Ministry Moments:
"You tell me where I hurt"
by Lynn Ridenhour
C arl Mesle, pastor of the RLDS Praise Fellowship,
had asked me to speak one Sunday evening. The church is located in
Independence, MO.
I arrived early and began shaking hands with members. People began
assembling and taking their seats. I had never spoken there before. It wasn’t
long ‘till the pastor announced, "…brothers and sisters, it’s time
to begin…" Roy Browne and his lovely wife, Gina, were there. And Melvin
Stoner had wheeled his crippled wife, Olive, inside, placing her next to the
pew where he sat. Melvin was a compassionate man, taking his wife far 'n‘yonder
in hopes the Lord would heal her. The Stoners and the Brownes were from
Harvest Hills, an RLDS community where my wife and I also lived. They had come
to give me their support.
We sang a few songs, a few of the saints testified, and then we sang some
more. There was an unusual stirring in my spirit that night. As I sat there,
waiting for my turn to minister, I really became sensitized to the Spirit of
God. For some reason, this was to be an unusual night. I could feel it. And it
was. One of those rare occasions when the Word of Knowledge began to operate.
The secrets of the heart that night were manifested. Hearts were healed. And
hope was returned to the saints.
I spoke for almost an hour, then began personal ministry. I would say there
were perhaps forty or fifty present. The Lord began singling out about a dozen
families, shared intimate details of their lives with them—not to
intimidate, of course, but to bless—and then he ministered his healing to
the broken hearted. His Spirit flowed like a river. Most of the saints that
evening had never witnessed one of the gifts of the Spirit, the word of
knowledge, operate. The Spirit was pointing out minute details. I’m talking
house descriptions, landscaping, and states where individuals had grown up.
The Lord would tell me which person or family to call up next. That family
or individual would come to the front, and then the Lord would do his ministry
while others prayed and listened.
I remember this one lady. She was perhaps in her mid-forties. It was her
turn. The Lord had singled her out. I asked her to come forward and she did.
When I laid my hands on her head, the Lord began to describe where she grew
up. She grew up in the country in a two-story white house with five rooms,
three downstairs and two upstairs. Her bedroom was the first one off to the
right downstairs. The kitchen was in the front of the house and the living
room was off to the side, off to the left. There was a running creek that ran
through her front yard. When she was eight years old, she and her neighbor
friend were playing in the creek down the road from the house. It was there,
standing in the middle of the creek that she gave her heart wholeheartedly to
God. She was eight years old, barefooted, standing in the creek, with a
red-checkered print dress on.
God told her He had heard her prayer.
The woman remembered, and began to sob as she shook her head
"yes." She was an artist, or wanted to be an artist when she
was a small girl, but was wrongly told that God did not look kindly on the
Arts. Throughout her years she had oppressed her artistic desires but the Lord
set her free. It was a joyous occasion, indeed.
As I said, the Lord singled out about twelve families and individuals that
evening and ministered to them, sharing similar details. While ministering to
one of the families, a sudden cold came over the entire group and me. The Lord
let me know a couple of things. One—that those present that evening had
never seen the Lord move in such fashion, and Two—that there were those
present thinking that I was a Psychic with evil powers.
I stopped immediately, told them what they were thinking, and bore my
testimony of Jesus Christ and his power to heal and to see into men’s
hearts. That what they were witnessing was one of the gifts of the Spirit, the
word of knowledge at work, often times given to edify the saints and to
convince the skeptic. The Spirit had been momentarily quenched but then
released again. Thus, we continued.
Brother Melvin Stoner wheeled his precious wife, Olive, to the front and
just stood there. I asked, "…Brother Stoner, why are you here? Do
you hurt somewhere?…" The Lord had been taking people’s pain
away. I thought maybe he was hurting. I knew Brother Stoner. He was my
neighbor. I knew he had never seen the word of knowledge in operation before.
And I knew he had a tendency to be skeptical although his heart was extremely
tender. I asked him again, "…where do you hurt?…"
With those quick eyes of his, he responded, "…you tell me where I
hurt…" Immediately the Spirit whispered, "…his right
shoulder…"
"…You want me to pray for your right shoulder, don’t you?…"
The man grinned. He was convinced. We prayed and his pain left. There was
joy in the camp that night.
After the service was over, while we were mingling about, an old-timer came
slowly limping towards me. He pressed his wrinkled face towards my ear, "…I
used to see it this way in our church…" and walked away.
