miracles are for real

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contents

Introduction: A Miracle at Any Moment 9

1. Do Miracles Still Happen? 13

The Vast Majority Believe

2. God Moves in Many Mysterious Ways 27

Exploring the Levels o Divine Intervention

3. The Real Deal 41

What Constitutes an Actual Miracle?

4. The Meaning o Miracles 55Why Does God Choose to Intervene?

5. What Skeptics Say 69

Is It Possible to Prove Miracles?

6. God, Are You Listening? 87

Thoughts About Earning a Miracle

7. Wonder-Workers and Miracle Makers 99

Are Some Especially Gited to Serve As Conduits o Divine

Intervention?


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Contents

8. Gods Favor or Good Fortune? 115

Coincidences Do Happen. So Does Divine Involvement

9. Powerul Promptings 127

When God Speaks to Us in a Still, Small Voice

10. The Dancing Hand o God 141

Can Prayer Produce a Miracle?

11. Back From the Dead 155

The Penultimate Miracle: Dying and Returning to Lie

12. Heavens Special Forces 169

When God Sends His Angels to Intervene

13. Miracle Mongers: Phonies and Frauds 181

Beware o Scams and Schemes in Gods Name

14. Whats Old Is New 197

Miracles From Eras Past Give Us Hope or the Present

15. In the Nick o Time 209

Does God Oten Show Up at the Very Last Moment?

16. Are Some People Miracle Magnets? 223

Certain Folks Seem to Attract Supernatural Encounters

17. Beware o Being a Miracle Chaser 237Developing Character Trumps Flashy Spiritual Encounters

Epilogue: When Miracles Dont Happen 243

You Hoped and Prayed and Waited . . . What Now?

Notes 253

Acknowledgments 259About the Authors 265


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introduction

a Mir acle at an y MoMent

When was the last time you hoped or and prayed

or a miracle?

A better question: When was the last timeyou witnessed or even received a miracle in your lie?

Frequently we hear the words What we need is a miracle!

They come rom:

friendsandfamilyatthebedsideofasicklovedone

coupleshuddledoverthestackofmonthlybillsatthe

kitchen table

farmersinthegripofacripplingdrought

parentsheartsickovertheirwaywardchild

peopleunemployedanddesperateforapaycheck

spousesclingingtoahopetheycankeeptheirmarriage

together

In act, we hear pleas or a miracle any time we hope or

something marvelous, wondrous, extraordinary, and amazing


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Miracles Are or Real

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to happensomething that will meet our deepest needs and

desires in an instant o supernatural intervention.

Many are inatuated with the notion that miracles happen,

but do most people really believe they do? Or is the idea pri-

marily a relic o a primitive, superstitious past? Do apparent

miracles point to a deeper spiritual reality, or are they merely

evidence o the human capacity or wishul thinking and

sel-delusion?

Ater all, we pride ourselves on being rational people,swayed only by hard evidence and measurable results. By

denition, miracles boggle the mind, astound the senses,

stagger the imagination, and, yes, dey reason. What place

can they possibly have in a society populated by seasoned

skeptics and doubters o all things paranormal?

In short, are miracles real? I the answer is yes, then what

do we make o them in todays world?

These are among the questions well address as we explore

Gods powerul and miraculous presence, even in spiritually

malnourished times. Along the way, well present true-lie

storiestold accurately and authenticallyabout people

who have experienced miracles.

In Jesus day, people turned out by the thousands to seeand receive miracles o every kind. He healed their diseases,

turned water to wine, walked on stormy seas, ed a multi-

tude with little more than a sack luncheven gave lie back

to dead people. Who wouldnt drop everything and rush to

the countryside to see such things? Who wouldnt believe in

miracles aterward? I only wed been there too!

Well, or anyone yearning to know the truth about miracles,

theres good news: Time travel isnt necessary. Ater exam-

ining hundreds o real-lie stories told by ordinary people,


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Introduction

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weve conrmed what we all secretly hopethat lie-changing

miracles do still occur, and with surprising requency. Inex-

plicable events that conound logic, and oten the very laws

o science as we currently understand them, still oer un-

mistakable evidence o Gods daily involvement in our lives.

We have come to believe, and hope you will, too, that

miracles are not the ew and ar between phenomena weve

taken them to be, reserved or supposed saints and on ex-

traordinary occasions. Miracles just might be more tightlywoven into the abric o our reality than we recognize. C. S.

