymous profiles. But it’s up to the people who still have a private profile to speak up for the ones who are having theirs taken down. There is strength in numbers.

If you want to make my picture behind bars your profile picture for a while to show your support, it might help raise awareness of the problem. If you’d like to contact Facebook to give them your thoughts, it would send an even louder message. I would be eternally grateful for any support you can give and I know others will appreciate your support as well.

Thanks for being a friend,

~ PM

Broken Back Healed

Thoughts on Economic Collapse

Time Magazine – November 2, 1987

In this article, we’ll discuss whether another big market crash is coming, whether we can know when such a crash might happen, and whether there might be a divine purpose behind it. 

In 2006 Robert Wiedemer published the highly controversial book America’s Bubble Economy in which he predicted a collapse of the stock market due to grossly inflated values of stocks that were unsustainable. Peter Schiff is a seasoned Wall Street prognosticator and CEO of Euro Pacific Capital. In his book Crash Proof which was published in 2007, Schiff likewise warned investors that a stock market crash was coming. Few people took Schiff and Weidmer seriously, but in September of 2008 their predictions came true. The biggest stock market crash in decades shook the financial world.

Both men have written follow-up books detailing their belief that an even bigger market crash is looming in the not too distant future. Schiff’s book is titled Crash Proof 2.0. Wiedmer’s book is titled, Aftershock. Both books give advice on how to survive the coming crash. The reason why they believe another crash is coming is this:

The crash of 2008 was supposed to be a correction of stock prices that were greatly overvalued. When stock prices fell, banks that were heavily invested in Wall Street lost their assets and were on the brink of bankruptcy. In the middle of the downward market correction, the Federal Government stepped in and offered trillions of dollars to bail out a banking system that was collapsing before its eyes. When banks are given cash, they tend to invest it in Wall Street to make more money. The massive infusion of Federal money halted the market correction and stock prices leveled out. Since then the Fed has printed trillions of dollars (under its quantitative easing program) which it has loaned to banks at almost zero interest. The Fed’s hope was that the banks would lend the money to businesses which would allow them to buy goods and services and hire more employees which would create economic growth and reduce unemployment. Due to new tighter lending regulations, banks did not lend the money to businesses, but invested it in Wall Street. The infusion of Federal money failed to create economic growth and reduce unemployment, but it has served to drive the prices of stocks higher. Six years later, Wall Street is in the same precarious position it was before the correction of 2008. It is for this reason that market analysts like Schiff and Wiedemer believe another big market correction is inevitable.

If you follow the prophetic words that have been given by nationally recognized prophets during the last ten years you don’t have to dig too deep to find dire warnings about our financial future. Men like John Paul Jackson, Rick Joyner, Terry Bennett and others have seen an economic collapse coming. In November of 2009 I had my first of many dreams that had to do with our financial future. In that dream I watched as several news anchors reported on an event they were witnessing which they referred to as the “global economic collapse.” Here’s a second dream I had in July of 2013:

In the dream I was in a room with a friend who happens to have degrees in finance and economics and works for a large bank. He was working on a forecast model of the economy. The model worked like this:

A stream of data on the economy came from the internet and was fed into a machine that produced solid foam panels. When the foam panels were assembled, he would analyze the shape to get an indication of how the economy would do in the future. I knew that he was expecting the panels to come out as flat, rectangular shapes that would form a rectangular box when they were assembled. But the panels came out as curved shapes, and when they were assembled, they formed a sphere. As he assembled the sphere, he had a look of concern on his face and said in a matter of fact tone, “No one is going to escape this.” I knew from the look on his face and the words that he spoke that the model indicated a worse than expected economic forecast.

This same friend and I have had many discussions about the global economy and the financial markets. He made the following observation about the severity of our situation, which I’ll paraphrase: “The US government’s policy of quantitative easing (printing money) is designed to increase the supply of money and decrease interest rates which in theory is supposed to provide the capital people need to start businesses, purchase goods and stimulate economic growth. Under quantitative easing, gross domestic product should go up and unemployment should go down. They’ve done everything you’re supposed to do according to the playbook and it hasn’t changed anything. With all the money that’s been printed over the last six years, we should be seeing massive economic growth and almost no unemployment. The fact that all that money has been printed, but the economy hasn’t responded, and unemployment is still fairly high means things are a lot worse than anyone expected. If all that money had not been put into circulation, there’s no telling how high unemployment would actually be.”

