This is a guest post by Jordan Seng. He is the senior pastor of Bluewater Mission, and has been engaged in teaching, healing and prophetic ministry, worship, small groups, missions and church planting for the last twenty years. Before helping to begin Bluewater Mission, he served for four years in the Presbyterian church and about 16 in the Vineyard association of churches. He holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Chicago, with a Ph.D. in Political Theory. He is the author of Miracle Work:  A Down-to-Earth Guide for Supernatural Ministries (InterVarsity Press).  He and his wife Sonya have two children.

A self-proclaimed atheist came with a friend to a recent spiritual encounter retreat hosted by a young man in our church.  She was just curious to see what it was like.  The host politely asked the non-believing visitor if he could include her as he prayed for attendees to be filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit.  She obliged, and soon felt a surge of power as the Holy Spirit filled her and she burst out speaking in tongues.  She was totally shocked.  The next day she returned to the retreat and accepted Jesus as Lord.

Another non-believing young woman was brought to our church because of bizarre, uncontrolled outbursts she’d been having.  While one of our leaders prayed over her in our office, she lost control of herself physically and cried out in a fashion we recognize as demonic.  The young leader cast out the demon, and began a healing friendship with the woman.  Today she’s in control and following Jesus like a trooper.

These stories are a little weird, and also very biblical.  They reflect, for example, the descriptions of the deliverances and healings Philip used to evangelize Samaria (Acts 8), or the way the Spirit fell upon the gathering of seekers in Cornelius’ house (Acts 10), or Paul’s assertion that tongues are a sign for nonbelievers (1 Corinthians 14:22).  The New Testament is filled with accounts of how healings, deliverances, prophecies, and manifest outpourings of the Spirit helped fuel the evangelism and growth of the early Church.

But I find that very few churches today make the effort to use supernatural ministries evangelistically.  Why is that?

My church makes a big effort to use supernatural tools for outreach – not just because it seems biblical, but because it’s proven fruitful.  In a post-Christian age in which everyone thinks they’ve already heard the Gospel message, we find that supernatural power is still compelling to nonbelievers when they encounter it.  So, we offer open healing services to which many un-churched people come on the chance that the stories they’ve heard are true.  Our prophetically gifted people make a point to prophesy over strangers who attend our services in order to show through specific, confirmable revelations that God truly knows them.  We eagerly welcome seekers and nonbelievers at our “Holy Spirit Retreats” where we simply invite the presence of God’s Spirit to come upon them with manifest signs.

Supernatural ministries are great for meeting people where they’re at – in their need for healing or freedom.  They offer a compassionate service rather than a polemic.  I’m a reasonably articulate guy, but I find it easier to explain the kingdom to someone after he or she has experienced, say, a healing than to try to convince someone about God with nothing but my cool logic and personal testimony. I’ll use whatever approach happens to fit the evangelistic opportunity at hand, but I’m especially fond of using supernatural ministries.

I suspect the Apostle Paul felt the same way.  Paul told the young church in Corinth, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4, NIV).  Paul, the great theologian, was not one to neglect the importance of solid teaching and understanding, but he wanted new believers to experience demonstrations of power – healings, deliverances, or other supernatural manifestations – so that they would be well-anchored against the tides of deceptive teachings and slick popular criticisms.  Paul explained that when an “unbeliever or inquirer” comes to a meeting and has “the secrets of their heart laid bare” through our prophetic ministry, “they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you!’” (1 Corinthians 14:24-25 NIV).  Supernatural experiences orient the mind toward a vital and present God, and that’s a good beginning for seekers and young disciples.

So, again, why aren’t more believers using supernatural ministries for evangelism today?

I think we accept that miracles would make great evangelistic tools; we just don’t particularly think we can pull them off.  Theoretically, we’d be happy to heal the man with crutches on the street, but probably we’ve got no experience with such healings.  What if we try and fail?  We’re not miracle-workers, and we don’t know how to become miracle-workers.

But actually, the Bible has quite a bit to say about how to become effective supernatural ministers.  You’ll notice it if, when you read the miracle stories, you pay attention to all that goes into them.

I’ve spent the last twenty years learning about this – since my days as a college student.  I recently wrote a book to share some of the insights I’ve picked up along the way.  The key for me has been to understand that there are things we can do to grow in the supernatural power that God makes available to us.  Just as we might try to invest in our understanding of truth for a ministry of teaching, we can invest in things that increase our ability to flow in power for healings, deliverances, and the like.  You don’t have to just hope for miracles; you can do things to develop as a supernatural minister.

So, what are the things that increase our power for supernatural ministry?  Jesus often points to faith as one key element.  And in Mark 9, when the disciples fail to cast out a tough demon, Jesus points to the need for consecrating exercises such as “prayer and fasting.”  In Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, Paul stresses the importance of recognizing and deploying “spiritual gifts.”  Faith, consecration, spiritual gifts, obedience – they all play a role, and more could be said about each.

But here’s the main point:  if you’re pursuing evangelism, if you’re learning and investing in outreach tools, then I encourage you to include growth in supernatural ministry.  It still works, but it also requires work, and that means we have to be intent on it.