Lewis once said: Miracles are a retelling in small letters o

the very same story written across the whole world in letters

too large or some o us to see.1

As you read on, we think youll come to agree with his

assessment. Each o the ollowing chapters eatures a true

story o someone who experienced a miracle. In many cases,

one o us personally knows the individual being proled. In

other instances, the people were reerred to us by someone

whose credibility and integrity we trust.

Also included in each chapter is a closer look at some aspect

o miracles that sparks interest within nearly everyones heart,

dealing with issues such as whether or not we can persuadeGod to act, how angels carry out heavenly missions, and why

some people experience one miracle or many miracles and

others none at all.

Our purposes are simple and straightorward. We want

to show that:

God is alive, well, and intensely interested in your life.

Some people, especially in times o hardship and heartache,

eel that God is a distant observer, nonchalant about the

details o our personal daily existence. A close examination


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o modern-day miracles will prove resoundingly otherwise.

Whether youre in need o minor or major intervention, God

cares deeply about your needs and circumstances. To put it

more directly, God cares deeply about you.

Not only do miracles happen, but they still happen today.

Throughout recorded history, miracles have taken a place

among the most revered accounts and narratives. Some people

call these myths, olklore, or legends. To others, miracle sto-

ries represent Gods mighty handiwork among his creation.We believe the Bible is our true guide or every aspect o lie;

its Gods message to humankind, and its our reliable source

or wisdom and guidance regarding miracles.

Regarding the supernatural, the best way to livethe only

way to liveis to believe that a miracle could happen at any

moment. The clich says, Hope springs eternal. But this

isnt always true. In our most trying times, its easy to lose

hope and give in to despair. The stories and subject matter o

this book are intended to show that God is ully capable o

doing a great work in your lie or the lie o someone you love.

Every word in the pages to ollow arms and validates what

the apostle Paul said: God is able to do immeasurably more

than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is atwork within us.2 To anyone who has a dreamed-or desire,

a desperate plea, or a dire need, these are words to live by.

I its a miracle you need, and you wonder whether God

could do something phenomenal in your lie, keep reading,

and hold on to those words: immeasurably more than all we

ask or imagine.


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1

doMiracles stillhappen?

the vast M ajor ity Believe

On a cold and snowy Sunday evening in March 1990,

Curt Jensens nerves were rayed beore the youth

choir road trip he was in charge o even let the

parking lot.

Eighty-plus junior high teens rom Denvers Rocky Moun-

tain Community Church were nally corralled and loaded

into a tour bus and passenger van. It seemed enough luggageto last a year had been stowed. Curt, the youth pastor, made

one last head count and one last check to ensure he had

everything needed to play ringmaster to this traveling circus

over the coming eight days. Ater months o planning, their

concert tour o Idaho at last was set or takeo.

Curt was accompanied by his pregnant wie, Lori, and a

handul o adult chaperones. Among them was Karen Wilson,

owner and operator o the sound equipment packed into

the caravans third vehicle, a Chevy Blazer on loan rom a


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Do Miracles Still Happen?

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It was windswept country at the best o times, but past mid-

night, with the storm gaining strength, it seemed a deso-

late and empty wilderness. Snowall increased steadily, and

patches o black iceinvisible and treacherousbegan to

make themselves known without warning on the highway.

Driving in the lead, Curt slowed to around orty.

Wed passed through Laramie and Rawlins with no prob-

lems, he said. Then, about twenty-ve miles east o Rock

Springs, we came up to a spot where the interstate curved tothe right. I turned the wheel and touched the brakes, but the

Blazer just kept going straight. We were on black ice, and

there was nothing I could do.

As the ront drivers-side tire let the pavement, it hit sot

snow and dug in, coming to a sudden stop. The Blazer in-

stantly started to roll, carried orward by its momentum. Curt

braced against the steering wheel, helpless to do anything

but ride it out.

The vehicle fipped three times in a sickening thunder o

buckling metal, breaking glass, and the whump o equip-

ment crashing around. The Blazer came to rest on its roo.

Curt was rattled yet not injured, hanging head-down in his

seat belt.Dennis, momentarily knocked unconscious, quickly came

to when Curt called his name. Hed bumped his head and

suered just a bruised shoulder. They could hear Johnny

crying in the backseat.

