P.S. I could have used much, much, much harsher terminology.
Gentlemen please.....there are children present..............me!
EV77 you posted....for example:
My dearest of all brothers ... It is not what we desire, but what the Lord desires!
He desires the maximum number of people to come to Him and be saved!
He desires the maximum number of people to be healed of all kinds of things!
For these desires of His to be fulfilled simply requires His S-W-M to confirm the precious gospel message!
Re: drawing people to Him ... the more spiritual power is manifested increases the results.
Re: healing many people ... it's just not happening without God's Spirit performing S-W-M.
All but the spiritually blind should see this.
from post #28.
That opening gambit was I believe, directed at Major; had it been aimed at me, I would have taken a certain amount of umbrage at the obvious, yet unwarranted sarcasm.
OK, next you post (in blue text) two fairly obvious observations....OK, nothing to be burned at the stake over, yet you follow on with your own conclusions (in red text).
Your opening argument presupposes that you have the game...............you don't.
Jesus could (hypothetically) come back in a 1000 ft tall body, send everyone an email with an attachment showing the main street of heaven, and people would still reject Him.
Read the book of Revelation...it is full of SWM and yet people still reject salvation. That is it in a nutshell EV77 all these reasons to repent, seven trumpets, seven bowls of wrath, supernaturally empowered beasts, locusts running amok with AK-47s, global warming on a mega scale,.........nothing will make some people repent.
I understand your passion and your frustration, however your faith in Christ Jesus should be telling you that He has it all covered.
Look again at the last part of this parable:
Luke 16:31. He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"
Now ask yourself how much more SWM can there be than the dead rising to life again.
I mean if JFK or Abraham Lincoln or both suddenly walked into the UN general assembly and addressed all the delegates there telling them of the gospel of Jesus Christ, urging them to repent, you'd think that would change more than just a few attitudes. Yet Jesus tells us that even with this, the ultimate SWM people will not believe, turn and be saved. Remember the two witnesses in Revelation?
So I would urge you to ride a different horse than the SWM filly. Pour your zeal into proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus as the Christ of God.(and I'm sure you do have a heart for Jesus)