The stock market is an indicator of economic health and although it can be manipulated for a while to make things look better than they actually are, eventually, if stocks are over-valued, prices will fall. If they are under-valued, prices will rise.  It’s only a matter of time before the price some will pay for  an asset reflects its intrinsic value. I believe it’s only a matter of time before we’ll see a massive correction in the stock market. In a moment I’ll discuss whether we can know when that correction will happen, but first, I’d like to make one thing clear:

I have for years been teaching people about a God who is much more in love with us than we realize. God has revealed Himself to be far more gracious, kind and patient with me than I ever thought possible. I think it’s impossible to overestimate the goodness of God. I don’t imagine I’ll ever change my views on that. I don’t don’t agree with the commonly held belief that things like earthquakes and hurricanes are the judgment of God on our sin. Having said that, I do believe that God is interested in having His people walk the best path possible. I believe He will at times suggest course corrections when we stray from the course He has set for us. But His corrections always come in the form of suggestions, which we’re free to ignore if we want. Ignoring the correction of God has consequences of course, one of which is suffering the inevitable outcomes of our own misguided thinking and poor planning.

At the end of the day a collapse of the stock market is nothing more than a correction of prices that have been allowed to increase to an unrealistic and unsustainable point. A failure of the banking system is the natural result of living with a system that allows a few greedy people to prey upon the financial resources of the masses until they’re so impoverished that there’s nothing left to take from them. The coming corrections could be seen as the judgment of an angry God if you prefer that view, but they could also be seen as the inevitable consequences of poor decision making by people motivated by greed. The collapse of the banking system, because it would effectively wipe out most consumer debt could also be seen as a kind of jubilee. Although it would create unimaginable financial turmoil for a while, over the long-haul it would set people free of their financial indebtedness, which is not a bad thing.

I’m not opposed to the concept of stock markets. Stock markets are a good invention that allow small companies to raise capital for growing their businesses and they allow people to invest money in companies with a chance to earn a little money in the process. Stock markets themselves are not inherently evil. It’s only when people are motivated by greed and become irrational with their investing that stock markets create problems. The same is true for banks. A bank is an institution that allows us to purchase things we would not be able to buy if we had to pay cash. Banks also allow us to save money and earn interest on it. There’s nothing inherently evil with this arrangement. It’s only when bankers that are motivated by greed charge excessive fees or when people become obsessed with having things they can’t afford that the lending arrangements made through a bank become problematic.

So the question now is this: Is there any way to know in advance when the market correction will happen?

I’ve never been a big fan of people who put dates on their prophetic declarations. Ninety nine percent of those dates come and go and the prophesied event never materializes. You can almost be assured that the one day something won’t happen is the day someone predicted as the appointed time for it to occur. Having said that, there’s an interesting prediction about the stock market collapse that’s worth taking a look at:

The Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, author of The Harbinger, in his own follow-up book titled, The Mystery of the Shemitah notes that the two largest dips in the stock market (in terms of points lost by the DJIA) happened on the 29th day of the Hebrew month Elul. Cahn points out that for Israel the 29th day of Elul was the last day of a seven year period known as the Shemitah. On this day the financial burdens that people had accumulated over the previous seven years were wiped clean. Cahn points out that this day has a special relevance to the financial and economic affairs of nations, which he believes is the reason why the two largest market corrections happened on the 29th of Elul. Cahn says there is a prophetic pattern regarding the Shemitah that is beyond our control and that it has already set the date for the next market correction. He gives the following dates and their corresponding events:

9/11/2001: Attack on New York city by terrorists. This happened in the Hebrew month of Elul

9/17/2001: Wall street opens for trading for the first time after the terrorist attack. The DJIA dropped 684.8 points in one day. In terms of point loss, the drop was the largest in history. In terms of percentage, it ranks 17th all-time. (Source:Wikipedia) The day on the Hebrew calendar is 29 Elul.