Ater seeing we were both okay, I told Dennis we had to

get the kids out, Curt recalled. We opened the doors and

got ourselves ree. It was pitch black, except or the headlights

and the dome light, which struck me as a strange sight, shin-

ing up rom the ground like that.


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They reed Johnny rom his seat belt and rapidly checked

him over or injuries. Aside rom a small orehead cut, he

appeared to be unharmed. By this time, the van had come

to a sae stop ahead o the scene. Curt passed Johnny to its

driver to get him out o the reezing cold.

But it took no time to determine that Jackie was not in

her seat. They searched in the back where the speakers and

ampliers lay in a jumble. She wasnt there either. The glass

was gone rom the window where shed been resting her head.I knew then she must have been thrown rom the vehicle,

and we started hunting all around in the snow, Curt said.

We couldnt see anything. I couldnt even tell which direc-

tion wed come rom. We searched and called her name but

ound nothing. I was close to losing it, thinking over and over,

What have I done?

By then, several passing truck drivers had stopped to help.

They brought fashlights and pitched in to comb the ground

in every direction. Still, they ound no trace o the girl.

Finally, someone suggested the unthinkablethat Jackie

might be underthe Blazer. Curt, Dennis, and six or eight truck-

ers managed to turn it onto its side. Flashlights converged on

the sight they dreaded above any other: Jackie lay in the snow,horribly injured. Cuts covered her ace and arms, and blood

ran rom her nose. Her skin was blue, and her head appeared

to be crushed. Her disgured arm obviously was broken.

She looked dead, Curt remembered. She wasnt moving

or breathing. Id had CPR training, so without even think-

ing I dropped beside her to see i I could nd a heartbeat. I

put my ear to her ace and couldnt hear a breath, but I did

detect a very aint pulse. I thanked God that at least there

was still a chance.


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He immediately began administering cardiopulmonary

resuscitation, enlisting others to compress Jackies chest at

the appropriate times while he concentrated on breathing

or her. Ater two or three minutes, she coughed, and Curt

heard a gurgling sound in her chest when he blew air into

her lungs. A trucker produced a piece o heavy cardboard,

and they slid her onto it. Another brought blankets to wrap

her broken body.

Back at the van, three adults and ourteen teenagers caredor Johnnyand prayed with all their might.

The clock itsel seemed to reeze or the next eighty min-

utes, the time it took or an ambulance to come rom Rock

Springs. Icy conditions made speed impossible. Curt never

let Jackies side, giving her continuous CPR. Her pulse re-

mained aint, yet she was never able to breathe independently.

When the ambulance nally arrived, there was a tense

moment because it nearly slid o the road itsel, Curt re-

called. The crew took over and conrmed she had a slight

pulse, but they said it was likely her lungs were collapsed.

They checked the rest o us as well; we were ne. They moved

her to the ambulance, and I rode with them to the hospital

in Rock Springs.State police gave them an escort; they also issued an alert

or ocers to locate the bus on the road ahead and inorm

Lori and Karen about what had happened.

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Emergency room doctors conrmed what Curt intuitively

had known: Jackie was bleeding internally, her lungs had

collapsed, her skull was badly ractured, and her brain was

hemorrhaging. She had a broken let arm and multiple cuts


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and contusions, several o which had required stitches. She

still could not breathe on her own.

It seemed like every teen minutes or so they came out

and told me more bad news, Curt recalled. In essence they

said she probably wouldnt live. I elt lost, but by this time

the van had gotten there, and I remember the waiting room

was ull o teenagers, all on their knees praying.

Three hours later, the decision was made to airlit Jackie to

a childrens hospital in Salt Lake Citybut the winter stormhad grounded all fights or the time being. It took another

three hours beore they had clearance to go. In the meantime,

the authorities had caught up with the tour bus. Ocers drove

Karen and Lori all the way rom Evanston, arriving beore

the helicopter touched down on the hospital roo.

Ater the fight let or Salt Lake, I literally almost gave up,

Curt said. I could barely even pray anymore. I was physically

and emotionally exhausted, but there was a totaled vehicle to

deal with, and I had to think about what to do with the sound

equipment, how to care or the kids rom the van, whether to

continue on with the trip. To be honest, I wasnt doing well.

He went through the motions; he took the group to break-

ast and did his best to comort and reassure them. Inside,though, he was a tangle o guilt and doubt. How could he

have missed the ice on the road? What could he have done

dierently to keep Jackie sae? Now shed likely die or, i she

survived, shed be severely challenged or the rest o her lie.

