Chronicles of a Watchman by Dr. James P. Norman Jr.

TO BE IN CHRIST – THE TREE (PART TWO)   He showed them a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. He bore our sins “in” his own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).   This was the second tree, the place of the second choice.  Adam had repudiated his relationship to God at that first tree, and said “no” to God. He then stepped out of life into death. He stepped out of dependence into independence, so that you and I (at that second tree the place of second choice) can say our “yes” where he said “no”.  We can step back out of death into life!  We will be raised from the dead, out of our self-will and independence, into a childlike dependence which is the obedience of faith.   “I am the Lord that healeth thee”. This is the beginning of our salvation! This is to be reconciled to God by the death of his son.   It is the tree for bitterness, the precious blood of the Lord Jesus that cleanses us from all sin and...

HEALING AND DIVINE HEALTH If one wants healing, health, success, happiness and prosperity from God through the gospel, he must first of all learn the lesson and learn it well. He must stop doubting the word of God on anything that he says. If a man had never permitted himself to doubt in the first place, if he had also warded off all suggestions of Satan to doubt God, and if he had immediate and full victory over all doubt to begin with, there would not have been the struggle that there is today to believe God without a doubt. The first and last lesson one must learn is to doubt not if he wants anything from God. I must say, whatever I go though in life it never occurs to me to doubt God. All material things are here for a time, no matter what it is. All men should maintain their attitude toward God at all time. God has made it very plain that he giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; ask in Faith and it shall be given him. Most churches today, (denominations...

Divine Healing is the right of every born-again believer.  This is not just some trick, but it is to be preached, taught and used everywhere there is a need for cures and deliverances. As healing becomes more prevalent, and part of your church community, then strong unity can be accomplished.  The devil has done a good job in the past to crush this and all other supernatural powers Christ came to establish in the new kingdom.  You dishonor the Holy Spirit by trying to wipeout any trace of what Christ's death, burial and resurrection placed in His body of believers which is the Church.  It grieves the Holy Spirit, as well as many of us who believe that these signs follow those who practice the faith that it takes.  All your groups and your church doctrines have just about stripped the body of Christ of supernatural power and love.  So many are interested in circling the world with false love and tolerance for others beliefs and religion...

Jesus said all believers would lay hands on the sick and they would recover.  He said all believers would cast out demons, speak in tongues, and handle the old serpent, the devil, and all his poisons. He said all believers would minister to the sick. All believers, who are obedient to Jesus, will do all of the above things in their daily walk with God and Jesus.  However, Paul said something very positive about the gifts of the Spirit (I Corinthians 12:1-11).  All of us need to lay hands on the sick as Jesus said, but not all are necessarily qualified to operate in the gifts of the Spirit, including the Pastors and other church leaders.  The gift of healings are entirely different from laying hands on the sick.  It is a supernatural endowment of the power of God that is normally manifested in services where there are audiences. There are two gifts that w need to give input that can be invaluable in healing the sick, but can also be a dangerous tool in the h...

Disease is definitely associated with Satan as the Scriptures clearly state (Job 2:7; Acts 10:38).  Many afflictions are indirectly caused by Satan and are more accurately described as oppression which is something different from demon possession.  No evil spirit can possess the soul of the unbelieving, (believer).  Although, if he fails to claim his rights, Satan may oppress his body.  There are many cases in which Christians are oppressed by the enemy, and they need to be loosed from that bondage.  This is clearly shown in the instance in which Christ liberated a daughter of Abraham bound for 18 years (Luke 13:16).  She was the daughter of promise, but Satan had her bound. Because God gives a man an outstanding ministry of healing, this does not necessarily guarantee that his conduct is always pleasing to God .  Judas evidently had a healing ministry. Acts 1:17 says, "he obtained part of this ministry."  Yet, he sadly failed, which no one den...

Why do some oppose healing? There are different reasons.  The Sadducees who were the "modernists" of that day, committed themselves to a rationalism that denied the supernatural.  As for the Pharisees, the case was different.  They were "fundamentalists," and they opposed Christ's healing ministry because of the popular reception given to it and their own inability to duplicate it.  They reasoned among themselves saying, "What do we? For this man doeth many miracles. If we let him alone, all will believe on Him (John 11:47-48).  The truth was that the Pharisees were willing to believe in the miracles of the past but wanted none at present.  This attitude led them on a dangerous ground of actually claiming that the healing was the work of the devil.  The Lord solemnly warned them that they were guilty of blasphemy and were in fact in danger of committing the unpardonable sin (Matthew 12:31-32). The ministry of healing is one...

The potential of the healing ministry to reach the masses has been abundantly demonstrated. No apologies need be made for it, although for it to function effectively great wisdom is required.  The ministry of Christ was essentially one of healing for both soul and body.  The Lord, quoting from the prophecy of Isaiah, declared this in a sermon, which He delivered in the City of Nazareth (Luke 4:18-19). The healing ministry of Christ and His disciples was no improvisation, but was in full harmony with the Church's mission to the world.  When the Lord called His disciples, He commissioned them to preach (Matthew 10:7-8).  He gave the same commission to seventy other disciples and then to all believers (Luke 10:9). The Lord showed the potential of the ministry by declaring that if Sodom and Gomorrah had witnessed the mighty miracles that He performed in the cities about the Sea of Galilee, they would have repented (Matthew 11:23).  In His Great Commission to the C...