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SPECIALA BIBLICAL ANALYSIS OF RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR MEDIAREPORT

G reat expectancy rises w ithin thecrow d that has com e to witnessw ha t is said 1 0be a w on de r o f G od :the m arks of Jesus' sufferings appearmy ste rio us ly o n a woman who c la im s th eya re e vid en ce o f H is h ea lin g p ower.As she mounts the stage at T.L.O sb orn 's In te rn atio na l Gos pe l C en te r inTu ls a, Ok lahoma, t he b loody wounds h avealready appeared on L ucy R ae!'s handsa nd fe et. S om eo ne bru sh es b ac k th e fro nto f h er cop ious h air to r ev ea l d rops o f b loodon her forehead. T he back of her dress isopened; across the low er portion of herb ac k a re r ed s tre ak s whic h, w e a re to ld , a reth e ma rk s o f th e s co urg in g J es us e nd ure dbef or e b ei ng l ed away 10 th e c ro ss .lN ever in the annals of evangelicalC hristia nity ha s a ny th in g lik e this be end emons tra te d. S tigma ta -th e my ste rio usa pp ea ra nc e o f th e m ark s o f Jesu s' suffer-in g-ha s b een a R oman C ath olic e arm ark .A H IS T O R IC A L B R IE F O F S T IG M A T A

The tenn is d er iv ed f rom th eGr eek r oo tstigma, mean in g "m ark" -pa rtic ularly ab ra nd im pre sse d by iro n. It is fou nd on lyonce i n Scr ip tu re wher e Paul w ro te , " I b ea rin m y body the m arks of the L ord Jesus"(G ala tia ns 6 : 17). T his p assa ge ha s b ee nq uote d b y som e stig ma tic s 1 0 a lle ge th atP aul w as their forerunner. B ut P aul w asa ll ud ing 10 the b randing tha t charac teri zeda s la ve , fo r th at w as th e c ommon u se o f t het erm . H is own suf fe rin gs th rough bea ti ng sand persecutions proved him a slave 10Chri st ( II Corinthi ans 11 :24 -27 ).Som e say that the earliest reportedcases o f s ti gmati za ti on go back 10330-3502A .D . O thers say that there are no know n

S T I G M A T AIS L U C Y R A E L F O R R E A L ?

by Albert Jam es D agercases prior 10 Francis of A ssisi (1181-1226), and that his stigmata were of acha ract er n ev er s een sub sequen tly : " in th ewounds o f f ee t and hands were exc re scen -ces o f f lesh rep resen ti ng nail s, t hose on ones id e h av ing r ound b lack heads , t ho se on t heo ther having rather l ong po in ts , wh ich bentb ack and g ra sp ed th e skin .', 3Acco rd ing to F ranc is o f As si si's b iog-rap he r, S t. B ona ve nture , in Legenda S.Francisci, F ra nc is re ce iv ed th e s tigmataonl y two yea rs p rio r to h is d ea th . F rom tha ttime th e in cid en ce s o f s tigmata i nc reas edconsiderably, w ith over three hundredcases being docum ented by A . Im ber!-Gou beyre , M .D . in La Stigmatisation (2 v.C le nn on t-F erra nd 1 89 4-9 5; 2 e d. 1 90 8).4Howeve r, th is documenta ti on came undercriticism from m any, including R om anCatholic theologians, because of thed ub io us n atu re o f a n umbe r o f c as es .sTwo observa ti ons f rom his lOryare tha tstig ma tiz atio n oc cu rs p rim arily amo ngw om en, and m ost stigm atics have beenmembers o f two Roman Ca tholic r eli gi ou so rders , Franc iscan and Domin ican.6S tigm atiz ation se em s 1 0 o ccu r mostfrequently after L ent, usually on G oodF ri day, when th e minds o f th e r el\ J'io us a ref ix ed on th e suf fe rin gs o f Ch ris t.T he degree of infliction varies, andmay b e g ro up ed in th e fo llowin g s erie s:1) Full stigm atization w ith visiblem anifestations of the five w ounds, andb lo od o oz in g from in te ns ely p ain fu l o pe nsores; 2) pain but no visib le manifestat ions;3 ) v isib le m anifestatio ns b ut n o p ain ; 4)imp rin ts o f wounds on th e h ea rt r ath er t hano n th e s urfa ce o f th e b od y.SThe re a re o th er manife sta tio ns whic ha re u nc ommon , su ch a s o il d rip ping fro mthe palm s of the hands, arom as that areu su ally p le as an t a nd a ss oc ia te d w ith c er-t ai n f lowers , e longati on of the body , l ev it a-t ion, and other individual character is t ics .