9/29/2008:  On this day, congress failed to approve a bail-out of Wall Street. The DJIA dropped 777.7 points. In terms of points it was largest drop in history. In terms of percentage, it ranks 20th all-time. The day on the Hebrew calendar is 29 Elul.

Based on the fact that the two biggest losses (in terms of points lost by the DJIA) happened on 29 Elul, and the fact that they happened exactly 7 years apart on the Hebrew calendar, Cahn believes that the next drop in the Dow is due to happen exactly seven years from the last one. He says the date of the next 29th day of Elul, which is 7 years after the last market correction is September 13, 2015. According to the Rabi, we should see another big market correction on this date.

Will the market take another major hit on the day he predicts?

Only time will tell.

It may end up that Cahn, like others who’ve attempted to predict the dates of future events will end up with egg on his face. On the other hand, his prediction may come true. Whether Cahn is right or wrong about the date isn’t the issue I’m concerned with. Many analysts now believe that the bull market we’ve seen in recent years is not due to robust economic growth, but the Fed’s policy of printing money and the Fed can’t keep printing money forever. In fact, it has gradually tapered down its QE program by 10 billion dollars every month for seven straight months. The Fed plans one more bond purchase this month of 15 billion and plans to end its QE program after that. When the Fed stops printing money, and banks are forced to cut back on their investments in Wall Street, it may only be a matter of time before the next market correction comes.

Because we’re living in times when the systems of man are being shaken, it would be wise to invest in things which cannot be shaken. Wall Street is not the only place where you can invest your financial resources. We’ve been given a kingdom which cannot be shaken. If opportunities open up for you to invest in the kingdom, you probably won’t regret making such a decision. If you need help deciding how to safely invest your money, it’s always a good idea to ask God.

Thanks for dropping by. I hope this message has helped you in some way and encouraged you to trust a little more in a God who is faithful.

~PM

Editor’s note: I’ve done a lot of research on this subject and I’m considering the possibility of publishing an e-book providing detailed information on what I’ve learned. If there’s enough interest shown by readers I’ll add it to the list of future books to be published.

Not Hearing From God?

After I was saved, I had a dramatic experience were I was able to hear the voice of God very clearly for a span of about six weeks. During that time His voice was unmistakably clear, but gradually it faded to a barely detectable whisper. I began attending a church, reading the bible and I listened to audio sermons online. This was a time of having my mind established in the foundational truths of Christianity that I desperately needed.  I don’t regret that season of my life at all. But during this time I seldom (if ever) heard the voice of God clearly for myself.  Most of what I would refer to as “hearing from God” came through messages that were given by church leaders. But the day finally arrived when God wanted to teach me things that men couldn’t teach me and show me things they didn’t have a grid for. I needed to learn from a different teacher. I needed to start hearing again from God Himself. So I broke away from the teaching I had grown accustomed to and got myself under the direct instruction of the Holy Spirit. It’s been an amazing journey ever since.

Today, I don’t have anyone in my life that I would call a pastor, although I have many people whom I would call mentors. These men and women are essentially my spiritual peer group. We see each other as friends and equals. There is no structure of hierarchy  in this group. We all receive encouragement, instruction, and occasionally correction from others in the group if and when we ask for it, but we tend to receive most of our instruction directly from God. I still listen to audio messages once in a while and I occasionally attend conferences. I get a lot of benefit from reading a good book. But these sources of information are not where I get most of the direction for my personal life. They serve more as confirmation of the things God tells me personally.  And none of the people I learn from have earned the right to tell me what’s best for me. That responsibility belongs solely to God.