Please, God, have mercy was the only prayer he could utter.

Around one p.m., Curt called Lori rom a pay phone, his

hands shaking as he dialed the hospital. He was terried o

the news he might hear when his wie nally came to the

phone. She answered at last.


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Yes, she said, the helicopter had arrived. Yes, she and

Karen met the gurney as nurses wheeled it in. No, Jackie

actually looked pretty goodshed opened her eyes and

said Mommy when Karen came to her side. Right, the

doctors were shocked, since thats not what they were told

to expect, but ater re-running all the tests, they couldnt nd

anything wrong with her.

What? That cant be, Curt stammered. Hed seen Jack-

ies crushed body with his own eyes, had lited her rom the

snow, had kept her alive or more than an hour when she

couldnt breathe by hersel. Hed seen the looks on the doc-

tors aces in Rock Springs when theyd told him not to hold

out hope. What do you mean, shes fne?

I literally argued with my wie on the phone, he said. It

was very dicult or me to accept. I couldnt be overjoyed atthe news. Id allen so low I couldnt get back to that place

quickly. I just kept thinking, How? O course, I knew there

could only be one answer: God had healed her. But Id seen

too much that night to believe it right away.

Five hours later, the crowded van arrived in Salt Lake

City. When Curt walked into Jackies room, she sat up inbed, smiled, and said, Hi. The disguring injuries that

had haunted his imagination were gone. Even her cuts and

bruises looked minor and well on the way to healing.

I didnt know what to say, he remembered. Everyone

was acting like it was no big deal, but I said, You dont un-

derstand! I just cried. I touched her head and her arm. I asked

about her lungs and the bleeding. Absolutely no problems,

they said. I got the eeling they thought Id been exaggerating

and that shed never been as bad o as I said.


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What about the X-rays taken in the ER? In act, doctors in

Salt Lake initially were upset with doctors in Rock Springs

or sending the wrong results. Or perhaps theyd sent the

wrong girl? All were eventually compelled to admit that some-

where, in the air over southwestern Wyoming, something

miraculous had happened.

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Jackie was released ater two days o observation. Karentook her kids home. The concerts proceeded as planned,

and the choir perormed or packed auditoriums all along

the way. Word had spread o Jackies healing, and everyone

wanted to hear the story.

Many people came to the Lord or the rst time that

week, Curt said. But hearing what God had done or Jackie

was just as meaningul or those who had been Christians

or years. Theyd never seen Gods power at work so up close

and personal.

As the tour caravan passed through Rock Springs on their

way back to Colorado the ollowing Saturday, they stopped

at a Burger King. Halway through his meal, Curt noticed an

ambulance pull into the parking lot. Several EMTs hurried inand made a beeline or his table. He recognized some rom

the crew that responded the night o the accident. Theyd

learned o Jackies healing and wanted to hear more directly

rom Curt.

Tell us everything, they said excitedly.

They listened to his account. They peppered him with

questions.

Do you believe in miracles? one o the young men asked

at last. Because we sure do now.


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A Closer Look

How would youanswer? I youre like most people, youd likely

say yes, given that 80 percent o Americans believe in miracles.

In act, more people think miracles happen than believe the

Bible is Gods Word (40 percent) or pray daily (50 percent).1

I you dont believe in miracles, perhaps you wish you

could. Ater all, its a reasonable guess that an interest in

miracles is the reason you picked up this book.But wanting to believe (or even believing) that miracles

are possible doesnt mean we dont wrestle with stubborn

questions like these . . .

Miracles might be possible, but do they actually still

happen?

Is there a God whos involved in the aspectsbig and

littleo our lives?

Does prayer work?

Can God do a miracle or me?

If I pray for a miracle and it doesnt happen, what does

that mean? Does God still love me?

Most people have pondered similar questions at some

point. Perhaps youve considered them many timesespe-cially during tough seasons, when you or someone you loved

was hurting and needed a change o ortune, i not ull-

fedged divine intervention.

We want to believe in miracles.

More important, we want to believe they can happen to

us and the people we love.

Even so, situations can be hard, circumstances can be pain-

ul, and disillusionment is common. Hanging on to what we

desire to believe oten isnt easy at all.


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Why We Doubt, Why We Believe

Most o us, at least in some way, at some time, have strug-gled with believing theres a loving God whos ready and

willing to intervene on our behal. Why do we struggle so?