Numer ou s c as es i nv ol vin g s el f-mu ti la -tion for reasons from fraud to penance forsin are also rep orted. E xtrem e cases occu revery Easter season in the Philippineswhere some have themselves impaled oncrosses to em ulate the crucifixion. This isdone as a fonn of penance in order that theyorlo ved ones not h ave 10 suffer lo ng in p ur-gatory. But it is done openly with no al-l us io n t o t he m ir ac ulo us .

Among Catholics, particularly incountries dom inated by that religion, it isn ot u nc ommon to w itn ess se lf-m utilatio nan d s elf-fla ge llatio n as fo nn s o f p en an ce .

R O M A N C A T H O L IC R E S P O N S EIn o fficial p ro no un ce me nts o n se em in gmirac les the Catho li c Church i so f ten =-ful to exercise caution and even skep-t ic ism. Bu t thesecau ti ons do no t easi ly fmdth eir w ay to th e th e c hu rc h's memb ers .The New Cathol ic Encyciopedia statesth e Roman Cath olic C hu rc h's p os itio n o nstigmatization:

S om e th in k th at stig ma tiza tion is a t-t ribu tab le to a part icu lar ac to fGod , i f t hest igma ti c p er so n is d is tin gu ish ed f or h ispiety; otherw ise it m ust be regarded asca use d b y th e in te rve ntion o f th e d evil.T his solution supposes as evident thatstigm atization alw ays surpasses thepow ers of nature. Such a position is un-t enable. Moreover, according to Cathol icdoctrin e, there ex is ts no in tr in si c cormec-t ion between sancti ty ands t igmatiza tion .G od can grant charism s, such as stig.m ata, to any person, even one in a stateof m ortal sin or one outside the C hurch( Benedi ct X IV ) .

A nother theory, w hich is now held bymany theol og ia ns and Ca th ol ic s ch ol ar s,is th at stig ma tiz ation is a ttribu tab le top ur el y n atu ra l c au se s, s o lo ng a s t he c on -trary has not been proved. Such an at-titu de se em s to c or resp ond b est w ith th ereluctance of the C hurch to settle thisp ro bl em . Outs ta nd in g t he olo gia ns c au .t io n u s n ot to b e h ast y in a tt ri bu tin g st ig -m atization to a m iracle; for psycho.p hy sio lo gic al s cie nc es m ay in th e fu tu res how such a tt ri bu ti on t o b e unt en ab le .9W hatever reason Catholic theologians

have in approaching stigm atization w ithcaution, they present good justification toq ue stio n its v alid ity:

A gain, if stigm ata are the effect of am iracle, w hy is it that a nervous w eak-n ess o r ev en h yste ria is a ne cessa ry co n-dition for their appearance? A ll stig-m atized persons, w hose life w e know insome detail ,g a v e evidence ofthis i llness .

Among lhe stigm atics, som e had thebody wound on the left side, whereasm an y oth er s ha d it o n th e r ig ht sid e. Ye t

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Christ had the woun.d on one side, not ontwo. This inconsi5tency can be ex-p la in ed . W hcn a p ers on in a - ca ta 1ep tics ta le (i ndu ce d.e .g .. b yhypnm i5 )i 5 a sk ed(0 rep eat th e m ovem en ts excc uce .d be for ehim , he will repeat them m irrorwise; lhatis. if the left ann is extended. he will in-variably extend his right ann. In thc sam eway, an ecqatic person reproducesCluist's wounds seeing Christ beforehim . Funhermore, jn modem times,u nde r th e influ en ce of the devotion 10 theSacred Heart, the trend has been in favorof the left side. the side of the heart.1oDEMONIC MANIFESTATIONS

Stigm ata have often been observed inc on ju nc lio n w ith o cc ull ic man ife sla lio ns .This has most often been coupled with astrong devotion to M ary, such as in the caseof B rother G ino B urresi, O .V .M . (1932-),the stigmatic of San VitlOrino in Italy.Burr es i 's s ti gmat a f irs t man ife ste d a fte r h isstrange visitation by another sligm atic,Francesco Forgione, know n as Padre Pio:

Considered the on ly pr iest known inh is to ry t o bear the S ti gma ta . Padrc P iow as no stranger t o G ino , who r ec alls th athe once saw Padre Pia staring at himfr om th e h e ad o f a s ta ir wa y, ev en th ou ghhe knew the priest lO be elsewhere in Italy(a possible b iloc ation). O n on e occasion,Padre Pia told Brother Gino, "Prepareyourself." Later, Septem ber 23,1968, he{padre P i o J died. A y e a r la ter . in H olyW eek of ]969, after having the invisibleS ti gma ta f or t w e l v e yea rs , B r ot he r G inoreceived the wounds in a visible way.1 t

P ad re P io , a F ran cisca n m on k, is p er-h ap s th e mo st famous sligm alic o f re ce nthistOry. In his biography, M a g ic D f a Mys-lie, by the D uchess of 51. A lb ans, his ex-per ie nc es a re a tt ri bu ted t o t he m ir acul ou sin te rv en lio n o f God . But to th os e familia rw ith d emon iz atio n, th ere is n o d oubt th atthe supernatural phenomena whichmani fe st ed i n h is l if e we re demoni c. Thes ei nc luded I) b il oc at ion: bei ng s een i n o therplaces even tboug h he had never left thef ri ar y; 12 2 ) l ev it al ion: bei ng l if te d o ff t he13flo or b y u ns ee n fo rc es ; 3 ) a pp ea ra nc es o fd emon s: o n Augu st 5 , J 91 8, wh ile h ea rin ga b oy 's c on fe ssio n, h e re ce iv ed a wound inhis side from a "heavenly being" whohurle d " a v ery lo ng , sh arp -p ?in te d b la de ,wh ich s eemed to em it fi re ." 411is said that angels prostra ted themsel-v es bef or e P ad re P io l a sk ing permi ss ion 10perform their duties , 5 and tha t he had beenv is it ed by Ma ry and J es us . t6On th e S unda y a fte r h is o rd in alio n a s ap ri es t, P ad re P io c el eb ra te d h is f ir st ma ss .

I t w as t h e n t hat he o f fe red himscIffor-m aUy as a victim for the salvation of sin-ne rs and th e fr eein g of souls in p ur gatory.For weeks and months on end he constanlly meditated on the sufferin~s ofChrist. As a result, he himself enduredfr ig htfu l to rm en ts , b o t h mental andphysica1.1?P ad re P io c laim ed h is ch ild ho od w asspent in "th e constant presen ce o f Salana nd h i, le gio ns , who were c on sla ntly lu rk -ing around his cradic in the form of

hideous , t er ri fy ing monster s. "IS His l if e'smiss ion was the redemptionof sou ls :As a v ic tim s ou l, h e wan tc d t o su ff cr

as m uch as a nyo ne c ou ld w hil e r CT T\a in -in g a liv e., i n o rd er to a to ne f o r t h e sins o fhwnanity. As he e xp la in ed , "I lo ve soul:"a s m u c h a s I l o ve God. ..\9P ad re P io 's experiences are no t unique

among stigm atics. M any of these m anifes-t at ions have r e c n o bserv ed in th e h v e s ofothers. And it should he noted that stig-matization is n ot uniq ue to Chr is tendom :

Dr. van Arnh tt rds p ea k s o f th e fn:-quentst igmatao b s e r v e d among Moslemascetics who immer se th em se lv es in c oo -tcm pla oo n of Ih e life o f M ohamm ed .These stigmata correspond to thew ou nd s re ce iv ed b y th e p ro ph et d urin gh is batt le s fo r th e sp rea d o f th e fa ith (A .Abadir, Sur que lque s S li gma li se s ...(Paris ]932)]. The occurrence o f sLi~-rrlatizauon among the Janscnists IrnL'm-bers of a 17th.century herelical !ieerwilhin Rom an C atholicism J has het.'nreported a150.20One c ri te ri on f or det ermini ng i f s uper -nat ur al mani fe st at ions a re f rom God i s t hemess age t ha t a ccompan ie s t hem . P ad re P ioclaimed t h a t h is own su ffer in gs wer eato ne men t fo r th e sin s o f o th ers. T his h asbeen the m essage from m any stigm aticsw ho lack fa ith in th e c om plete efficac y o fChr is t 's a lOnement.The Scri pt ur es a re c le ar t ha t i t i s J es us '