I’m not suggesting that having a pastor is a bad thing. I think we all need someone trustworthy to help us with our walk, especially when we’re spiritually immature. I’m only relating how God needed me to stop relying mostly on teaching from men so that I could come under His direct instruction. After we’ve matured as believers, there comes a time when we need to lean more on God for direction than we do on His kids. Today I feel as though Jesus is my overseer, my covering, my big brother and the Shepherd of my soul, and the Holy Spirit is my schoolmaster. The apostle Paul shared his own story about how he did not go to Jerusalem to be taught by the other apostles after his conversion, but instead he went to Arabia and was instructed by the Lord, personally (see Galatians chapter 1.)

It’s easy to become dependent on men and women we respect to teach us about God. Frankly, it’s probably a lot easier for most of us to listen to a podcast or video than it is to spend an hour in silence allowing God to speak our spirit. I don’t mind sharing with you what the Lord teaches me, but I would advise you not to become too dependent on me or anyone else as your main source of instruction.  At God’s request, I made myself dependent on Him, and that ended my dependence on man. He honored my willingness to come to Him directly and He’s made it fairly easy for me to hear and see what He wants me to know. Had I chosen to continue relying on men, I probably would not be hearing from Him as easily as I do today. (By “easy” I don’t mean that I hear an audible voice speaking to me all day. I hear Him mostly through barely perceptible thought impressions, like most people do. It’s just that after a while, discerning His voice isn’t as hard as it is at the beginning.)

If you’re content to hear from men, the Lord will allow you to be instructed by them. But if your heart’s desire is to be instructed by God, He will draw near to you and teach you Himself, like any good father would. Part of the dynamic of hearing God’s voice clearly is deciding in your heart that you want to hear from Him more than you want to hear from others. It’s not always easy to make this kind of change, but if the Lord is calling you to do it, I would advise you to pursue it wholeheartedly. You won’t regret it.

This article is an excerpt from my upcoming book “Hearing God’s Voice Made Simple.”

5 Bulging Discs Healed

This woman testified of her healing at Voice of the Apostles in Atlanta.

Praying Medic Update

Since I’ve been off Facebook for a while I thought it would be good to update you all on what I’ve been doing. First – I’ve been missing my friends. A lot. But I’ve been doing a lot of writing during my time away and I have some news to share regarding various books projects:

The first volume of “My Craziest Adventures with God” is almost ready for printing. I can’t tell you how excited I am. I think the book will encourage a lot of people and help them see that anyone can walk in the power of God. It should be available in a few weeks.

I took a little time off of work and decided to try something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I’ve been considering the possibility of retiring from medicine and becoming a full time author. But I wanted to see what it might be like to write books full-time. So I spent five straight days writing from morning until evening. To be honest, I really like the experience. The result of those five days is that I  finished the book “Seeing in the Spirit Made Simple.” I just sent the manuscript off to my editor. It’ll take a little time for her to do her work, but I hope to have that book available in a couple of months. (I’ll be sending out notifications to subscribers to my book updates to let them know when these books will be available. If you’re not on that list, you can subscribe to my book updates through the widget in right-hand column of this page near the top.)

After I spent five days writing I needed a break, so me and Mrs. Medic took a little vacation to Sedona. We had a great time and we shared one of the healing stories from that trip (The Flute Player) but we have one more story to share. Look for it to post in the next week or two.

I’m torn between a couple of possibilities for my next book project. I have several books that are partially completed. One is the fictional story Bogren – which takes a behind the scenes look at the invisible word of angels and demons. Another is a book I’m tentatively calling “Traveling in the Spirit Made Simple.” You can probably guess what it’s about. I’ve also been considering the possibility of writing a book titled, “Hearing God’s Voice Made Simple.” My editor suggested that I may want to write and publish that book before the one on traveling in the spirit. If you’d like to leave a comment with your suggestion about which book I should work on next – let me know. I’m all ears.

Sid Roth update: Some of you are aware that I was contacted by a producer from the Sid Roth show. They invited me to apply to be a guest on the show. I returned their application, and a questionnaire and sent them a copy of my book. I’m waiting to hear back from them. The selection process for guests is long, and I’m not expecting to hear an answer from them immediately. I’ll be sure to keep you posted when I receive any news on their decision.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. I hope to be back on Facebook soon. I miss you all and I can’t wait to connect with you again.

