XVDHMAK@VCUVM1 (Michael Kline) (02/09/90)
I think Exorcism concerned itself only with the casting out of demons, and didn't worry about the person being healed or not. I think though it may or may not be done as a Christian practice, it was more a matter of "method". It is really hard to guess from movies such as the exorcist, poorly done, and denied the power of Jesus. GOOD teachers on the casting of demons are Lester Summerall and Norvel Hayes. In one case, the one that caught Norvel's attention... Lester Summerall opened a meeting with prayer. He finished, raised his head, and said, "Would the man with the withered hand please stand." Everyone in the church knew this man. He had just had an operation to remove all the ligaments from his hand, and was left with a lifeless look alike of a hand. Lester said, "Stretch forth your hand". The man did. Lester said, "Be Healed". The man beganto wiggle his fingers which would have been quite impossible since he had no ligaments. The man's hand was totally restored. Lester and Norvel have gone into psycho wards, cast out demons, and have had people restored and in their right mind. A healing ministry would or maybe I should say, may concern itself with things like a pain or cold, and things like that, but might shy away from the mentally ill and the like. I think people like Norvel and Lester probably cover all of this. I think there can be, and perhaps should be, a great deal of overlap. It's not really something to "play" with, the casting out of demons, but the general method taught by Norvel, was to say "Come out of him/her in Jesus name!". Only had to do this personally once. We were praying for healing or something, and suddenly a young girl was on the floor twisting and turning. Not being good at doing this, it took about 10-20 minutes and she was fine. I've done this once or twice on my children when they seem to get into a "Nobody loves me, everybody hates me" attitude and you can't figure out why. It could be a tormenting spirit. Anyhow, I've held them and said a quiet, almost a pray, "Tormenting spirit, come out of my child in Jesus name. She is washed in the blood and you have no business here. Leave, go, and don't come back." Just some thoughts, some experiences. We are starting to get into some of the "meat" of Christianity. In His Love, Michael A. Kline, Sr. SSE VDH, Technical Support (804)786-1559 XVDHMAK at VCUVM1 Richmond, Virginia