blood alone that atones for men's sins(A cts 2 0:2 8; E ph esia ns 1 :7 ; C olo ssian s1 :14 -20 ; Hebr ews 9 :7 -14 ; e tc .) . Ther e a ren o o th er m ed ia to rs fo r s alv atio n b etwee nGod and man (J Timothy 2:5; Hebrews12:2 4). T o te ac h th at re demp tio n is b y a nyo th er me an s e ith er in p la ce o f o r in addi-tion to the blood of Christ is to bringa no th er Gos pe l, whic h re nd ers th e b ea re ra ccurs ed (Ga la ti an s 1 :8 -9 ). Ou twa rd a ct so f p ie ty a nd s up ern atu ra l m an ife sta tio nsthat occur apan fro m th e tru e G osp el arenO lof God. They a re myst ic al e xper ie nc esthat sw ay th e gullib le aw ay from G od 'st ru th toward r el ig ious f ab les.

M Y ST IC A L R E L IG IO N11i s a ma rk o f a ll t ru e s ti gma ti cs ( as op-pos ed t o impost or s) t ha t t h ey d is pl ay a ver ymys tica l r eJ ig ious orien tat ion . They tend 10se ek e sc ap e from th eir n atu ra l m in ds in lOthe s pi ri tu al r ea lm in o rder t o exper ie nc e ac lo sen ess to G od . F or m ystics, o rd in aryp raye r i s i ns uf fi ci en t 10al low them a s en seo f G od 's p rese nce , so th ey see k m ystic alen co un ters o f th e sp irit. In so d oin g th eyopen lhcmsclves up to demonic presenceswhic h a pp ea r a s a ng els o f lig ht.This is not 10 say that all mysticale xper ie nc es a re o f S al an . Bu t t he only one sw herein th e true presence of G od is pal-p ab le are th ose w hich o ccu r at H is in ilia-l ion, not the ini ti at ion of m en. T hose w hoin tru de in to th e sp irit rea lm b y th eir ownvol it ion are t read ing on dangerous ground,seek in g to en te r in to th e p re se nce o f G odon th eir te rm s ra th er th an o n H is te rm s.Th e p rc sc n< ;e o f G od th ro ug h th e in -dwellin g H oly S pirit is su ffic ien t fo r th ~tru e b elie ve r in Je su s. T o se ck b ey ond th at-wh eth er b y rc pe tilio us p ra ye r. s on gs , o rm editation-is to disdain the gift of theHoly S pirit a nd 1 0 attemp t to wo rsh ip Godas th e h eath en worsh Ip th eir g od s. T his iscxpr~ssly forbidden by God's W ord(Je remia h 1 0:2 ; Ma tth ew 6 :7 ). My stic al'religion,whetherin the name o f J e s u s o rfa Js egods , goes beyond what t he F at he r i n-t ends f or u s wh il e we a re i n t hi s s in fu l t le sh .T he mys lic al a pp ro ac h c ha ra cte riz esmany a spec ts o f Roman Ca thol ic wo rs hi p,and has transferred to the evangelicalchur ch through the char ismat ic movement.Now cenain phenom ena t h a t werere se rv ed fo r Roman Cath olic my stic s a reb e i n g observed among PrOlCst.an~.There has devel oped a t endency amongch arism atics to a cce pt a s if from God an ysupernaturalmanifestations t h a t seemholy . E ve n th e a lle ge d a pp ea ra nc es o f th e"Virg in Ma ry " a t Medju go rje in C ze ch os -l ovak ia have been a tt ri bu ted by David Du-P lessis (M r. P en tec ost) to th e w ork o f th eHoly Spirit.21 This in spite of theapp arition's m essage th at all relig iousfa ith s a re v alid in th e s ig ht o f God.L U C Y R A E LStigmata is now being witnessedamong cha ri sma ti cs t hr ough the pers on o fL ucy R ael, u nd er th e sp on so rsh ip o f T LOsborn. Although Lucy was raised aC ath olic, a nd h as n ot re no un ced R om anCatho lici sm . she and her husband cons ide rT .L a nd Dais y O sborn th eir p as to rs .A s sligm alic s g o, L uc y Rae l is u niq ue .S he d oe s n ot e la im 10 su ffe r fo r th e sin s of

2

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o th ers. R ather, she says h er stigm ata po in tto Jesus, and testify of H is su fferin g.