~ Praying Medic 

Why I Stopped Doing Full-Time Street Healing – Steve Harmon

Original art by evonahart

My guest blogger today is Steve Harmon. This message was originally posted here.

Back in 2008 I started doing street healing by myself. I didn’t have Todd White, Bill Johnson or anybody there to teach me. All I had was the examples of Jesus, the Apostles and a lot of desire to see God move. I didn’t know what I was really doing or have a good understanding of authority. I just knew that God healed today and I wanted to see it. As time went on I met new people and I moved to another city named Oceanside. We started going out on the streets there praying for the sick in every place we could think. Supermarkets, gas stations, Emergency Rooms, clinics, schools, etc.. Me and a buddy were going out on the streets all the time and seeing many healings. We would go to churches and meetings and see many healings there. We would teach others to do the same. There were very few at the time doing what we were doing. Back then, many believers were skeptical of the amount of healings we were seeing because many thought miracles were a rare thing.

Later on, my heart started to shift into desiring to see my city transformed. The miracles and healings were awesome and spectacular, but I wanted to see lives changed. What really started to bother me was that my city wasn’t changing. We were seeing lots of healings, lives being touched, and people accepting Jesus, but there was no visible change in the overall scheme of things. There would be people we saw get healed, but we would see them the next week and they either lost their healing, or they stayed healed, but the healing didn’t have much of an effect on their emotional or spiritual state. They were still depressed and that bothered me.

I remember watching a video of another guy who was doing the same thing we did, but backed off of doing full time street healing because he was seeing the same problems that we were having. We would post the healings on facebook, everyone would cheer, but the reality was, some of these people who got healed lost their healing and were back to where they started. This was the hard reality to swallow. Not everybody had a fairy tale ending after God touched them. We could go back to our friends, tell everyone our testimonies, get all these pats on the back, but that person either lost their healing or their love encounter faded away. Don’t get me wrong, there were a good amount who got incredibly changed after the experience, but I wasn’t satisfied with only some being transformed.

The Lord started showing me the major problem. We didn’t invest in these people. We spent 5 minutes with them, said a quick prayer and we were on our way. There was not much relationship. When it comes down to it, it’s all about relationship. Sometimes people don’t need a healing or a nice prophetic word. Many need a friend, but even the ones that got healing or a prophetic word needed a friend. Someone who would meet with them over and over and spend a few hours with them on a regular basis. Many of them needed to know they were worth spending time with. I realized that time was really the hardest and most precious thing to give to a person, which is why many people would rather not do it. It’s much easier to do the 5 and fly ministry to a person because you don’t have to give what is most precious. Jesus didn’t say to go out and only heal the sick, or get people to pray the sinners prayer, or give people a prophetic word. He wanted us to create relationships with people, and within those relationships healing, prophetic words and ministry could take place.

Lastly, let me make this clear. I’m in no way saying that 5 and fly ministry is wrong. I still do it as I go to the store to get some milk or get gas. I see healings every week. I don’t purposely go out like I used to and look for it. When it crosses my path I’ll go for it. Sometimes, all you can do is 5 minutes with a person because that’s all they want or will let you give them. But, I’ve learned that the high point is no longer the healing, the crying eyes, or the excited person. The high point is when I’ve watched the person transform over time into someone who knows what God is really like and knows how God sees them. The healings, the prophetic words, and the acts of kindness are just tools of bringing somebody into a healthy relationship with Jesus. It’s the total transformation and that doesn’t happen in 5 minutes. Of course, there can be major breakthroughs that shift a person’s life in 5 minutes, but real transformation takes time. It’s really about relationship.

~ Steve Harmon

The Flute Player

As the Verde river winds its way through the high desert of northern Arizona it cuts deeply through the multi-colored layers of rock. Near Sedona, the rocks are rich in iron giving them a deep red color. A few miles south where iron is scarce, the cliffs formed by the river take on a ghostly pale hue, and it’s here that the Sinagua people built their homes in the cliffs a thousand years ago.

