Last Report from Brazil

I love the joy of experiencing the supernatural power of God. I love it for myself, and I love it for you. (those friends who follow this website).
You know me, you know my journey, you trust my heart. You know I hate exaggeration for any reason. You know that I was a skeptic for years and had to come slowly into this renewal for fear of being led down that path of 'charismania' I so despised. You know that anything I write here is not to sell some idea or force some response from you.
I tell you this story for one reason alone. I have found that God (that I suspected existed) to be the God He said He was. And that this discovery makes me happy. And I want you to be as happy too.
Truly (You know this; if you know me at all); all I want is to know what is really true about God. I have been searching 'after' truth for all my Christian life. My faith, before I discovered how powerful God really is, was strong, (and I believed in a God of power) but not strong enough to keep me from discouragement. (because I found that He appeared to be limited in tangible ways ....I will write more on this soon): In order for God to be as 'good' as He says He is He must also back up His promise. A 'good' that is promised but not kept is a form of evil. It may be the most painful thing, to the heart, than any abuse on the planet.
Last night I saw some remarkable things...on top of the 1,000 physical healings that have taken place on this trip, were the healings of the heart through the touch of God that causes people to fall over and shake, (and come up happy). I am sure some of these are emotional, some 'put-on' so as to be included in the 'happening', but most are too difficult to explain. (unless you want to insult the 200 people who fell last night and call it all hype...the church we are in is modern and sophisticated, full of doctors lawyers and professionals.) People were falling down with just one touch on the forehead. I prayed for one woman who seemed to be touched by God as she trembled but did not fall. I had instructed the person behind her to gently touch her back so that she would know someone was there to 'catch' her if she fell. The woman I had my hands on was still standing when I noticed that the 'catcher' was gone. She had fallen at down behind her and lay shaking on the floor.
Some came forward for healing. A woman with a hole in her right eye with very blurred vision and the inability to wear corrective 'contacts' due to the nature of the problem. After a startlingly short prayer she felt warmth in that eye...we checked and she was at 60% improvement...(this time I had a translator who spoke excellent English)...we prayed for 100%.
It did not take long...within moments she told us she had perfect vision, and I knew it was true because she had that 'look' on her face...the one I now have enough experience to recognize when I see it; 'the look of having been touched by God.'
A young man came up to me with and showed us (my translator and me) his wrist. It bore a 3-4 inch scar where he had surgery after a motorcycle accident. He could move his fingers and hand but he had no mobility in his wrist, it was as stiff as a board. I prayed...again a surprisingly short prayer (I began to think that I was keeping my hands on longer than needed for my own benefit)
he reported heat in the area...we checked and he moved his wrist for the first time....
(20% rotation)..more prayer..50%...more (again; short) 100%!!! I wish you could have seen the face of a young man who 5 minutes before was doomed to a life of limitation, now 'incredibly' normal. I even prayed for the scar to go away...it didn't.. perhaps it will become a lifelong memorial stone'.
Now, as if that was not enough excitement for me;... after all was said and done, he tells me that there was a metal plate in his wrist!!!! I told the translator to tell him to get an x-ray and report back. (I have the translators e-mail, I want to know if that thing is gone!). Even if it is not, as far as I know, surgical metal plates do not bend with perfect wrist rotation.

I have to go back to my original thoughts. Why do I relate these accounts to you?
The nice thing about a Blog is that you get to be vulnerable, people expect you to be yourself.
So here I am absolutely in a state of wonder and great joy...you know that I am experiencing something first hand that confirms what I expected all along...We have a powerful God.
He is still a God of sign and wonders. He still tangibly touches His kids. He still uses the likes of us.
I'll leave the questions for another time; I had one person who I prayed for who did not get immediate healing (I've heard stories of people getting progressive healing)...I must rejoice that of the 25 + people I have prayed for only one did not get immediately healed...'come on'...I have to take some time to 'wonder' about those signs and wonders. (and I have one more night tonight)
Again; the thing that brings my heart to its knees (if you will), the thing that make me literally tremble as I pray for the sick, the thing that makes my heart sore (and soar) from aching....is that awe-full revelation that through 'these' hands someone was supernaturally touched by the living God. Someone was tangibly loved by Jesus....and all the while Jesus is telling me; "see Ray, you were right about me...I am everything you believed in your heart all along". In this way I am tangibly loved by my God.
Jesus is who who He says He is, and greater still.