T.L. Osborn exhorts us not to judgeLucy or her stigmata, claim ing she is asister in Christ who brings a message ofhealing.

I w ou ld n't sa y som eth in g's o f th edevi l jus t because I don' t unders tand it .N ot when il brags on Jesus. I tcll you, Iwill r un w it h anybody tha t t al ks aboutJesus!22The question rem ains, however, ifLucy's stigmata are from God, or ared emon ic man ife sta tio ns, o r if th ey a rc th ep ro du ct o f a n e csta tic tra nc e, o r a h oa x.That her stigmata result from am ira cu lo us move o f God is q ue stio na ble

for several reasons:I) T he w ounds are in the palm s of herh ands (c ha ra cte ristic o f a ll stigmatic s),w he re as a na tomists in sist th at th er e is n ow ay th e w eig ht o f Jesu s' b od y c ou ld h av eb ee n su pporte d on th e c ro ss b y th e fra gilebones of H is hands. H e had to have beenimpa led through the wr is ts ;2) The lashes on Lucy's back runhor iz on ta lly a cr oss h er w aist a s if sh e h adbeen w rapped tightly in a rope. T hey aren ot crisscro ssed o ver h er sh ou ld ers an dupper back, and la ck to rn s kin wh ich wouldhave been the r es ul to fJ es us ' s courging:3) All of Lucy's stigmata are verym inor, and do not appear as w ould havebeen t he c as e w it h J es us ;4 ) A s fa r as o ur research h as b een ab leto determ ine, no one has actually seenLucy's s ti gma ta appea r. Ra ther , t hey havea lr ea dy b ee n in man if esta tio n by th e timesh e h as tak en th e stag e. N ot ev en h er ownsecretary has seen them m anifest fromclear skin. When she takes the stagew ith ou t th e stigmata it d oesn 't m an ifestl at er in he r appearance.A t a Good F rid ay , 1 988, mee tin g a t t heInt er na tiona l Gospel Cent er , two medi ca ld octo rs w ere in vited o nto th e stag e to ex -amine Lucy's hands. One, a Dr. CraigRumedy, d esc rib ed wha t h e saw:

I w ork i n th e C ity of F aith in th eEmergencyDepartmentI see a lot o flacerations, a lot of hand wounds. Andb oth h an ds have w hat I wou ld c all su pc r-ficia llaceration s w ith d ried b loo d. ca kedblood, and some fresh blood inside thew ou nds. T he skin is ob viously sp lit ap an,and there is what we would callcpithemea, where the top layeroftheskinis broken. And it is lacerated or cut downto the deeper layer of the skin. And onth e b ac ks o f h er h an ds I s ee dried bloodon eith er sid e, on either hand, and w hat

we would call an abrasion or an obvioustearing of the skin on either side that al-lowed the blood to come and oozethrough?3A nother doctor, w hom T .L. O sbornaddressed as D r. Loveless, confirm edOsborn's des cr ip ti on o f Lucy 's s ti gma ta :

O sb or n: It lo ok s to m e lik e (of cour seI'm not a doctor, I w ouldn'l know howto describe it) I can sec right dow n likethe line in your hand-w hat do you callthese lin es in your han ds?

Loveless: T h e crease.O sborn: The crease in your hand. It's

just apart isn't it? Like you'd taken arazor and just slittcd it right downtluough and opcned it right up.

L oveless: T ha t's rig ht.24H ere w e h av e a d iscrep an cy rev ealedby T .L . Osborn h ims elf . A r azor -li ke cut is

n ot sim ilar to Jesu s' w ou nd s. H is w erepunc ture s, no t r azor cut s. No t t o ment iond ried and caked b lood on what s hould havebeen fre sh wounds. L ikewise, "superf ic ia ll ac er at ions " do not bes peak a dup li ca tiono f Ch ris t's wounds .T he que stio n o f fmud is a lw ay s upp er -m ost in the minds of those who see dis-crepancies such as these. So I w anted tog iv e L ucy an o pp ortu nity to an sw er somequest ions rela tive to these discrepancies.