What gets in our way?

Lie.

Every day, our aith (in God, miracles, love, hope, you

name it) is challenged by things we experience and events wewitness. When theres pain or suering, in our own lives or

in the lives o those around us, we may nd ourselves ques-

tioning and wondering. When theres pain or suering on a

global scale, were disturbed. When we dont see what we

interpret as divine intervention, we doubt.

Added to our personal questions are the negative messages

we requently hear rom the relative ew who decry belie in

miracles as something to be dismissed or even scorned. It

didnt used to be this way. For centuries, belie in the super-

natural wasnt ridiculed but respected. In a dierent time,

many o the greatest scholars also were people o aith who

armed the miraculous.

Even ater this began gradually to change, aith was wellrepresented among those trained and renowned in the sci-

ences. Just three examples:

During the Age o Reason, Blaise Pascal was known or

brilliant advancements in math and physics as well as or

passionate deense o the Christian aith.

Isaac Newton ervently studied the Bible and described

God as the rst cause that explains how the universe came

about.

Juan Lobkowitz, who initially published astronomy tables


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when he was ten, became a Cistercian monk and wrote ser-

mons and works o theology.

Not until the late 1800s did a small but vocal minority

cast widespread doubt on belie in the Bible and in miracles

generally. Some o those who contributed to the attack were

biologist Charles Darwin (who recast the creation story to

eliminate God, mystery, and miracle); philosopher Friedrich

Nietzsche (who declared God to be dead); and theologians

Julius Wellhausen and Rudol Bultmann (who labeled Scrip-ture a myth).

The long shadow o skepticism was cast.

And yet . . .

And yet people still believe. Despite what many scientists

and academicians would tell us, despite constant pain and

suering all around us, despite our own struggles through

personal wildernesses o doubt and aith, most o us still

believe. In God. In prayer. In heaven touching earth.

Yes, we still believe that God intervenes in our lives in

desperate moments when it seems to matter most. We believe

miracles are or real.

Theres no question about it: Jackies healing was a miracle.

Theres also no question that our minds struggle to grasp theimpossibility o her almost-immediate restoration to health

even as our spirits soar at the thought.

Obviously, a crushed body made inexplicably whole dur-

ing a brie fight or lie is supernatural. Are there also

other kinds o divine intervention? Can a coincidence be a

miracle? Is ortuitous timing a miracle? What about a much-

needed change, preceded by great eort and hard workcant

that be a miracle too?

Jackies story is truly amazing, and in the coming pages


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well share more that will leave you encouraged and in awe.

But rst, a ew things to know about miracles.

What Kind of Miracle Are You Seeking?

Jesus perormed miracles in ve dierent arenas common

to humanity.

He intervened in the human heart,which we call salvation.

He intervened in the human body, which we call healing.He intervened in humanemotions,which we call deliverance.

He intervened in nature, such as when he calmed the storm.

He intervened in death by raising people rom the dead.

I youre in need o a touch rom heaven, what are you

longing or? Do you or someone you love need a miracle o

the heart? The body? The emotions? Do you need something

in your world to change? Do you need victory in some area?

Finally, are you longing or a work o creation or o

providence?

Miracles o creation supersede natures basic known

laws. We see creative miracles throughout the Bible, such

as when Jesus multiplied ve sh and two loaves o bread

into enough ood to eed ve thousand men plus womenand children. Or when God created the energy to divide

the Red Sea. Or when Jesus made blind eyes see, or turned

water into wine.

As or miracles o provision, providence reers to Gods

intervention at a critical moment. That is, these are miracles

o timing, also ound throughout Scripture.

Sometimes Jesus accelerated an event so that it happened

sooner or delayed an event so that it took place later than

it normally would have. Sometimes he made things happen


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precisely when he dictated rather than letting them take their

natural course.

The g tree withering and dying beore its time was a provi-

dential miracle. Jerichos walls collapsing exactly when the

Israelites blew their trumpets was providential. Demons being

cast out o people ahead o schedulealso providential.2

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Youve picked up this book or a reason. Whatever it is,we invite you to open your heart and mind to the people and

stories in its pages. I you have personal doubts or unanswered

questions, read on. Inspiration and answers lie just ahead.

Despite tough times, despite pain and sueringeven

despite our seasons o disillusionment or doubtmiracles

really do happen. Can they happen in your lie?

Lets nd out.

miracles are for real

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