My wife and I had been on the road for an hour and a half. Our destination was Sedona, where we would once again spend our anniversary. But before we would see the red rocks cliffs, we made a short detour to check out Montezuma’s Castle National Monument.

When white men settled here in the 1800’s they mistakenly thought the primitive cliff dwellings of the Verde Valley were the handiwork of the Aztec monarch Montezuma. They named the buildings after him, and the name stuck. Today the ancient apartments made of mud and plaster have been preserved and turned into a national monument. Set among a massive stand of sycamore trees, the excavated ruins make a nice sightseeing stop for visitors interested in learning a little about the history of Southwest.

As we walked the short trail from the visitor center to the foot of the cliffs to take a few pictures of the ancient ruins, the haunting sound of a Native American flute echoed off the canyon walls all around us. On our way back to the visitor center, I became curious to know a little more about the man playing the flute. “Honey…I need to talk to the flute player before we leave.”

“Okay baby,” my wife replied. We found the flute player sitting in the shade just outside the door to the visitor center, playing one of the half dozen flutes he brought with him. “I love your music,” I said. “Do you make your own flutes?”

He came to the end of the passage he was playing and put the flute down.” I used to make them years ago with a friend. We had a company together, but I can’t do that kind of work any more. I’m getting old and my back is shot. So I buy them now.”

I looked at my wife. “Sorry honey…but I have to ask him.” She rolled her eyes and smiled. She knew what was going to happen next.

I looked a little closer at his flute. “Wow, that’s cool. You have a pick-up attached the flute and it’s plugged into an amplifier. Nice set up. I have a friend who plays flute and drums. His playing really touches people.”

”Yeah, the amp allows people to hear me play all through the valley. A lot of folks come back here and tell me how peaceful they feel after hearing me play and they pick up a copy of my CD.”

“I really like the mood you create with your playing. I think it’s why I wanted to talk to you before we left. So I was wondering if you might be willing to tell me a little more about your back.”

“I have degenerative disc disease. The doctors at the VA say there’s nothing that can be done to fix it. I’ve tried just about everything. I’ll probably need an epidural injection pretty soon.”

The flute player was wearing a name tag, which I took note of. “Harry, I’m a paramedic. A few years ago I started having dreams about praying for my patients to be healed. I didn’t even believe in healing at the time. But I stared praying for people and over the last few years my wife and I have seen thousands of people healed. I believe your back will be healed if you let me pray for you.”

“That would be wonderful,” he replied.

“So as you’re sitting there in your chair right now, how bad is the pain on a scale from one to ten?”

“I’d say it’s about an eight.”

“Eight, huh? That’s pretty bad.” I had him lean forward slightly in his chair and placed my hand near the middle of his back. “Holy Spirit, bring your presence.” I waited a few seconds until I felt His presence surround us. “I command this back to be healed in the name of Jesus. Ligaments, nerves, discs and bones be healed. Spirits of pain and infirmity leave. Inflammation get out now in the name of Jesus.” I took my hand off his back. “Do you feel anything different happening?”

“No. Not really. But I’ll probably have to wait until I stand up.”

We talked for another five minutes about his playing then my wife asked for his contact information. He got up from his chair to find a pen and a piece of paper to write on when he suddenly froze. He turned his head slowly to look at me and his eyes grew bigger. He twisted at the waist in both directions. “I haven’t been able to do that in I don’t know how long.” His pain seemed to be completely gone and he was pretty darn happy about it.

Our short talk with the flute player turned into a 45 minute discussion about dreams, visions, the healing power of music, the healing ministry of Jesus and the fact that anyone can release the healing power of God through faith. I told him about my book and he seemed very interested in learning more. When we get home I’m going to send him a copy. He promised to write back to us to update us on how his back felt over the next few weeks. We shook hands then my wife and I went to our car. I was elated to have had the honor of meeting Harry and praying for him. As we drove toward Sedona I wondered what other adventures awaited us.

Healed of Autoimmune Hepatitis

Faytene Grasseschi testifies of how she was healed of autoimmune hepatitis. Her testimony includes the instruction the Lord gave her about how to keep her healing.