In r ep ea te d a ttemp ts to c on ta ct h er b yt ele phone I cou ld onl y r ea ch her s ec re ta ry .My req uest fo r a n in te rv iew was tu rn edd ow n b y L ucy o n th e ex cu se th at sh e d ocsnot g ive i nte rv iews. My reque st f or pho to -g raphs o f her s ti gma ta we re a ls o r eje ct ed .The O sborns did not return m y callsa fte r s ever al e ff or ts to r ea ch t hem for com-men ts . S o I w as le ft w ith my obse rv atio nso f Lucy's per fo rmances on v ideo t ape, oneof which i s especial ly reveal ing .

L U C Y GOOSEYOn Tha nk sg iv in g d ay , 1 988, L uc y a p-p ea re d a s a m is tre ss o f c er emon ie s a t " Th eChu rc h Reunio n," h eld a t th e Mabee Cen -ter of O ral R oberts U niversity in T ulsa.Several prom inent leaders within thech arism atic m ov em en t w ere sp ea kersdur ing t he fou r- day event.O n th is o cca sio n th e stigmata d id n otm an ifest in L ucy 's b od y. B ut some th in geven more r ema rkab le took p la ce .C allin g so ng stress V ick i Ja miso n toc ome fo rw ard , L uc y h ad h er c lo se h er e ye san d lo ok u pw ard , a s sh e h ad th e au dien cedo. To the accom panim ent of the song,"Sw eet A nointing," Lucy encouragedeve ryone to " Ju st c lo se you r eye s and wor-sh ip H im ." H er word s to V ic ki Jamiso n s ett he s ta ge for an uns et tli ng inci dent:

S is te r V icki, t oday you 'r e g oi ng tohave a v is it al io n f rom the Ho ly Spir it .Y ou 're goin g to be anointed afresh anda ne w. Y ou 'r e g oin g to fe el th e a no in tin go f G od com e all over you w hen you m in-ister.

T he enem y has tried to dcstroy you.H c's com e against you in sickness. ButGod's not through w ith you He's notthrough wilh you, sister V icki. Butyo u 'rc going to have a visitation from theHoly G ho st th is d ay ,lh aty ou 'r e g oin g tog o fo rth w ith su ch sc op e a nd p ow er . H al-lelujah! You're going to enter th e secondphase o f y ou r ministry.While e xhortin g th e a ud ie nc e to wor -shipJ esus, Lucy reached wi th her l ef thand ,p alm c lo se d, a nd p la ce d it o n V ic ki's rig ht

sh ou ld er, o pen in g h er p alm d ow nw ard .V icki 's e ye s wer e c lo sed, her a rms l if te d.P ra isin g God , Luc y r emoved h er h andfrom V ick i's sh ou ld er an d p laced it u po nh er fo re head . A s h er h an d lifte d from th esh ou ld er a sm all, w hite feath er co uld b ec le ar ly s een to d rop f rom Lucy 's hand ontoVicki's shoulder. Lucy glanced at thefeather but continued to praise G od andw alk elsew here on the stage. Feathersb eg an to d ro p whe re sh e walk ed .Suddenly, Lucy stopped and, in asurprised tone, exclaim ed, "There'sfeath ers all o ver th is p lace! O h, m y G od !My God !"

Calling B illye Brim , another of them istresses o f cere mo ny , an d B lain e A m-burgy, the host for the affair, to join her,Lucy continued:A m ig hty v isita tio n o f th e Holy

G host! H allelujah! T urn aroun d [tow ardlhe audien ce) sister V i c k i , v ery s lo wly ;very slow ly! HaJlelujah1 On yourshoulder! On your shoulder! The visita-tion of lhe Holy Ghost! My God! Wc'rehaving a visitation of the Sp irit of Al-m igh... you say somcbody said, " I d on 'tu nderstan d this; I don't believe this!"

You know, the m ind cannot reccivethc things of the Sp irit! Sometimes themind gets troub led! But Honey, glory toGod! Getoutofthatnatural m ind and geti nl o th e s up er na tu ra l! T he supernaturalpow er of G od!

[Turn ing to peop le p icking upfeathers]: Are you finding some overthere? Hallelujah! There's some overhere! There's some over there! You say,"W hat does that m ean?" The Dove of theHoly Spi ri t i s f ly in g a ll o ve r th is p lace !

