Walk On Water? Don't Try It At Home!

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.This week’s item is from Worldnetdaily.com August 30, 2006, with a headline:Evangelist Drowns Trying to Walk on Water, the following are excerpts:An evangelist who tried replicating Jesus’ miracle of walking on water has reportedly drowned off the Western coast of Africa.Pastor Frank Cavelli, 35, told his congregation he could repeat the biblical miracle, and he attempted it from a beach in Gabon’s capitol of Libreville.He told church goers he’d had a revelation that if he had enough faith he could walk on water like Jesus, and eye witness told The Glasgow Record.He took his congregation to the beach, saying he would walk across the Como Estuary, which takes 20 minutes by boat.He walked into the water, which soon passed over his head and he never came back.The New Testament records the story of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee as He approached His disciples in a boat.

Tom:

Dave, this is a good example of what we’ve been talking about in the last segment.This is not only presumption but it points out that what you believe, what you cling to, has real consequences.I remember, a number of years ago when we were writing about some of the mind dynamics programs that were really based on mind science, positive thinking, and so on, having a positive world view.

Dave:

Tom, let me interrupt a second, because what this boils down to, really, is Satan’s lie you can become a god, so we could do it too.

Tom:

Sure, it’s all in human potential, it’s all in the mind, our mind controls, we create reality with our minds, and so on.This organization was called, Life Spring, and it was a mind dynamics course that you went through and it would help you overcome problems, do things that you never thought you could do.

Dave:

I remember.

Tom:

You remember, there were even fire walking kinds of programs that were out there to show you your potential, that you could do far more than you thought.Well, Life Spring had this individual believe—he had a fear of water, couldn’t swim, but through positive thinking he would be able to swim this distance, I think it was just across a lake or something like that, a very small lake, and the guy ended up drowning.He just believed and he believed and he believed he could do it, and then ended up not being able to do it.But Dave, the end of this article it says, The New Testament records the story of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee.But Peter also, remember? Peter said, Lord, bid me come to you.

Dave:

If it is really you.

Tom:

Jesus said, Come, and he was successful until when?First of all, the Lord bid him come, and then he took his eyes off the Lord.

Dave:

And he got his attention out of the wind and the waves, which made him afraid.

Tom:

So, what’s the difference between Peter in that situation and this pastor?

Dave:

Well, the Lord didn’t tell this pastor to try to do this, and it was presumption.You see, faith is really believing what God said.God gives me the faith—Tom, as I have maybe mentioned, I have laid my hands, on a few occasions, upon a sick person and prayed and seen them instantly healed.I have had that experience myself, praying myself, and suddenly I’ve been instantly healed, but the Lord—

Tom:

Every time?

Dave:

Not every time.Well, I don’t expect it every time, I just say, Lord, if it’s your will.But if God gives you the faith you really know, you’re not just hoping.It’s like Elijah with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he said, Lord, let it be known that I am your servant, and I have done this at your Word, and that this is a false god.And the fire came down and consumed everything.But here they are hoping that something will happen and they are trying to make what they believe, their mind is going to somehow, do this, and they think faith is being able to believe that it will happen.

Tom:

They are taught this thing, as we’ve talked about it and wrote about in The Seduction of Christianity.

Dave:

You remember George Müller, and George Müller’s diary contains, I think, about 20,000 recorded, specific answers to prayer.He was a man of tremendous faith, and you remember the story.He had to bring in more orphans, he carried 4,000, fed thousands of orphans, never sent out a newsletter telling anyone he needed anything.He wanted his life to be an example, but there’s a God who hears and answers prayer.On one occasion, a true story, the man who had some property next door said to a friend:Well, George Müller has got to have more land, he’s got more orphans coming in, he’s got to build more buildings and he’s offered me so much per acre but I know he’s got to have this land, I’m going to hold out for a higher price.And his friend said to him:Don’t you know who George Müller is?If you don’t sell him that property at the price he offers, his God will make you give it to him!Now that was the reputation Müller had, and people would say to him:Brother Müller, you must be a man of great faith.He would say:No, I’m a man of very little faith, but it is in a great God.And that’s why Jesus said, if you had a grain of mustard seed’s worth of faith you could say to this mountain, Be thou removed, and so forth. But wait a minute, that faith has got to come from God.Okay.So, it’snot faith that does it, it’s God that does it, and we’ve got to be sure that our faith is in God, in submission to His will, wanting Him to do what He wants to do, not what we want to do.

Tom:

And Dave, if faith then becomes a power that I control we’ve got real problems, because there are six billion little gods running around trying to use the power, or the force, or whatever it might be.Can you imagine what would happen if that were true, if that was a reality?

Dave:

Tom, it’s frightening!Human potential—don’t you know you can do anything you want.Well, if that’s true, every Tom, Dick and Harry, and Jane and Joanne out there in the street they can zap you with their mind power.We just got a bunch of Darth Vader’s and Obie Juan Kanobis zapping one another with psychic power.No, that is rebellion against the true God.We’re taking over as little gods, and that’s exactly what Satan promised Eve in the garden.

Tom:

Well, it’s a sad situation for, you know, this pastor, but it’s a heads up for many out there who are buying into this idea that it’s their faith, the responsibility is on them to heal themselves, to do certain things.No, it’s not biblical.