My God! Wors hi p H im !I sn 't it typic al t ha t mysti cs exhor t u s t o"get out of your m inds." B ut G od's W ordtells u s th at H e h as g iv en u s a so un d m in d( II T imo thy 1 :7 ).

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Dr. Craig Rumedy used his mind andacquired tw o of the feathers. H e sent themto Bob Jennings, an ornithologist and anaturalist at Oxley N ature Park in Tulsa.M r . J en ni ng s' c on clu si on s:

I) The feathers had a straight edge atcallus (the point where they attach to thesk in ). T his is no t ch aracteristic o f a feath erthat has been plucked out or fallen out;

2) The feathers were pure white andhave a size and shape described as sem i-plum e-like, and are typical in size, shape,co lo r, an d app earance o f do wn feathers;

3) The feathers had no cage m arks andw ere therefore not from a caged bird;

4 ) T he ed ges o f th e in dividu al b ranch esof the feathers w ere frayed in such a m an-ner as to suggest the feathers w ere severalweeks or months old or they had beenh an dle d " ve ry r ou gh ly ."

5) T he feathers are definitely not froma dove or pigeon:

6) They arc quite typical of the under-belly feathers of a large waterfow l, eg.,e gr et , c rane , h er on , o r g oo se ;

7) They could well be goose downfcathcrs?5

It is blasphemous to fake the work ofthe H oly Spirit. B utit'salso serious to turnone's face the other w ay and act as if th ereis nothing to be concerned about. A nd thisi s thesadconclusion w e d ra w regardingtheprom in en t cha rismat ic s pe ak er s p re scnt a tthe Church Reunion. including KennethH ag in , K en neth C op eland , F red P rice, T LO sbo rn, L ester S um rall, and C asey T reat.It is my understanding that nonc oft h e s e menendorse w h a t ' . v e n to n w it h L u c yRacl's performance. Yct none of themwish to address it. It was W illie George,from whom we received the video tape,who has spoken out in spite of censure byhis charism atic peers w ho have told him inno unccrlainterms not to " ro ck t h e b o a t . "I have areas of disagreement withWi llie George 's th eo logy , par tic ul ar ly h isendorsemcot of the Jesus-died-spi ri tua llyteaching. Eut I sense he has a heart fortr ut h, a nd w is he s to def end the i ntegr ity o fth e Holy S pirit's m in istr y. I p ra y th e Lordw ill rev eal to h im th e tru e n atu re o f someof his associat ions within charismatism.But wha t d oc s th is s ad a ffa ir sa y a boutth ose who h av e c ho se n not o nly to rema ins ile nt , but to c ensu re Wi ll ie George for h ispa rt inexpos ing Lucy Rael 's pc rformance?What d oe s it sa y a bout th ose who c ar e-lessly p ro claim , ''T hu s saith th e L ord "?The s ponsor s o f the Chur ch Reun ion s ta te din th eir ad vertise men t, "T he H oly S pirit

spoke to our sp irits giving us G od's planfor this m eeting." O bviously, the H olyS pirit d id n ot g iv e th em God 's p la n fo r th atmeet ing . I sno t repentance and a rethink ingo f one 's pos it ion o fle ader sh ip i n o rder ?A nd w hat o f T .L . O sb orn 's c on tin ue ddefense of Lucy R ael? He endorsed herstigmata a s e vid en ce th at God wou ld h ea lthose w hom she touches. O n the basis ofh is faith in L ucy , h e cu rsed a can cer in th eb ody o f a d yin g b ro th er in Chris tI p ro no un ce G ar la nd M an n h ea le d o f

cancer in the nam e of Jesus, Son of theL iv in g God! 26According to a secretary at I.G.C.,

G arland M ann died a few m onths later.In a dd itio n, O sb orn m ad e th e fo llo win g

in cred ib le d iag no sis o f a healed cancer:She [L ucy] just put her hands on a

woman wi th cancer .The cancer i s dead!I k now t he c an ce r is d ea d! Ha ll elu ja h! 27W hat is g enu in ely sad is th at th is "diag-

n os is" b ro ug ht re so un din g a pp la use .L uc y h erse lf p ra yed sp ec ific ally fo rth e

healing of blind eyes in som eone from theau dience. C laim ing th at sh e saw the p erso nin the spirit, she exclaimed, "Stand up!"But no one stood up.

I believe Christians have the right toask the question, "A fter all the claim s thatth is " sligma ta " was God 's m ir ac ulo us s ig nof H is presence and pow er to heal throughL ucy , w hy w ere her pray ers no t answ ered ?

CHARISMATIC DECEPT IONSLucy Rael aside, deception is not un-common in the charism atic m ovem ent.

There are many who pander to spiritualvoyeurism , pulling in large crow ds w ithpromises of signs and wonders. I haveo ften w atched "h ealers" pran ce arou nd thestage for hours, stomping on the devil,working the crowd into a frenzy, andclaim ing healings. Y et no one w as healed.

Does this mean that God doesn't healtod ay? O f co urse H e d oes. B ut H is h ealing sa rc th e a ct o f H is so vereign w ill, n ot givenc are le ssly a t th c b ec k a nd c all o f h uc kste rs.

W hat grace these p eop le m in ister to theu nfo rtu nate. W hat com passio n they sho w.T hey exhibit no m ore concern for the w eakthan for w hat they can get outoftheir pock-etbooks. The m essage of the W ord-faithcam p is give inorderto get. A nd w hile m il-lions of dollars are poured into their cof-fers, the leaders beg for more. They areblack holes sucking up the lifeblood ofthose who look with hope to their falsepro mises. A nd like b lack ho les, they do n'tallow the lig ht to escap e.

Surely G od grieves for the poor, thd owntro dd en , th ose who a re c on tin ua llyrobbed of the ir l iv ings by promises ofheal -i ng and p ro sper ity if th ey w ill b e f ai th fu l is ending in the ir ha rd-ca rned doll ar s.A nd w hile C hristians are m ade m erch an dise o f b y false teach ers, th ose w hoexpos e them a re th re atened w ith God's d isp le as ur e for " touchi ng God's ano in ted," ofor "judging." W ell, brethren, w e are tojudge error (I C or. 5: 1 2; R om ans 14: 13

John 7:24).A nd if there w as ever a tim e to judgeth is is i t!N O T E S

1. V ideo tape of G ood Friday service held atIn tern atio nal G osp el C en ter, T ulsa, 1 98 8.

2 . Encyc/ opedi aAmeri cana. S.v . "St igmata."3 . C at ho lic E nc ycl op ed ia , V ol. X IV (N ew

Y ork: R obert A ppleton C o., 1912), s.v."Stigmata."

4 . N ew C ath olic E ncyclo ped ia , Vo l. X llI(N ew Y ork: M cG raw H ill, 1967), s.v."Stigmatization."5. Ibid.6 . Encycloped ia Br it ann ica, 9 th ed ., VoLXXI I (New York : Char le s Sc ri bner 'sSons,1878), s .v . "St igmat ization,"7. Ibid.8. Ibid.

9 . N ew C ath olic E ncyclo ped ia .10. I bi d.11. R obert J. Fox, The C all of /Ieaven: Bro.

Gino, St igmat is t (F ro nt R oy al, VA : C hr is-t en d om Publ ic at io ns , Cros sr oads Book s,1 98 1), p . 1 10 .

12. T he D uchess of St. A lbans, Magjc of aMys ti c: S to rj es o fPadre P io (New York:C larkson N . Potter,lnc.), p. 68.

13. I bi d" p . 8 0.14. Ibid., p. 50.15. Ibid., p. 123.t6. Ibid., p. 38.17. I bi d.18. Ibid., p. 51.19. Ibid., p. 23.2 0. N ew Cath olic Enc yc lo pe dia .21. "W hat M r. Pentecost Thinks About M oo.

jugorje," New Covenant, O cto be r, 1 98 4. p .22. V ideo tape, G ood F riday, 1988, service at

l.G.C.2 3. I bid .2 4. Ib id .25. Letter from Dr. Craig R umO Oy to R ay

Gene , 12. 18 -88.26 . V ideo tape ,Good Fr iday, 1 9 8 8 , se rv ic e a t!.G.C.

2 7. Ib id .~ Media SpotlightA B IB L IC A L ANAlY SIS OF I ( U G IO US & S EC UL A R M ED IACopyrlghl @ 198 9 Med ia SpofflghlP.O . B ox 290 .R edm ond. W e 98073-0290A dd itional caples available on request.